Rules for the Road: Surviving Your First Job Out of School

Rating:
Summary: Vital for the college kid in your life
Review: I picked this book up in a bookstore and read most of it before it left the store with me. I just started my first internship and the advice in the book helped me extend this internship from a one month position as office photocopier to a summer long position in the research department at almost twice the pay that i was getting previously. its an invaluable read for any kid my age, because just about every one of us walks into that first jb or internship expecting to be king of the office in two weeks or less. buy it, read it and take the advice. it'll save you a lot of embarrassment and even some photocopying!

Rating:
Summary: Your Kidding!
Review: If you waste your time on something like this- then you'll never find a job! Plain common sense and speaking with your college counselors will better prepare you than this waste of time. Nothing but negative based corporate protocol junk.

Rating:
Summary: It graduates but not with a 4.0
Review: Rules of the Road- is an easily read book I found to take a "real world" attitude approach that I, myself, like to use in workshops and presentations. The book opens with a tone of that of a "journey". It compares a new job to that of traveling aboard by using foreign country custom references; which I found to be humorous, timeless and all too true. The book does an excellent job relating these "foreign affairs examples" back to life's lessons. Her writing style was very easy to follow because the entire book is written according to "road rules" (which are short statements you'd find on quality fortune cookies, without the lucky lottery numbers) but then proceeds to explain them further for those who may not have quite understood what message was trying to be sent.
A few downfalls I found were a few early examples she used from the 1980's; which I believe will not relate to this generation of graduates and some of the road rules were harsh and negative. One example that stuck out for me was making photocopies. The book leaves the reader with the impression that this common office task is grunge work and will only have to be done while the reader is in this entry level job. When in fact, most of us know that this is not the case. (Learning how to use the photocopier seems to be included in most new employee orientation sessions).
At the end of the book the reader will find a short section dedicated to resources explaining standard company benefits and the employment laws. Although I think these will be of some use to the reader, I feel the advice on how to deal with one's work related problems, if any do occur, is unprofessional and should draw concern from Career Professionals.
This short book does accomplish its task of giving an insight to the first time, post graduation, job seeker and I do recommend it but I think like any book, readers should take everything with a grain of salt.

Rating:
Summary: Attention all Students and New Workers!
Review: This book is great. I'll tell you why. It tackles an idea that many of us fresh-out-of high school, in-college, or freshly-graduated-from-college students often think. That our first job, or perhaps our first office-type job will include such nuances as: people telling us mostly what to do with our days, and a relatively quick move onto the bigger office, with the nicer window view, and, that we could easily take over the corporate company, in ten years. Well, Luppert says to us, something similar to, 'hold your horses'! And then, she takes us through some interesting thoughts, and advice. What she is trying to say, is that, often, in a new job, you don't always get told what to do, and, there are certain things one needs to do, with their fashion, attitude, and ability of drive and goals, in order to make their job more smooth, less confusing, and, to make their career-furthering goals more possible. She also says something, like, if you do not learn to do your first job well, you may be repeating such a job, every six months or so, on and on. She knows how to speak to the young; and new workers. She gives very good advice. I found this book is good for people who "have" been working, too. For example, even if you already have a job, or are going to get another one, you can take tips from this book, or, for your future job. I also was happy to read about the detailed explanation of such important facts of job-related insurance. This book definitely covers "real-life" things that, yes, our boss, and parents probably won't necessarily tell us. That's why I recommend it to many people. If you do read this book, don't let the cold hard facts get you down. Just let "reality" allow you to take the map and further yourself down the wonderful journey of new jobs and improving careers!