Reinventing You

Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future

By: Dorie Clark

Narrated by: Karen Saltus

Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

A step-by-step guide to reinventing you

Are you where you want to be professionally? Whether you want to advance faster at your present company, change jobs, or make the jump to a new field entirely, the goal is clear: to build a career that thrives on your unique passions and talents. But to achieve this in today’s competitive job market, it’s almost certain that at some point you’ll need to reinvent yourself professionally. Consider this audiobook your road map for the next phase of your career journey.

In Reinventing You, branding expert Dorie Clark provides a step-by-step guide to help you assess your unique strengths, develop a compelling personal brand, and ensure that others recognize the powerful contribution you can make. Mixing personal stories with engaging interviews and examples from well-known personalities - Mark Zuckerberg, Al Gore, Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin, and others - Reinventing You shows how to think big about your professional goals, take control of your career, build a reputation that opens doors for you, and finally live the life you want.

©2013 Dorie Clark (P)2013 Gildan Media LLC

Critic reviews

“Be forewarned...you need this audiobook! The good news is that you will love it and can make it the foundation of the next steps of your career and your life.” (Len Schlesinger, President, Babson College; former Vice Chairman and COO, Limited Brands; coauthor, Just Start: Take Action, Embrace Uncertainty, Create the Future)

“At a time when social media have made it more important than ever to manage your reputation wisely, Dorie Clark has put together an essential guide to doing just that.” (Bo Burlingham, author, Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big; Editor at Large, Inc. magazine)

All common sense ideas.

There was nothing revealed in the book that could not have been found by searching the internet for 10 quick tips to market yourself.

Not my call to action

Dorie shares some tremendous insights, and crystallizes many aspects of success into a simple action plan. Each chapter though left me feeling more and more alienated, thinking 'That's a whole lotta work'. For someone wholeheartedly into the title, it might change their life. For someone who enjoyed hearing Dorie on a podcast and curious about what this is all about, like me, it might seem like a uni textbook or workbook. It holds some interest, I got something from it, but I'm feeling I'm fine without following it completely.

Very basic ... Might be good if you're 25?

I was disappointed in the book ... The ideas were obvious, the examples questionable, the narrative grating... Overall I had a really hard time justifying the time to finish it. The author states as one point that due to the Internet there is little cost to publish your intellectual property .... Well just because it's published doesn't mean you should spend your valuable time reading it. This is quite possibly the worst book I've read in years

Average

What would have made Reinventing You better?

It looks as the same help me save my career book.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I needs more enthusiasm and experienced people. how about life stages, time changes, life cycles, generation prospective, positiveness, hope and family balance.

How could the performance have been better?

The author has made a great contribution but it lack international experiece

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Reinventing You?

No

Any additional comments?

No

A Must Read!

Would you consider the audio edition of Reinventing You to be better than the print version?

A reader can learn different aspects from either experience. I would recommend both!

What did you like best about this story?

I appreciate the various anecdotes that are told throughout the book to illustrate different career moves and considerations at pivotal points in the career journey. There are many key takeaways that are applicable to many different career paths. I plan to pull out the key points in a list and keep them on hand to remind myself.

Which character – as performed by Karen Saltus – was your favorite?

I did not have a favorite character.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I preferred to listen section by section due to time constraints.

Any additional comments?

This book is a must read for student and practitioner alike! Dorie leaves the reader with critical takeaways that are both refreshing and insightful. I found this book very helpful in redirecting my career search in a meaningful and positive manner. I refer to this book periodically to remind myself of key points, as I negotiate my next move. This book gives you the tools to intelligently navigate your career with critial professional insights for the career of today.

A Methodical Approach to Find a Career You'll Love

Would you consider the audio edition of Reinventing You to be better than the print version?

I enjoy listening to the audio edition. The narrator was very clear and pleasant. I usually refer to the print edition after listening audiobooks, so that I can re-read specific pages or references.

There's a self-assessment questionnaire in the appendix of the print edition that doesn't appear to be available to audiobook customers.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the step-by-step framework that the book provides for finding and preparing yourself for a new career. This includes learning about how you're perceived by colleagues and friends, seeking out informational interviews and mentors, test-driving potential professions, and explaining your career transition to others.This book provides a very well thought out approach for anyone considering a career change, whether or not they know what they want to do next. Many relevant examples and best practices of how others have succeeded in their career transitions are provided in each chapter.

What does Karen Saltus bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

No, but she is definitely one of the stronger narrators that I've heard.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Reinventing You by Dorie Clark. Nothing wrong with the title, but then again I'm not a filmmaker.

Any additional comments?

A lot of very practical advice and a framework to bring it all together. The way that people prepare for and find their next job has changed dramatically over the past few years. This book brought me up-to-date on how I can use this to my advantage.

Largely Forgettable..... Don't waste your time

What disappointed you about Reinventing You?

Very basic with nothing new to add to the conversation. A total waste of time.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Anything else

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Karen Saltus?

She was ok

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment in the massive waste of time.

Any additional comments?

I wish I could have the 4 hours back in my life.

This book gave me all the answers

It is hard for me to find a book I can stick with. I don’t have a lot of patience when I’m looking for answers. I don’t want to listen to “fluff” that doesn’t pertain to my immediate quest.

This book was everything I was looking for and more. I appreciated the detail of each chapter and how it didn’t “beat around the bush”. It really opened my mind to new opportunities and avenues to explore. I highly recommend EVERYONE to read this book, because it’s not just about your career, it’s about your image as a person. Everybody has an image. This book gives you the tools to help you shape your image to be as good as you work to make it.

A waist of time.

It's s amazing how someone can write about nothing and get published. I had very high expectations, considering that this book was written by an HBS professor.

Valuable for getting you headed in a new direction

Would you listen to Reinventing You again? Why?

No, because the information was easy to absorb and clear on the first listen. However, I could see someone re-listening to it easily. Also, it's not a book that you have to read from start to finish. It's easy to do a chapter or two one day and then another chapter the next. You won't get lost.

What about Karen Saltus’s performance did you like?

I have purchased books by Gildan Media before and been sorely disappointed in their production and content. But, since this book was recommended by a friend, I thought it would make a good commute book and if production disappointed, I'd just read the book. Either they came to the realization that they needed quality voice talent or it was just a stroke of luck, but Karen Saltus' read of the work was wonderful. Engaging, nice pace, a few mispronunciations or possibly regional pronunciations, but, nothing glaring or that I can even remember now. I'm not saying that I'd listen to Karen read the phone book, but I'd sit and listen to her read the Yellow Pages ads.

Good content, valuable learning for change

lots of valuable tips to change personal brand. Definitely worth a read, solid 8/10.

Lots of practical ideas & evidence to reinvention

Easy to follow book with actionable ideas and plans and good examples on reinvention. useful and down to earth. Thank you Dorie Clark
What I would add: more powerful profound and moving questions (i.e. psychotherapy type) that help guide / challenge your own ideas of reinvention; it would probably make it more impactful.
not sure if the paper version has space for "answers" but it could easily have "workbook" sections - format. On the audio version, it could encourage to write down answers.