Chemical Education Today
Book & Media Reviews Career Management for Scientists and Engineers by John K. Borchardt Oxford University Press: New York, 2000. 258 pp. ISBN 0-8412-3525-2. $34.95. reviewed by Michael Caswell
Careers are very difficult to manage even under the best of circumstances. A person must be both lucky and competent to have a successful career. John Borchardt, author of more than 100 articles, has written a book that attempts to improve a technical person’s self-management by introducing several important management skills. By aiming Career Management for Scientists and Engineers toward students, undergraduates and graduates, as well as older professionals who may be considering alternative careers, he has unfortunately managed to miss both targets. The book has four major sections. The section entitled “Professional Skills” discusses six particular management skills. In personal productivity, the author describes several behaviors to increase your productivity, such as picking up a document and dealing with it immediately rather than picking it up several times before dealing with it. The author’s folksy yet technical writing style made me cringe a bit when I read his tidbits on writing skills. The chapter on oral presentation skills seemed obsolete because the author recommends the use of 35-mm slides over a computer. Nowadays, everyone has his or her presentation on a laptop hard drive, which allows for progressive disclosure of information, a feature missed by the author (p 54). The author missed several other important oral presentation tips. For example, I think one must smile and appear to enjoy the moment. Also, a presentation that finishes ahead of schedule is always preferred. To my knowledge, no one has ever complained about a presentation that finished early. The section called “Today’s New Working World” is also obsolete. Until the early 1970s a good job performance led to continued employment. That this is no longer the case appears
to be new to the author. Nonetheless, the chapter entitled “The Reengineered Workplace” subtly directs the reader to a greater understanding of both intracorporate and intercorporate teamwork. This provides a good segue into spheres of influence, mentoring, and networking. In my opinion, this section is the book’s strongest, even though the reader has to dig for the information rather than having it easily presented. But even this section exits with a whimper as the author relates war stories of his acquaintances’ trials and tribulations in the job market. The third section, entitled “Job Hunting”, left much to be desired in the electronic age. Many people conduct job hunting on the Internet to help maintain confidentiality. The art of electronic job hunting was not adequately embraced. The chapter on writing resumes covered many of the important topics, and I would add that a resume must contain no errors. When a manager is faced with a stack of 50 to review, a single error is sufficient reason to discard a resume. Unlike the author, I find resume cover letters outdated, because most resumes are now sent via email. Instead, write a powerful short paragraph so the potential employer will want to open your resume file. Unlike the author, I find references counterproductive because they often lie. A good network is a much more valuable tool in learning about the qualifications of a potential employee. Interviewing (Chapter 16) is a fine art. Many good books are available to help refine one’s interviewing skills. The author listed several good books on this topic and another useful book is Skopec’s Situational Interviewing, which characterizes the inner workings of an interview. Although some worthwhile nuggets are in this book, they are difficult to find. Borchardt failed to adequately address the electronic age for students and practically insulted experienced professionals. He missed the targets he was trying to hit. Nonetheless, this book will be a valuable tool for those who wish to write a worthwhile book on career management for scientists and engineers. Michael Caswell is Research & Development Manager at C. B. Fleet Company, Inc., Lynchburg, VA 24506;
[email protected].
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 78 No. 2 February 2001 • Journal of Chemical Education
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