Review: How To Go To Work

Most people that I started with at university have now entered their last semester, and I know how daunting a prospect the next step is.

Whether we’re moving onto a masters come September, or looking to find a job, our future careers are exciting and anxiety-inducing. Luckily, a new release is here to help us through most of the hurdles we’ll face when entering the working world. The book provides “the honest advice no one ever tells you at the start of your career”.

Though it’s becoming more difficult for university graduates to enter the world of work, Lucy Clayton and Steven Haines’ book, How To Go To Work offers necessary advice, making the graduate world of work look hopeful.

In their introduction they admit they felt “young adults were being set up to fail by a system that was out of touch and out of fashion”.  They herald the book as an attempt to combat such failings and as a “manifesto for your first years of work”.

Clayton and Haines walk a reader through Saturday jobs, advice for interviews in industries you might not be too familiar, with despite studying in the area, interning, how to handle conference calls, and how to make yourself a desirable candidate for promotions.

Having worked what felt like a pretty serious job last summer, the most striking section of the book for me is ‘When it All Goes Wrong’. As dramatic as the section’s title may sound, it begins by simply walking you through bad days at work. Bad days can be caused by office drama, underachieving, or exhaustion at doing something repetitive you begin to find tedious.

The book is organised into sections providing expert advice from specialists, with a comprehensive contents page, outlining exactly which questions can be answered in which sections. The authors tackle situations that are bound to crop up in any person’s career-beginnings, with bullet-pointed lists providing succinct and topical advice.

Throughout the book the authors communicate in a fresh, approachable manner with helpful terms, and with an informal voice to keep a reader comfortable with what may seem an overwhelming assortment of career related advice.

So, if you’re experiencing anxiety about career prospects, keep in mind that these anxieties are perfectly normal. Give Clayton and Haines’ How To Go To Work a chance to put those anxieties to rest.

The self-help book was released earlier this month, and can be bought at your local bookshop or on amazon.