Disaster Proof Your Career: Tactics to Survive, Thrive and Keep Ahead in the Workplace

If this sounds very similar to your experience of Mind Tools resources, you're right! The career skills advice in this book, and the way it's presented, fits very closely with our approach. So we're confident this is a book that Mind Tools readers will be able to use to support their development.

But who in particular should read this book?

Well, if you work in an industry, or for an organization, where major structural changes, like mergers, are commonplace, then you should read this book. And it's also useful if you're determined not to let national economic woes get in the way of developing your own career.

The book is probably designed more for use early in your career, but its advice is still relevant for people with 20 or more years of their working lives behind them.

So, keep listening to find out how to stop being afraid of giving presentations, why you shouldn't be relieved if your boss forgets to schedule your performance review, and what kinds of questions you should ask during your appraisal.

"Disaster Proof Your Career" is divided into nine chapters, each of which is helpfully peppered with short "Action" boxes containing suggestions for what to remember, prepare or do.

In Chapter One, the author gives an overview of the "21st century workplace," and asks readers to face a modern home truth: organizations today are under so much pressure just to survive, that the happiness of their staff will often not be high on the list of priorities.

This means we need to make our own opportunities to grow our careers. We need to communicate well, set up and maintain good contacts, and be ready for whatever may happen to us – or our employer.

The author sketches in the changes all workers have experienced over the last 10 years – from operational changes driven by ever-improving IT, to new terms of employment, lower budgets and fewer staff. And he reminds us that we have to be aware of our goals and take active steps to reach them.

But what's most useful here is not the overall message, which makes good common sense, but the specific advice. For example, the author points out that our belongings speak volumes about us. And he doesn't just mean what we're wearing – he means how we manage our desk, our office and our briefcase. We must never look as if we're in a muddle or disorganized.

Other sound advice includes "watching internally" – looking for opportunities within your organization. The author says a promotion can be safer than a move to a new company, when redundancies are done on a "last-in, first-out" basis.

And the advice on "personal rules" is excellent too. This includes always getting things in writing, keeping your options open as long as possible, questioning why things are happening, and monitoring your salary package against other people's, even if you don't plan to act on it.

The section on "people power" and how to categorize people in the workplace is also helpful, as are those on creating a personal profile and on office politics.

You may want to read the last two sections in the chapter with a pencil in hand, so you can jot down what you'd do in certain sudden and tough scenarios.

The chapter ends with an encouraging quotation: "While there are more chrysalises than butterflies, flying free is worth the effort." And the concept of "flying free" is what the rest of the book is about.

Chapter Two is called The Confidence to Succeed, and it begins with the well-known quotation: "If you think you can, you can, and if you think you can't, you're right." The message here is set your sights high in your career.

The author continues this theme by attacking one of many people's greatest fears – giving presentations.

This is a topic the author's written a whole book about, which he mentions later. But for now, he works on how we should build up knowledge to increase our confidence. He dissects each component of fear, such as "butterflies in the stomach." One of his tips for this is to make sure you've eaten enough, as tummy rumbles make butterflies worse.

One of the useful action boxes in this section suggests listing the things you feel unconfident about. When you know what they are, you can start looking for practical solutions. The author says undefined fears can paralyze us. Whereas, when the fears are named, you can reduce some and wipe out others.

Chapter Three is about your Career Plan, and again, it starts with a thought-provoking quotation: "If you're not planning where you want to be, what reason do you have for worrying about being nowhere?"

Practical as ever, the author then emphasizes that plans must be realistic and should be based on aptitude and abilities. He provides a long list of useful ideas about how we can assess our own skills. This includes our communication ability, how well we influence people, our numerical skills, and other special skills, such as speaking a foreign language and aptitude for IT.

Next comes an assessment of our work values. These might be a strong drive to achieve or an urge to do something we feel is worthwhile. Non-work characteristics are very important too, such as whether you have a family, and where you need to live.

The author says we should figure out how we think work, home and family should fit together, and then we should discuss this with our partner. This will help us avoid personal problems when opportunities or changes come up.

When we're planning our careers, we can't expect to know every twist and turn in the road. But we can adopt what's known as a "rolling plan" – a plan that has some flexibility built into it. Our objectives need to be realistic, measurable and also have a time factor – that is, we need to have an idea of when we want to achieve something.

In a useful section on research, the author encourages us to find out about salary levels in our industry. He also suggests we look into what qualifications are needed to get a job in our sector in another country, and how many similar companies are located in a specific town.

