Member Reviews
Welcome to The 4 Jobs Club where women juggle caring for children, aging parents, home, and career while not forgetting to care for themselves.
I became a first-time mom this year—straight to having twins! I was desperate to find a new balance in life while doing my best to do it all. I wish I had found this book earlier, but still, it's never too late to read it.
The 4 Jobs Club uncovers the experiences of 50 C-suite (aka extremely hardworking, ambitious, and busy) women and presents over 200 practical tips that you can apply right now. The book's author, Kathryn Sollmann, is an active member of this "club" herself. She raised two daughters while continuing to achieve her professional goals.
I liked how easy it is to read the book as the issues discussed are topical. I found some solutions extremely helpful and insightful, and I will apply them in my own life.
The only disadvantage of this book for me is its structure. The 4 Jobs Club is divided into two parts: the information about the women whom Kathryn Sollmann interviewed for the book, and the tips themselves. When I first picked up the book, I didn't know what kind of tips I would find in it, so reading about the women who provided them seemed pointless. It was way more interesting and insightful to read more about several of the interviewees after completing the second part of the book. The part with the tips also had its flaws for me. The list of tips at the beginning of each chapter encourages quickly skimming through the list without delving into the chapter itself. However, the information provided in these paragraphs is beneficial.
At some point closer to the end of the book, I felt that it covers only one topic—women need to ask and accept help from others in order to be successful. At first, this thought was annoying, but after a couple of days of contemplating the book, I realized that the author put the correct amount of stress on it because we women drastically lack this skill, even if we decide to take a step back from work and dedicate some time to navigating the family through a hard time (either due to happy or sad events).
I recommend this book not only to mothers but to all women and men to get a better look at the lives of working mothers.
If not for the book's structure, I would rate it 4.5 stars.
I appreciate NetGalley and John Murray Business for providing an early copy.
I appreciated a lot of the advice found in the book but I did find the layout slightly jarring. It felt weird to go over and introduce all the women who contributed to the book first before even getting to their advice and the main content. It also was a bit overwhelming to have the advice listed out at the start of each chapter and then reiterated in quick paragraph form. I wish it had been done more cohesively.