The book starts with the perspective of the "bust" after the Internet "boom" of the late 1990s. IT jobs are harder to find, harder to keep and pay less. New graduates with certifications can no longer expect to launch into high-profile career jobs. In fact, the first job may be an apparent step backward. Mr. Moran argues that the new graduate should look upon such situations as an opportunity to learn . . . especially about the organization, rather than just about IT.

That philosophy echoes throughout the book as he argues for IT professionals emphasizing their learning about how to make profits for the company by adding value . . . rather than just being technically up-to-date. The advice will seem counter-intuitive so some . . . know less about more . . . rather than more about less.

I'm not an IT professional, but I often work with these talented people and I teach many IT professionals about business. From my perspective, the great value of the book is to round out the world view of an IT professional for the purpose of making the person more effective . . . rather than more efficient. Nice!

At the same time, any book that aims to cover every subject from managing your attitude to networking with other professionals to telecommuting to negotiating a salary to mentoring others to managing your personal finances is bound to be many leagues wide and about an inch deep. As a result, many of the chapters will not be very useful except to those with no experience and no one to talk to. In the whole cover letter to on-the-job promotion section (chapters 9-16), I found myself wishing he had simply provided a list of great books on these subject and added one or two pages about what's different for IT professionals.

I liked chapters 5 (Self-Assessment), 6 (Attitude), 19 (The Move to Management), and 21 (Concept over Process) best. The rest didn't seem to add much value compared to more focused books on those topics I have read. Of the four strong chapters, I found 21 a trifle confusing and weighed down with a bit too much jargon for my taste.

Overall, I think this book will be of most benefit to soon-to-be-graduates and those who are stalled in their careers and aren't quite sure what to do about overcoming the stalls.

Good luck!