Career Kids

Book Review: The Adventures of Johnny Bunko

The following review is by 19-year old college student Alex Starr. Alex is a sophomore at California State University Channel Islands.

At first glance, I had definitely judged the book by its cover and quickly stereotyped it. The book's anime-style drawings (by Rob Ten Pas) makes it look like it's intended for kids, although I know other teens and adults do enjoy the style.

My opinion quickly changed once I started reading the book. It's well written, informative and entertaining, as it uses quite a lot of humor to make its points. I think I even laughed out loud at one or two parts.

The main thing that caught my eye was the way the author, Daniel H. Pink, was able to relate to young, career-set men and women. The problems the main character was facing were difficulties that not only I had thought of and been through, but many of my friends as well.

The storyline kept me interested, and even while learning was taking place, I never felt like putting it down. Some of this learning includes lessons such as "persistence trumps talent," "think strengths, not weaknesses" and the number one lesson was "there is no plan."

The rest of the story basically builds on that concept and shows you how you can be successful and enjoy yourself in ways you never thought possible.

I would recommend this book to anybody who is in high school, college, or starting off in their career. Older adults could even benefit from this book if they feel their career is heading in a direction they were not planning on. It only took me about 25 minutes to read it, and the benefits are substantial.

Links to Career Articles

Here are some links to internet articles I've found that our readers may be interested in:

A New York Times article explains how the decrease of women in the workplace is not due to their choice to leave, but is due to the economic downturn. My personal feeling is that I find it annoying that economists were theorizing that women were choosing to go back to full-time homemaking. Don't get irritated with me... I love that there are choices, but I wonder if people just always assume that most woman prefer to not be in the workforce. (You can tell I came of age in the 70's. It drives my teenage son crazy) Read more...

USA Today reports about the high enrollment community colleges are experiencing. Not a surprise when you consider the quality education a student can get without the high cost of a four-year university (it is then only costly for two years -- but well worth the investment). It's time community colleges got some respect! Read more...

Due to a shortage of skilled workers in the energy industry, the Federal government has just announced $10 million of grants to organizations committed to train workers. Read more...

Also... Federal minimum wage has increased $6.55 starting today. (It's $8.00 an hour in California.)

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