Day: November 19, 2022

Book review: ‘The #PACE Process for Early Career Success’ by Mark Zides

‘The #PACE Process for Early Career Success’ is the new business career guide by Mark Zides. Photo: Amazon

Mark Zides is the founder and CEO of CoreAxis Consulting, an award-winning custom learning and development, professional and leadership development, and talent management firm. CoreAxis partners with companies such as Amazon, Thermo-Fisher Scientific, Netflix, Nestle, and more, to develop innovative immersive learning solutions for their workforce. Over his 30 years advising clients on building future leaders and talent for organizations of all sizes, Mark brings a thoughtful and impactful coaching model to many aspiring trailblazers. Mark is now the bestselling author of “The #PACE Process for Early Career Success.” This book is impacting the lives of young Millennials and Gen Z professionals and helping them thrive in their careers. (Amazon, 2022)

“The #PACE Process for Early Career Success” – With the structure of the workforce changing now more than ever, it pays to shift our views regarding job search and career success. This book is designed to help you unlock the mindset, traits, and techniques needed to Plan, Apply for, Commit to, and Evaluate your ideal career path. In fact, those are the 4 sections of the book: Prepare, Apply, Commit, and Evaluate. Whether you plan to enter the corporate world, join a startup, or start your own business, you will learn how to build a network, master interviewing skills, leverage your personal brand, and even how and when to move on to your next opportunity. With more than twenty years of experience as an entrepreneur, businessman, and CEO, Mark Zides teaches young adults the skills they need to get their feet in the door, climb the ladder, and not stop achieving until they find success. In the Introduction, he makes it a point to introduce himself, his background, and what qualifies him to give the advice in this book. He is from a working class family and knows what it is like to work for a living and his own career path has not been easy. The material covers topics like job hunting, networking, and interviewing skills as well has how to find success in your given career once you get a job.

Career guides are invaluable sources of job search and career advice. “The #PACE Process for Early Career Success” is definitely no exception. Mark Zides uses real life examples, research, and sometimes some tough love to arm workers with the necessary skills to not just survive the modern workforce but to thrive. When looking through job listings, he advises, “….if you don’t like the language used in the ad, respect that feeling. It won’t get better, that much I can assure you.” His tone is approachable and the language used is easy to understand and follow. The chapter layouts makes the information easy to understand. Highlights include Chapter 4 Personal Brand, Résumés, & Cover Letters especially the section Company Red Flags, which describes how to identify what the company is looking for and their culture, and Chapter 7 Once You’re In which explains the importance of reading the contract when being offered a new job and creating a 90 Day Plan once you accept the job offer. The focused demographic is young people starting off their careers, but anyone looking for a career change, or even looking for a job, can benefit from it. Even if you are not currently job searching, the chapters on how to recognize burnout and how to know when it is time to move on are extremely informative. “The #PACE Process for Early Career Success” is the definitive guide for working professionals, both young and old and is a must-read for recent college graduates ready to enter the workforce. It is recommended for readers interested in career guides, books on job hunting and interviewing skills, and those looking for a refresher course in career management.

“…the ability to lead, communicate, adapt to change, and problem-solve when things don’t go your way (without taking it personally) are the most important skills that young professionals need to obtain for their long term success” – Joe Lazarek (Foreword)

Rating: 4 out of 5.

*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.

New book release: ‘The Campaign of Peerless Kent’ by Erik Hengstrum

‘The Campaign of Peerless Kent: Thirty-one-year-old Calabasas resident Peerless Kent is forced into a political deathmatch against one of the most dangerous Congressmen in America.” Photo: Erik Hengstrum, used with permission.

Erik Hengstrum has a decade-plus of success as a content writer working on the client side for a slew of startups and a boutique commercial printer. He wrote radio commercials for one of the largest media companies in the world. Or as he likes to call them, thirty-second and one-minute stories about a product. Erik wrote most of the “The Campaign of Peerless Kent” at different locations, up and down Pacific Coast Highway with the ocean breeze at his back and high-powered motorcycles ringing his eardrums. (Erik Hengstrum, 2022)

“The Campaign of Peerless Kent” – At thirty-one, Peerless Kent has lived an unremarkable and love-starved life. He dreams of doing something momentous with his life one day but just has not found the right moment until it finds him. Peerless is bullied into running against Congressman Benjamin Woods. Congressman Woods has become one of the most feared men in Washington D.C. while staying one of the most loved men in Calabasas. After only one hour into the campaign that everybody believes is doomed, Peerless is forced to stand in front of a massive crowd at the Calabasas Cowboy Cookout and fight for his life.

On a campaign trail full of disaster and eventually physical danger the one thing happens to Peerless that he never saw coming, he falls in love with a woman who is deep into Congressman’s Woods inner circle. Can Peerless Kent win a few votes? Can he give a speech without being booed or having something thrown at him? Can he win the heart of the woman of his dreams? Can he even survive until election night? As you tag along with Peerless Kent on this journey, you will laugh and be stunned!

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