Plain-Speaking Book About Career Success

¶ … Patrick Combs Major in Success: Make College Easier, Fire Up Your Dreams, And Get A Great Job by Patrick Combs seems to cover every aspect of college, career and life in very readable terms. His frank approach inspires and is also far more enjoyable and comprehensive than some other authors who write about career success. Combs' approach is both strong and weak but the inspirational nature of the book, plus the suggested resources, make the book very useful.

Major in Success: Make College Easier, Fire Up Your Dreams, And Get A Great Job by Patrick Combs is a pointed guide about success in college and employment. Combs stresses that success requires extraordinary determination and drive (Combs 3), with a passion as powerful as a forest fire (Combs 10).

That passionate determination does not necessarily mean the highest GPA in a particular major; rather, prospective employers will want to know if a job applicant can complete work within deadlines, accomplish tasks under pressure, think analytically, work well with others in teams, write well, use a computer well, use time well, and dress suitably for the work environment (Combs 17). In sum, a successful person certainly uses college but does so in a creative way and learns marketable skills rather than a tunnel-visioned striving for high grades.

Combs also stresses a certain attitude for a successful career. In Combs' opinion, a person should pursue his/her passions because it's a waste of time to work at some job that doesn't interest him/her (Combs 21). Combs addresses the issue of money, as well, because money is certainly necessary but should not "buy" a person so he/she cannot pursue his/her passion; in fact, a person should work as though he/she does not need money (Combs 30).

Even needing money, a person should be aware that he/she has a destiny speaking to him/her through passion and dreams (Combs 32). Combs also understands that despite passion and determination, people are stopped from pursuing their dream jobs by at least six fears, including the fear of: poverty; other people's expectations; competition; making the wrong choice; lacking the right experience; failure (Combs 39). Consequently, despite cultivating passion and determination, a person can fail to keep striving for his/her dream.

In order to help people overcome the fears that stop them from pursuing their dreams, Combs suggests a plan of action. A person should pursue his/her interests and get academic credit for them (Combs 49). he/she should also put forth great energy in both work and relaxation (Combs 56). Also, though GPAs can be important, a person should not sacrifice the development of his/her social and leadership skills in order to pursue a great GPA (Combs 64).

As always, a person should be mindful of the ways he/she can fool himself/herself along the road; consequently, a person should keep using reality checks to correct his/her course to stay on the most effective path (Combs 91). A person who wishes to succeed should be an eternal student, constantly absorbing relevant material and improving skills (Combs 97). Another important aspect of success is collecting or making visible signs of a person's education, passion, creativity and productivity that help a person stand out to prospective employers (Combs 104).

Finally, it is important to connect with others who share a person's passions, determinations and careers. This can be accomplished by contacting appropriate professional organization and/or by searching ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership (www.asaecenter.org), then clicking the link for "People & Groups" and them clicking the link called "Directories" (Combs 112). Combs' action plan is designed to help a person pursue passions, develop skills, overcome fears, stand out to prospective employers, and meaningfully connect with others sharing the passion, determination and career. 2.

Analysis/Evaluation Combs certainly covers a lot of ground in a relatively short work. Other people who study career success often delve into just one aspect. For example, in Career Success: The Effects of Human Capital, Person-Environment Fit and Organizational Support, Hassan Ballout writes 24 pages in a very dry, resource-heavy, peer-reviewed article that focuses on person-environment fit and organizational support, along with knowledge of career changes as being key to a person's career success (Ballout 752).

Meanwhile, Combs discusses all those concepts using simpler, laypersons terms, and speaks directly to the reader about every other aspect of college and career success, too. Also, in Conceptualizing and Evaluating Career Success, Peter Heslin writes 23 pages in a very dry, resource-heavy, peer-reviewed article about effectively judging what people perceive about their own career success (Heslin 114). Meanwhile, Combs speaks directly to the person about his/her success and includes subjective perceptions but also trusts the individual to determine his/her success.

Compared to others who write about success, Combs' book is very "user friendly," plainspoken and comprehensive. 3. Personal Reaction Combs' Major in Success: Make College Easier, Fire Up Your Dreams, And Get A Great Job greatest strength also seems to be its greatest weakness. The book covers education, career (and life, actually), in frank, easily understood terms. Combs does not get bogged down in a single aspect of college and career success or in making sure that every point is backed up by carefully cited research.

It makes the book a relatively easy read with some excellent points and resources, inspiring the reader to trust himself/herself and go after his/her dream. The weakness in this approach is an almost flippant, unsupported approach that seems to take the reader's approach, prospective.