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I read with some dismay the review by Michael Caswell of the book Career Management for Scientists and Engineers by John K. Borchardt (Oxford, 2000). My own examination of the book led me to write my own review and this rebuttal to Caswell's review.
Contrary to Caswell's review, Borchardt successfully aimed this book at both students and mid-career scientists and engineers. The section on "Today's New Working World" is not obsolete but stresses flexibility in the face of rapid change. No, good job performance doesn't necessarily lead to continued employment, but Borchardt acknowledges that. Just as invention favors the prepared mind, honing one's job performance is better than fatalistically doing nothing. One wonders what Caswell's alternative would be for career management.
Caswell describes Borchardt's writing style as "folksy", but at least it has a low Fog Index and is easy to read. Like Borchardt, I don't believe, as Caswell apparently does, that all job application processes have migrated to email and that cover letters are now obsolete. Also, "War Stories" are an interesting and valuable method of presenting employment processes.
Concerning presentations, just as we can still respond to our teenagers that "Not everyone is doing it", we also know that not everyone makes all of their presentations with laptops and PC projectors (after all, the ACS just started routinely offering these as standard meeting-room equipment at the Spring 2001 National Meeting). In addition, Borchardt's book was originally slated to be published by ACS Books, but publication was delayed by the controversial decision to restructure that ACS Division.
Through his extensive references and quotes from personal contact, Borchardt has managed to apply career management thinking and practice to the careers of scientists and engineers. Since the book is aimed at career management in general and not just for job hunting, I believe this resource to be valuable to scientists and deserves a fair review. In addition, it deserves to be available in libraries, both personal and organizational. After an unfortunate delay, it will be displayed at the ACS Career Resource Center at ACS National Meetings and will appear in the ACS publication Resources for Career Management.
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