Review of Christine Fader's Career Cupid

Your Guide To Landing and Loving Your Dream Job

Sep 12, 2009

Fader's "Career Cupid: Your Guide To Landing and Loving Your Dream Job" uses the romantic analogy of dating and relationships to job hunting and finding employment.

As a career counsellor, Christine Fader has worked with many people who are continually job hunting and looking for that perfect or dream job. In their quest for employment, these job hunters remind Fader of those on a quest for the perfect partner - as they become infatuated with one job but quickly lose interest as the bloom comes off the rose, so to speak. Everyone is looking for a "Happily Ever After" in both career and personal relations. And so her book Career Cupid: Your Guide To Landing and Loving Your Dream Job is born.

Lighthearted View of Comparing Career Searching to Soul Mate Searching

While stating the book is aimed at women, the word women should be defined as those in the early years of working. Under 30 (or under 25?) may be too old an age category. Suffice to say though, this does not detract from the "funness" of the book. Just be forewarned, if readers are of a more mature, working nature.

Basically, the book is divided into four major sections: Career Dating: Why finding your dream job is like dating; Diving into the Job Dating Pool: On the way to your dream job; Landing your Dream Job: And living happily ever after at work; Lipstick, Business Letters and Other Tools of the Trade: Useful information for your journey to Happily Ever After. Each section is comprised of a few short chapters, for a grand total of 18. So this is an easy reading book, breezy and cute.

Business Affairs of Finding Employment are Like Affairs of the Heart

Using anecdotal situations from her friends, Fader compares the affairs of the heart with the business affairs of finding employment. This is a lighthearted and fun (yes, poking fun included) attempt to show the similarities of not just how soul mate searching and career searching are combined, but how many women still pick their job the same way they pick their men – same mistakes all over again.

And yes, it is somewhat stereotyped, and disappointing to see those stereotypes upheld in the 21st century. Fortunately, Fader does mention that Hollywood is not real, so not to expect what is seen in the movies or Reality TV is a mode to copy. And there are some solid career searching tips throughout the book – more geared to those just new to the working life or employment search. Nothing wrong with that. Just nothing new either.

Bottom Line

Career Cupid: Your Guide To Landing and Loving Your Dream Job is meant to be fun, and it can be. Using the romantic analogy to compare job hunting to partner hunting can be cute, but does become very stereotyping, and not something to be recommended as a guide to follow. As a quick fun book it can be appealing, but definitely not something today's women might want their daughters to follow. In fact, a 22 year old daughter did go through the book, and found it somewhat insulting to her intelligence, but still a cute read.

Fader, Christine. Career Cupid: Your Guide To Landing and Loving Your Dream Job. Coquitlam, BC Canada: Writing on Stone Press Inc., 2009

The copyright of the article Review of Christine Fader's Career Cupid in Career Planning is owned by Paym Bergson. Permission to republish Review of Christine Fader's Career Cupid in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.