Daniel Seddiqui

"I continued my job search in the Bay area, but had no more luck than in Southern California.
I would make presentations for potential employers, receive positive feedback after my interviews, and return home bragging to my parents. But as I waited for potential employers to reply, there was never an offer. After forty-plus consecutive failed interviews, I knew something in my life had to change".

50 Jobs in 50 States: One Man's Journey of Discovery Across America by Daniel Seddiqui

This is a very good book. I loved reading Daniel’s account of his journey through America and negotiating the wonderful world of job searching. He writes in such a way as to keep your interest from beginning to end and because it’s a true story that makes the book that much more readable.

Also being somewhat of a geography nerd I loved reading about the different states and what careers were popular in each of the states. Would love to see a follow-up to this book but I think anybody who enjoys nonfiction especially on the road nonfiction will like this.

Likewise anybody who has suffered through the indignity of filling out endless job applications with no response will immediately be able to relate to Daniel. What he did was pretty extreme which is a good thing as it worked for him. This is just a good fun book and a thoroughly enjoyable read.… (lisätietoja)

In 2008, Daniel Seddiqui was a down and out college graduate looking for a job and living with his parents in California. The job rejections came in one after another and he didn’t know where to turn. His parents weren’t helping. They thought he wasn’t trying hard enough. So one day after another rejection, Daniel has a epiphany and realizes he wanted to live the map. Why not travel around the U.S. working 50 jobs in 50 states. The idea was interesting, but how does one go about it? After calling around the U.S. trying to find jobs that fit the culture of the state and calling his local newspaper who jumped at the story, he began his journey.

Nicknamed Fifty-Fifty early on in his trip, Daniel worked anywhere from a cartographer in North Dakota to an insurance broker in Connecticut and from a marine biologist in Washington, to an auto mechanic in Michigan. Though his journey was often lonely and grueling, it was rewarding to be able to complete each job and to meet the people who were necessary and vital to his well being.

His five elements of success are: perseverance, adaptability, networking, risk-taking and endurance. His revelation at the end was that even though the economy is bad and jobs may be scarce, this country is a land of opportunity and you have to work hard to find your dream.

The people he meets and the jobs he does are very interesting and enlightening. I enjoyed reading about his encounters with people of different cultures and how he learned to adapt to the new situations he found himself in. I think this book is very informative on how America works and how people need to stop stereotyping others.

Thank you to Mr. Seddiqui, Berrett-Kohler Publishers and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.… (lisätietoja)

I wanted so much to like this book, and Daniel. He was so nervous at his first book signing, I’d hoped that his life’s work would be a lot more thoughtful and thought-provoking.

50 Jobs in 50 States is the story of Daniel’s search for his dream job and, as usually happens on these types of journeys, himself. But it is so poorly written and filled with whines and complaints that all I could find in Daniel was a whiny, entitled, spoiled kid. Daniel never seemed truly grateful for the people he met along the way and holds grudges against those who didn’t do it his way.

What would have made the book more interesting is less “relationship” talk and more information about what he said to the people he got jobs with, and which jobs actually paid or were volunteer gigs. How do you convince a business owner to hire, and pay you, for just a week? And how do you convince complete strangers to give you a place to live for a week? That would have been fascinating.… (lisätietoja)