Finally, there's a section on forming an action plan and a cautionary section titled Future Finances. Apparently, fewer than half of all UK workers are putting money aside for their retirement, and this is a worldwide trend. The kind of planning discussed in this chapter is helpful for general financial and life planning too.

Readers may well feel motivated by this look at the big picture. If we follow the sensible steps the author outlines, we could end up with our lives in much better shape. It's an attractive thought.

Chapter Four is all about the Job Performance Appraisal, which can be an opportunity for us to direct and optimize our careers. Few people look forward to their appraisals, but the author says we should, and he tells us why.

He says that avoiding an appraisal does you no favors at all. In fact, if a company doesn't bother with periodic assessments of staff, you should think twice about working there.

There's a careful analysis of the purpose of job appraisals, covering what they do for the company and what they do for the employee. The author says the best appraisals involve give and take. And he urges us to resist being defensive, even when we feel criticized.

Tips in this section include how to use the appraisal to get more help and support, and how to ask for more training. Being keen on taking courses looks good, the author says, and it pays to aim high and ask for more training than may be given. But we should remember to outline the advantages for our organization, not just for our own career.

Readers are given a useful list of questions they might like to ask about reviews and appraisals when they decide to accept a job. And we're shown how to draw up a list of objectives when preparing for an appraisal.

There are also checklists of documents to put in your appraisal file: from memos, information about targets you've met and details of courses you've attended, to notes on relevant activities, such as committees you've joined.

The ultimate message here is how to look ahead in your own best interests, while staying mindful of how you're perceived by the company. It's all about balancing your long-term thinking with your short-term concerns.

This is a key chapter, and if you don't feel inspired at this point, this book may not be for you. Or you may not be at a stage in your career where you would find it helpful.

Chapter Five expands on these ideas by focusing on specifics of how to survive and benefit from an appraisal. Packed with practical advice and thorough lists, it builds on the message of the previous chapter without being repetitive.

The checklist for the appraisal form and for effective listening are especially useful. There are a number of subtle observations and tips that will prevent readers from feeling jaded or thinking that they've heard it all before. For example, the author suggests consciously planning to ask open questions, instead of closed questions – which are questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no.

This is probably the strongest chapter in the book. The information and advice here will chime with a lot of readers, even those who haven't come across these ideas before.

Chapter Six is about The Development Process. While very short, its message is important. As the quotation at the beginning says: "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."

Once you've got where you want to be, think of the future, the author says. Monitor yourself, make a plan, set yourself targets, and report back to yourself, as though you were your own manager. He makes the point that success in your current job paves the way for success in your future work, and he points out that no one but you is responsible for your career.

The next chapter is called "Methods to Take You Forward." Should you go on a course as part of your career development? And if so, what criteria should you apply to chose one? Readers are shown the differences between seminars and workshops, activity courses, and simulations. And we learn the pros and cons of packaged training and less common options, like job swapping.

The penultimate chapter, Creating Career Enhancing Opportunities, contains some very good techniques, such as how to get feedback – not just from your manager, but also from your colleagues and other contacts at work. There are inspiring ideas on role playing, brainstorming, volunteering and mentoring, and all are easy to put into practice. Altogether, this section is so packed with suggestions that it will leave readers upbeat and eager to get going.

The last chapter gathers together the earlier material – around self-development, setting objectives, using plans and making time – and summarizes the main points under clear and bold headings. This makes it easy to return to if you want to be inspired by this book again, weeks or months after reading it.

This is one of the biggest plusses of "Disaster Proof Your Career" – it's a book you'll likely want to come back to. It's a professional and serious book, offering carefully thought-out guidance. It's not just a random gathering of common sense, tailored to the times.

All that said, you may not be grabbed by this book at first glance. One problem is the chapter titles, which are baldly descriptive. The subheadings are too, and this lack of flourish makes the book seem a little dull compared to some of its competitors. After all, the author points out on a number of occasions that interest and motivation are important in work – well... this should be applied to his book too.

The writing style itself is eloquent, if not sassy. Most of the quotations in the book come from other management gurus, people you may not have heard of, which makes it feel a little cliquey. There is a bit of name dropping and the author blows his own trumpet, but this is familiar behavior in this genre.

So, what's our last word on "Disaster Proof Your Career"? Well, we think it's a worthwhile read that could easily be overlooked. With its practical tips and clear summaries throughout, it's likely to be an asset to anyone who wants to make the most of their work life.

"Disaster Proof Your Career: Tactics to Survive, Thrive and Keep Ahead in the Workplace," by Patrick Forsyth, is published by KoganPage.

That's the end of this episode of Book Insights. Click here to buy the book from Amazon. Thanks for listening.