The Unwritten Rules of Professional Etiquette: Building a Positive Reputation in Graduate School

Provided good insight that I didn’t already know and was a quick and easy read.

Full disclosure: Dr. Sharma is a respected colleague of mine. Regardless, I wish I could have read this book before I started graduate school. It is its own world, and as such it has its own rules of etiquette that are not obvious to newcomers. Navigating the subtleties requires finesse that grows out of experience… at a time when students have little experience from which to draw.This is a quick, easy read that will pay tremendous dividends. As someone once said, “the good is mostly in the absence of the bad.” If you can avoid violating the unspoken rules, then you can create room for your successes to compound.During my time as a student I watched more than few classmates, who were great clinicians, fall short of their potential because they ran afoul of the unstated expectations that Dr. Sharma outlines so clearly. (I also made plenty of mistakes I look back on with embarrassment.) Meanwhile, those who understood the expectations excelled — sometimes in spite of other, more meaningful deficits.Yes, professionalism matters that much. If you are embarking on graduate studies, please do yourself, your colleagues, and your instructors a favor: absorb the wisdom in this book.

This book should be required reading for every college student. Whether they decide to go on to graduate school or not, there is a tremendous amount of common sense, insight and basic principles of professionalism included that every student should embrace.Dr. Sharma states "I do not expect students to be perfect; I expect them to be capable of growth." This book gives the students a toolbox filled with examples and ideas they will use well past graduate school. He actually provides the tools needed for that growth. In fact I hope Dr. Sharma considers writing a book for graduates looking for work, going through the interview process as well as, beginning a career.Professors, don't miss the opportunity to use this book in your classes. Give your students an advantage to succeed.

Without intentionally sounding condescending, if you are under the age of (arbitrarily) 25 or otherwise do not have much professional experience interpersonally, this book WILL be useful to you. If you follow the author's suggestions, it WILL result in you standing out as a more ideal candidate for doc and post-doc programs. And, ANY job market in general. Trust me on this.As an older student about to enter a grad program, i sought to answer the question of how do you navigate self-disclosure in counseling and clinical programs within academia, should it arise? This book does not directly answer that question. There are many pages that speak about controlling your impulses and inclinations, and general self-awareness, which are again quite useful in their own light. But it does not specifically address questions bound to be asked by possible colleagues or admissions teams like "Why are you interested in trauma psychology" or "What got you interested in this <insert extremely sensitive topic>?". Most faculty and students of such programs will be socially competent enough to never explicitly ask such an inappropriate thing during the interview process. However, thus far, 5 people from 3 possible programs have, and 2 were Ivy's. It has put me in an extremely awkward position, where i essentially had to make something up on the fly to hide why I am "truly" here. They are litmus tests as i see them, and the author does not address these awkward scenarios.The author is a clinical psychologist, and mostly speaks to potential clinical grad students throughout. There generally are two camps when it comes to self-disclosure, and no books i'm aware of articulate this or give any advice. From experience interacting with dozens of faculty and grad students at many universities, here they are: The first camp says (naively) "totally pour your heart out and be honest and own why you are here! It's okay to self-disclose adversity! Diversity and stuff, yay!". The other camp is significantly more conservative, and more common in Clinical (and not Counseling) programs: "Never ever dare self-disclose anything, ever under any circumstances. You will instantly be black listed! It's not about you having a disorder or condition, instead they will say you have bad boundaries!". I, like many others, are unable to intuitively determine which programs lean towards which camp. I hoped this book would provide guidance on this specifically, but it doesn't. Perhaps this is best answered through a set of essays on bioethics instead.I'm eager to hear what anyone reading this has to say or suggest in the comments.

More than just excellent advice for graduate students.

I would highly recommend this book. It is chock-full of useful and practical information while still being a fast read. Students and young professionals alike will benefit from the insider knowledge of what to do and what not to do in your early career without learning the hard way. Well worth it.

The media could not be loaded.  Pages “68 and 69” in this book are out of place. Chapter Asking for Help, subheading Impostor syndrome is interrupted by Exercise “Self-Inventory of Barriers to Seeking Help” which should come before subheading Impostor Syndrome begins.Digital version on another platform if correct.

This book is full of practical advice on establishing respectful professional relationships that completely aligns with what I believe, based on my professional experience, makes a great colleague. Wish I had had this volume when I was starting out!