Coming Back: How to Win the Job You Want When You've Lost the Job You Need

by Fawn Germer

Overview

One of Entrepreneur’s "8 Books You Should Read for a Successful 2021."

"Bestselling author and four-time Pulitzer Prize-nominee Fawn Germer offers advice about how to present yourself in the best possible way and make sure you stay relevant and valuable as an employee." —Newsweek

"Powerful tactics (and some much-needed tough love) calls to action, helping professionals who feel they’re in a stalemate in their careers learn, re-tool, connect, grow, and get ready to work again." —Forbes


A street smart, inspiring, practical, and utterly honest book for renewing or resuming your career.

Millions of mid- to late-career professionals are wondering why our careers are dying. We've been fired, downsized, job-eliminated, or we've left work voluntarily to raise children, care for loved ones, or go to school It takes twice as long to get hired, and usually for far less money than we were making. Is it age discrimination? Maybe. But it’s not that simple.

So many of us have lagged on skills and technology, shrugged off social media, or ignored the rate of change and let younger people become the face of our profession’s future. Our “track record” really doesn’t matter. We want to come back, but we aren’t ready. Coming Back offers clear advice, including:

• STOP PLAYING THE VICTIM, even if you are one.
• BRAND YOURSELF AS A CHANGE DRIVER who studies trends and studies independently so you are diving into change, not reacting to it.
• CALL IN THE CHITS. It is time to go guerrilla and bluntly ask for help from people who can get you what you want and need.
• TELL INTERVIEWERS about what you will do—don’t rely on what you have done.
• STOP GROUSING about “those millennials” and start working with them.
• BOUNCE BACK from a layoff or firing.

Coming Back shows how you can save a career if still employed or get one back if cast out. Fawn Germer, one of the nation’s most popular leadership experts and global motivational speakers, has personally interviewed more than three hundred CEOs, senior executives, professors, lawyers, organizational experts, industry leaders, and professionals. The result is a tactical, tough-love call to action: to learn, re-tool, connect, grow, and get ready to work again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250271655
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/12/2021
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	1,107,136
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Fawn Germer is one of America's most sought-after keynote speakers on leadership. A four-time Pulitzer Prize-nominated investigative journalist, she is the bestselling author of nine books, including the Oprah pick Hard Won Wisdom. She has written for The Miami Herald, The Washington Post and U.S. News and World Report. Her recent clients include Kraft, NASA, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Co., and State Farm, among others. She is based in Dunedin, Florida.

Table of Contents

Contents:

Introduction
1. Hey, What the Hell Happened to My Career?
2. The Death of Experience
3. Evolve
4. It’s Not Personal
5. Identity in Crisis
6. How to Catch Up
7. Those Millennials
8. Coming Back at Work
9. Branding Your Relevance
10. Innovators at Work
11. Don’t Let Your Career Manage You
12. Bye-Bye Dinosaur, Hello Innovator
13. Letter to Dave
14. Stop Networking Like a Wimp
15. Coming Back from a Gap
16. Coming Back from a National Crisis
17. Get Yourself Hired, Part I
18. Get Yourself Hired, Part II
19. Legal Matters
20. Defrump
21. Plan B: Be the Boss of You
22. Plan C: You Can Always Downsize and Pull a Krakel
Conclusion
Index
Acknowledgments
About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Coming Back:

“Thank you, Fawn Germer, for providing us fifty-something women with the best advice we will ever get on how to stay relevant in our careers and lives You are the friend that tells us what we don’t want to hear, but need to! Coming Back will provide its readers with a crash course in how to continually reimagine and transform who they are as leaders in this ever-changing world. As the world pivots around us these days, so too must we. Germer, in her brilliant way, provides us with the stories and sage advice of the most respected top execs, academics, and career experts. This is a must-read!”
– Sarah Alter, president and CEO, Network of Executive Women

“Germer effectively validates the unfortunate reality of age discrimination impacting millions of women and men struggling to find their fit in today’s market. Using the lens of personal accountability, she provides sage advice to combat this situation by putting a face on the enemy so it can be recognized—and through relevant tools, tackled, and even counteracted.”
– Laurie Cooke, president and CEO, Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association

“Coming Back is a wake-up call to ensure your eyes are wide open regarding your professional future.”
– Mike Crist, director of operations support, 7-Eleven

“The lessons in Coming Back are critical and will keep you marketable forever: Get out of your comfort zone. Have confidence in yourself and your ability to learn and grow. Be open to change before you are forced to do so. When you get knocked down, pick yourself up, wipe yourself off, and have the courage to press forward. And don't be afraid to ask for help along the way.”
– Mike Decandido, chief operating officer and partner, CE3 Solutions

“I generally advise people not to use any book as a playbook, but Coming Back is THE playbook. The coming-back mindset trumps your skillset and toolset…invaluable lessons for us as human beings first, then as mid- and late-career professionals second.”
– Wilson Zhu, chief operating officer, Li & Fung

“If you’re feeling stuck right now, Coming Back will help you wake up and give you a clear plan to assess your situation and focus on adding substantial long-term value.”
– Josh Ramsey, chief operating officer, Smallworld

“Whether you have had a setback, or tried a new path that is playing out differently than you expected, the need for Coming Back will be inevitable. Germer does not pull punches in conveying what works and what does not.”
– Ted Colpo, senior vice president, Essilor

“Are you a Blockbuster store, or the next Amazon? Focusing on the skills, mindset, and behavior that will make you even more valuable to an organization is always going to deliver in the long run.”
– Scott Kenyon, executive chairman, Applaudo Studios

“The book combines practical advice with more esoteric discussions of relevance, inspiration, and engagement...an engaging, well-written guide.”
– Booklist

“Bestselling author and four-time Pulitzer Prize-nominee Fawn Germer offers advice about how to present yourself in the best possible way and make sure you stay relevant and valuable as an employee.”
– Newsweek

“Powerful tactics (and some much-needed tough love) calls to action, helping professionals who feel they’re in a stalemate in their careers learn, re-tool, connect, grow, and get ready to work again.”
– Forbes

“Germer gives older job seekers the guidance they need to upgrade their tech skills, rock social media and make themselves relevant in the new world of work.”
– Entrepreneur

“This is a sit-down-now-and-listen thing, not a pep-talk so much as it's a pep-yell, sprinkled with things that no worker over 40 wants to hear, yet must…Coming Back gives direction and hope, but not just to laid-off pandemic-effected workers; it's also got advice for new moms, caretakers, retirees, and former sabbatical-takers. Read it, be relevant, and see if you're not working again soon, at last.”
–The Bookworm Sez

From the Publisher

12/18/2020

Based on over 300 interviews with managers and others, motivational speaker Germer (Work-Life Reset), has written a book intended to assist mature readers in middle or higher management positions who are dissatisfied with their work life, either because they have lost their job or because they have not received the promotions for which they think they are ready. She insists that experience is not as important as it used to be and instead people should stress how they can help a company prepare for future opportunities. Thus she suggests her readers use Youtube videos, online classes, or Ted Talks to learn about technological developments (e.g. blockchain), not to become experts but to understand what these programs are and how they can affect their industry or profession. She also recommends reading periodicals and websites that focus on your field, and building a network of colleagues, using tools like LinkedIn, to discuss possible future trends in that industry. VERDICT This book is a mixture of practical advice and motivation-speak (the latter often quite repetitive) and may appeal to older managers wanting to revitalize their careers—Shmuel Ben-Gad, Gelman Lib., George Washington Univ., Washington, DC

Library Journal