Am I on Speaker?: A Self-Help Guide for the Young Professional

By: Kivrin Vantage

Narrated by: Kivrin Vantage PhD

Length: 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Don't look for this stuff in the employee manual! Learn how to navigate the workplace as a young professional, with tips on everything from shared office etiquette to whether you should friend your boss on social media.

©2019 Kivrin Vantage, PhD (P)2019 Kivrin Vantage, PhD

Workplace Advice For Beginners

I started listening to Am I On Speaker? knowing that I probably wasn't its target audience, but hoping that I could get something beneficial out of it anyway. I've recently discovered that I enjoy listening to self-help business audiobooks because they give me useful information and helpful insights into the world of business. I discovered this by listening to Tools to Succeed a few months ago.

Am I On Speaker? is less than an hour long, so I figured it would be condensed and to the point. Unfortunately, it was also very basic. I say 'unfortunately' because it felt like more than half of the information given was commonsense stuff. But I know that everyone has to start somewhere, so Am I On Speaker? is likely meant to serve an introductory purpose. I can't see it geared toward anyone with any type of prior workplace experience or anyone coming out of business school. It seems more likely that someone working their first job, possibly in or just out of high school would benefit most from Am I On Speaker?.

Vantage does a fine job of covering the many common scenarios a young professional is likely to face in the workplace, from the first day until the last. Because of the brevity of this audiobook, she didn't have a chance to delve too deeply into any particular area, but rather provided a general overview of each. The advice given was the sound, much like what I'd expect to hear from a parent, mentor, counselor, or anyone with a decade or two of workplace experience. Vantage is constantly reminding the listener to consider the larger picture and not get caught up in minute squabbles that could affect one's ultimate career trajectory.

The ending, when it came, was rather abrupt. Given the amount of introduction in the beginning, I was expecting a lengthier conclusion (or a conclusion at all). Am I On Speaker? is a very basic introduction to this topic and I definitely feel there was room for expansion on several of the topics. Starting with the basics is fine, but it ended their as well. I would have liked to have seen more insight. It felt like this could have used some polishing before publication, but it's not a bad value for the money.

Narration review: However, I do question Dr. Vantage's decision to narrate this audiobook. I'm not sure what precipitated that the decision, but in my opinion, it definitely had a detrimental effect on the overall listening experience. The sound quality was poor and the obvious lack of narration experience was a constant distraction from the material. Additionally, the music played in the background during the entire audiobook severely undermined the desired impression of professionalism. If I were to recommend Am I On Speaker? to anyone, I would recommend picking up the e-book instead. I would also recommend that Vantage hire a professional narrator to record any future audiobooks. ♣︎

A homerun!

Witty, insightful, informative and thought-provoking, this is an excellent read for anybody who is looking to polish their professional and interpersonal workplace skills. The narrator did a great job with inflection, pace and annunciation.

What I really appreciated about the book was the focus on real life situations that can be encountered at the workplace that no one ever tells you about until you're already in the thick of it. I thought it was brilliant how the author not only touched upon resignation tips, but advice for what to do if you would like to return to a job from which you previously resigned.

I appreciated the breadth and depth of tips that the book provides, including lunchtime/breakroom etiquette, what to do if a conflict arises between coworkers (even including an employee and his or her boss!), overtime, volunteering, and even friending your co-workers on social media.