Author Siddhi Shah has a BS in Biology, a Masters in Biotechnology, and an MBA but–as a corporate strategist and marketer–she’s mostly used the last degree professionally. Her book, THE CAREER LAB FORMULA (subtitle: “8 Easy Steps to Get You From College to a Career in STEM”) is suitable for any recent college graduate in any field. Written in an informal style (“Congrats on finishing college! I hope you’re super proud of yourself”) it goes into what might seem like nitpicking detail on how to go about applying for a job. Her eight steps include (1) Have a schedule, (2) Create a resumé and cover letter, (3) Create a LinkedIn profile, (4) Look for a job, (5) network, (6) Prep for interviews, (7) Negotiate, and (8) Fix your background.
In each of these areas, Shah goes into the nitty-gritty of what needs to be done, at times making what would seem to be obvious or self-evident points. For instance, she advises the male applicants to wear a suit jacket, plain collar shirt and tie, and the female ones a blazer, plain blouse, and minimal makeup. When doing online interviews, make sure your room is neat. Also, don’t do drugs —at least, not while you’re looking for a job. All this might just indicate that today’s college graduates have no common sense and need to be handheld through even the simplest procedures. Even if this is generally true, however, Shah’s book is supposedly only for STEM graduates. But these are young people with a minimum SAT score of 1680 and an IQ of 130 (compared to liberal arts majors, for example, who average 1614 and 120, respectively). Not only are they unlikely to need simplistic advice, but they would probably find Shah’s dumbed-down approach, including the breezy prose style, off-putting.
More importantly, at several points, she emphasizes the need for ‘soft’ skills, including public speaking. Yet, presumably, STEM recruiters and managers would be well aware that individuals with STEM skills, particularly in mathematics and physics, tend to be socially awkward and would take this into account when hiring. Only the Appendix, which lists both STEM and non-STEM jobs that STEM grads can apply for, is really specific to this cohort. Apart from that, the book is quite useful for any graduate. There are useful tips on all the basics that every job-seeker should know, so Shah isn’t really offering any “formula”. But having a structured process is always better, if only for confidence building.
Written in a breezy prose style, Siddhi Shah’s THE CAREER LAB FORMULA is suitable for any recent college graduate in any field and while not offering a “formula” per se, presenting advise in a structured process is always better, if only for confidence building.
~Kevin Baldeosingh for IndieReader