Recently, I had the pleasure of reading John White’s book “Help! My job Sucks and I Can’t Take it Anymore!”

From the get go, I could tell that this was quite a different take on the working world than the typical “How to Quit your job” or “Ways to Strike it Rich and Never Have to Work Again” fare.

John opens with a history about his own (often hilarious) experiences related to his various adventures on the job front. We journey with him as he goes from working at a seafood restaurant to the power company (and engaging in some pretty funny pranks with his co-workers) to learning the ropes at a more white-collar technology positions in the 90’s.

As a reader I got quite the colorful perspective about these various lines of work and what they really entail (I’ll admit, I didn’t know as much about the blue-collar world!) Perhaps one of the most important messages to take from this book is how perilous our professional lives really are. John tells many a sordid tail of his co-workers being outsourced and then shamefully made to gather their things as they escorted out the door by security. Unfortunately this kind of thing happens with increasing frequency today, both figuratively and literally.

The book also has plenty of advice on how to tell when the time is right to quit your job and move on to a better place. At the end of each section John compares and contrasts the professional lesson he learned from each experience. While this seems like a benign inclusion, in my opinion these tidbits are the soul of the book. If we look back on our own professional lives and how they have developed we will see how we have (or have not) learned various lessons and can then apply them to future situations.

In the final stages of his professional life John finally figures out what he really enjoys doing with his life. He’s found his professional niche, and paints a wonderful and realistic picture of what that can be like for you. It was a long, winding journey for John, but an interesting one.

Hopefully I’ll reach my professional mecca one day too.

This is a fun, humorous and inspiring book. Check out the link on the left sidebar to purchase a copy!