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Average Customer Rating:
A Really Bad Career Book from a Pop Psychologist with Bad Theology
Customer Rating:
This terrible career book has numerous faults, starting with the title. The "48 days" is just a number the author made up by taking 40 days that often pops up in the Bible and then adding a few extra days to rest!
Just read his intro and you'll know you don't want to read this book. The author was raised on a farm by a Mennonite pastor father and complains of the "legalistic upbringing" that required him to work 365 days a year without television or shopping malls. He then tells us that he can't keep a job--he has been a therapist, psychology teacher, owned a fitness center (that he lost $100,000 on), sold cashews in vending machines, was a church counselor and sold tapes on the Internet. He now is a "career coach," which usually means he couldn't find anything else worthwhile so he decided to use all of his failed experiences to counsel others.
Namely, he has been a pretty big failure in finding his own work to love. So why is he writing a book about it?
Then he bases his book on the bad theology, glossing over the idea that work is a punishment from God and trying to twist a couple of Bible verses about being joyful in all you do to prove that work is supposed to bring happiness. He comes across like he doesn't have a clue what he's talking about--and that's still just in the introduction!
He then gives some really bad career advice mixed with lots of examples taken from other sources. For example, he says the best way to find a job is to just start contacting companies, sending them a "letter of introduction" a week before sending them a resume. Is he kidding? He also puts down the idea of networking as being the main way of getting a job (which is what other books say).
He also claims that work is defined as "purposeful activity" and that if you don't like your job than you aren't really working by definition. That's just weird because you can be doing purposeful activity and not like what you are doing! He should have learned that on the farm!
The rest of the book is filled with questions and two-bit advice, written in an ADHD format where you can't go more than a few paragraphs without being interrupted by a tangential thought. And he never really gives solutions--he just raises a lot of questions, using the excuse that 85% of the answers to your job search process come from within you! It's very frustrating reading.
He basically takes ideas from many other books and throws them all together here without any sense of order or unique additional thought. The author comes across as a guy writing a bad term paper for school, stealing ideas from others and never really coming up with his own perspective. There are some valid points raised, but they are things that you can find better stated in other career books.
It's hard to believe that this book would be used by churches for seminars. All the author proves is that if you fail at everything else, become a Christian motivational writer because believers are hungry for direction and will buy rehashed ideas under a title that has no meaning.
Worth the read if ....
Customer Rating:
you are in the right frame of mind. If you are looking for a book to merely tell you how to put together a more effective resume and assess what you'd like to be when you grow up, skip to the middle of the book or look elsewhere. If you are looking to analyze where you've been, where you are and where you want to go, put this book in your cart now!
As with all self-help books, your current frame of mind is critical to the book's effectiveness and relativity. I enjoyed this book and actually wanted more of the real-life examples and analysis. The time to perfect a resume and tips for job-seeking came a little too soon in the book for me.
48 Days to the Work You Love
Customer Rating:
This book is very encouraging and incredibly helpful for anyone beginning their career search or for older workers looking to change jobs or being forced to look for new employment. I have purchased more than one of these books to share with young people after reading it myself when I was looking at a midlife career change. I would recommend this as a graduation gift or a great holiday gift for anyone in or looking to be in the work force. Highly recommend it!!!
Great Book
Customer Rating:
This book was well written and very inspirational! I liked QBQ and this was just as good!! Highly recommended!!
Don't waste your time or money
Customer Rating:
Don't waste your time or money on this book. Dan Miller tells you what to do but not how to do it. Everyone knows the common sense advice. But does Dan Miller give some new insight, approach or technique? No.
It's really just a front for self-advertisement of his other services and web site. Well Dan, I already bought the book and wasted enough money. And I'm looking for my refund...
Don't even get me started on the crappily edited CD-Rom that came with it. It sounds like Miller's 12 year old nephew taped and edited it in his basement on his boom box. Run, don't walk, over to What Color is My Parachute. Now that is a book worth reading!
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