The Anti 9 to 5 Guide: practical career advice for women who think outside the cube

Reading this book on the subway at 8:30am, I see people looking at me. When I place it on my desk at my day job, I turn it face down. Why am I so self-conscious when I’m reading a book called The Anti 9 to 5 Guide around the nine-to-five crowd? I guess I don’t want to insult anyone. But sure, I picked up this book from the BP office because… I want out. And if there are secrets to getting out, I want in.

While it turns out that Michelle Goodman does have some tricks up her former white-collared shirt’s sleeve, most of them are common sense. Such as, think about what you’re going to do with yourself before you leap out of the nine-tofive grind. Goodman gives some helpful hints on how to determine what career path will make you happy, for those who simply want out but don’t know where they want to go once the escape is made.

She tells us to think about money and to start networking and to also pick the brains of people who have already made it to where we want to be. Even though she is a freelance writer, Goodman brings in enough examples of women who have small clothing businesses, help people climb mountains (literally) and work for not-for-profit groups that balance out the advice to suit anyone who’s looking for a change.

The section on time management was my favourite part. ‘I should probably read it again,’ I think to myself as I hand in this review a few days later than I had intended… (Lindsay Gibb)

by Michelle Goodman, $18.50, 220 pgs, Publishers Group Canada, 559 College St, Suite 402, Toronto ON, M6G 1A6, pgcbooks.ca