Recalculating: Navigate Your Career Through the Changing World of Work

by Lindsey Pollak

Overview

A leading workplace expert provides an inspirational, practical, and forward-looking career playbook for recent grads, career changers, and transitioning professionals looking to thrive in today’s rapidly evolving workplace.

Covid-19 has heightened career uncertainty in a work landscape dominated by turbulence and change, and it is directly impacting how people are entering—or re-entering—the workplace. But as Lindsey Pollak makes clear, the pandemic merely accelerated career and hiring trends that have been building. Changes that were once slowly spreading have been rapidly implemented across all industries. 

This means that the old job hunting and career success rules no longer apply. Job seekers of all generations and skill sets must learn how to thrive in this “new normal,” which will include a hybrid of remote and in-person experiences, increased reliance on virtual communication and automation, constant disruption, and renewed employer emphasis on workers’ health and well-being.

While this new world is complicated and constantly evolving, you won’t have to navigate it alone. For twenty years, Pollak has been following the trends and successfully advising young professionals and organizations on workplace success. Now, she guides you through the changes currently happening—and those to come. Combining insights from both experts and professionals across generations, she provides encouraging, strategic, and actionable advice on making lifelong decisions about education; building a resilient personal brand; using virtual communication to remotely interview, network, and work; skilling and reskilling for the future; and maintaining self-care and mental health.

Like your personal GPS, Pollak equips you to handle workplace obstacles, helping you see them as challenges to navigate rather than impossible roadblocks. There is no perfect path to a dream career, but with Recalculating you’ll be prepared with the necessary skills and tools to succeed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063067707
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/23/2021
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	382,855
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 5.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Lindsey Pollak is the leading expert on succeeding in today's multigenerational workplace, and the New York Times bestselling author of Becoming the Boss: New Rules for the Next Generation of Leaders, Getting from College to Career: Your Essential Guide to Succeeding in the Real World, and The Remix: How to Lead and Succeed in the Multigenerational Workplace. She was named in the 2020 Thinkers50 Radar List of global management thinkers whose work is shaping the future of how organizations are managed and led. Her speaking audiences and consulting clients have included over 250 corporations, law firms, conferences, and universities, including Aetna, Citi, Estee Lauder, GE, Google, JP Morgan, LinkedIn, PwC, Yale, Harvard, Wharton and Stanford. She has been featured on the Today show, CNN, and NPR, and in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. She is a graduate of Yale University.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Five Rules for Recalculates 15

1 Adjust Your Mindset Approach Recalculation with a Positive Attitude-and a Little Less Instagram 19

2 Forge Your New Path Prepare for Recalculation by Clarifying Your Goals, Assessing Your Strengths and Educational Credentials, and Better Managing Your Time and Energy 51

3 Your Career Story Clarify Your Personal Brand and "Soft" and "Hard" Skills, and Communicate Your Story Through Your Résumé, Cover Letters, LinkedIn, and Other Social Media 87

4 Networking in the "New Normal" Tap the Power of Relationships by Building, Maintaining, and Leveraging Your Contacts Both in Person and Virtually 143

5 Ace the Job Search Build Your Expertise in Twenty-First-Century Job Hunting, from Job Boards to Employer Research to Virtual Interviewing to Embracing Imperfect Pancakes 187

6 Turn Any Job into a Great Job Transform Every Position into an Opportunity to Build Your Skills, Network, Self-Awareness, and Future Opportunities 237

7 Move On and Move Up Meet Real-Life Recalculators Who Have Put the Lessons of This Book into Action 269

Conclusion 283

Acknowledgments 285

Notes 287

Index 295

Editorial Reviews

"Always be recalculating. We get one journey in this lifetime. And that journey should be filled with recalculations. Those who live in fear of change will lose. Don’t be afraid to recalculate. Lindsey Pollak is spot-on. Buy this book!" — Kara Goldin, founder and CEO of Hint, Inc., and author of Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters

"Recalculating is the career guide that I wish I’d had when I was going through my own career transition." — Minda Harts, author of The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table

"Lindsey Pollak is a master at career development with the experience, wisdom, and connections you are looking for to help you with your career. In Recalculating, Lindsey provides very specific and actionable advice on how to shift your mindset, set big goals, build your network, and get the job you want. This book should be the standard for anyone looking for a new job or career in 2020 and beyond. If you find yourself recalculating and searching for your next career, you’ve got to read this book! Start today!" — Andy Storch, author of Own Your Career Own Your Life: Stop Drifting and Take Control of Your Future

