Originally posted on: http://geekswithblogs.net/Compudicted/archive/2013/12/08/job-reconnaissance-by-josh-more-orsquoreilly-media-book-review.aspx
I have decided to take a detour in learning anything new technical and sharpen my social skills. The path led me to getting a relatively new (two to three months as published at the time of writing) book from the excellent O’Reilly Blogger Review program offerings – Job Reconnaissance.
The decision was fortified by the fact the book was not reviewed by anyone yet. I even chuckled seeing no reviews. I remember murmuring to myself “is that because it is so easy to win an interview in the IT field?”. Boy, turned out, the book devotes only perhaps three paragraphs to the interview process itself!
Let me state right away – whoever did not read this book missed much.
Thing is, this is not that conventional book where you are getting known what you shell expect to be asked at an interview, or what you should or should not tell in an interview. So forget about this book existence and get another one if you need quick recipes style of a cookbook.
But if you get this copy you’ll look at the job hunting process from a different angle with Josh More (the author) who targets a more mature and experience audience of seemingly IT pros, just like me and probably you who rarely have more verbal expression skills than discussing recent news with a neighbor.
In my opinion, this book is not for recent grads or those who need yet another job, quick, just “to pay the bills”.
“Job Reconnaissance” book is for those who want a position to have fun, blend into the company culture, get work that is also rewarding and lasts. Both parties win. Makes a lot of sense, right? I think so.
I say the book fits best and actually must be appealing to the IT related or technically savvy people because it requires some familiarity with scripting, using the Shell may be desired and general OS tasks, but not knowing all these will not stop you from getting the most out of the book.
In return a reader would get a comprehensive set of absolutely or almost no cost tools one never suspected existed and a ton of reference to aid in a successful job hunt – this is the main treasure of this book.
I rate this book 5 out 5 because it delivers on the promise. It has the right length and difficulty level, but best read by a person who is in early stages in planning leaving one’s present employer.
Again, this book is a companion-like book about teaching you how to get a better job, will equip you with a wealth of tools, yet will allow you growing career-wise with it and it I trust remain relevant for a very long time.
Disclaimer: This book was given to me for free as part of the blogger review program by O'Reilly Media.