"Living, working, and attempting to thrive during a pandemic mean all bets are off. Uncertainty is our common denominator. No one is better suited to be our guide through these challenging times than the bestselling author Lindsey Pollak. In Recalculating, she provides the master road map for anyone seeking a new role or new job, or taking on a career transition. It’s a must-read." — Susan McPherson, CEO and author of The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Business Relationships

"Lindsey Pollak applies her time-tested workplace expertise to our current moment of uncertainty and deftly offers an inspiring and concrete path forward. Recalculating is chock-full of actionable advice for forging your dream career against the backdrop of a volatile job market, all filtered through Pollak’s accessible and uplifting voice. That powerful combination makes Recalculating a must-read for early- and late-stage professionals alike, and a refreshingly bright moment of hope in an otherwise chaotic era." — Jennifer Brown, founder and CEO of Jennifer Brown Consulting and author of How to be an Inclusive Leader: Your Role in Creating Cultures of Belonging Where Everyone Can Thrive

"Recalculating is an amazing mindset-shift career-development book. During this digital age, social media has increased professionals’ anxiety and depression as they navigate challenges such as unemployment and the COVID-19 pandemic. But this book provides innovative ways for professionals to adopt a growth mindset during difficult times. Recalculating will help professionals of all levels expand their professional networks, create work-life balance boundaries, and negotiate their salaries. Our personal brands matter, but recalculating our mindsets produces unstoppable results." — Kanika Tolver, CEO and author of Career Rehab: Rebuild Your Personal Brand and Rethink the Way You Work

"With Recalculating, Lindsey Pollak has provided a well-researched, inclusive, instructive, practical, and fun (!) read for folks figuring out how to build, grow, or restart their career in a post-COVID world. Her tips are specific. Her tactics are clear, and the benefits are immediately obvious. This is a must-read for career builders, shifters, and reinventors." — Jeff Gothelf, author of Forever Employable: How to Stop Looking for Work and Let Your Next Job Find You

"A must-read if you're struggling with your career during this tumultuous time." — Next Avenue

From the Publisher

"Always be recalculating. We get one journey in this lifetime. And that journey should be filled with recalculations. Those who live in fear of change will lose. Don’t be afraid to recalculate. Lindsey Pollak is spot-on. Buy this book!"

Kara Goldin

"With Recalculating, Lindsey Pollak has provided a well-researched, inclusive, instructive, practical, and fun (!) read for folks figuring out how to build, grow, or restart their career in a post-COVID world. Her tips are specific. Her tactics are clear, and the benefits are immediately obvious. This is a must-read for career builders, shifters, and reinventors."

Jeff Gothelf

"Living, working, and attempting to thrive during a pandemic mean all bets are off. Uncertainty is our common denominator. No one is better suited to be our guide through these challenging times than the bestselling author Lindsey Pollak. In Recalculating, she provides the master road map for anyone seeking a new role or new job, or taking on a career transition. It’s a must-read."

Susan McPherson

"Recalculating is the career guide that I wish I’d had when I was going through my own career transition."

Minda Harts

"Recalculating is an amazing mindset-shift career-development book. During this digital age, social media has increased professionals’ anxiety and depression as they navigate challenges such as unemployment and the COVID-19 pandemic. But this book provides innovative ways for professionals to adopt a growth mindset during difficult times. Recalculating will help professionals of all levels expand their professional networks, create work-life balance boundaries, and negotiate their salaries. Our personal brands matter, but recalculating our mindsets produces unstoppable results."

Kanika Tolver

"Lindsey Pollak applies her time-tested workplace expertise to our current moment of uncertainty and deftly offers an inspiring and concrete path forward. Recalculating is chock-full of actionable advice for forging your dream career against the backdrop of a volatile job market, all filtered through Pollak’s accessible and uplifting voice. That powerful combination makes Recalculating a must-read for early- and late-stage professionals alike, and a refreshingly bright moment of hope in an otherwise chaotic era."

Jennifer Brown

"Lindsey Pollak is a master at career development with the experience, wisdom, and connections you are looking for to help you with your career. In Recalculating, Lindsey provides very specific and actionable advice on how to shift your mindset, set big goals, build your network, and get the job you want. This book should be the standard for anyone looking for a new job or career in 2020 and beyond. If you find yourself recalculating and searching for your next career, you’ve got to read this book! Start today!"

Andy Storch

"A must-read if you're struggling with your career during this tumultuous time."

Next Avenue