As a dad, I know full well that advice given to your own kids seldom connects. So I asked sixty normal Americans to write in and give me the best, or worst, career advice that they were given by THEIR dad. It was a treat to put them in the book…because all are relevant, always insightful, and quite endearing.

Here are a few that are in DIG YOUR JOB. There are over 50 more.

EVERY time I ask my Dad what he thinks about my next career move, he ALWAYS
tells me that it’s not a good idea and then gives me a list of all the things that could
go wrong. I’m 44, have had more than 10 major career decisions … this has been
going on for a long time!
After each conversation, I carefully considered what he had to say, considered what
I really want to do, and then moved forward with my original plan. EVERY time, six
months later, Dad tells me what a great decision I made.
Now I take his negative response as a sign that my decision is the right one! It’s a
little backwards, but it works!
– Sarah Shah, Image Coach, TV Beauty Expert and Speaker, www.sarahshah.com

I thought this one was the most practical of all, nearly:

My father, Roland West, advised that if you can manage it, live to the East of where
you work. It makes it so that the sun is not in your eyes when driving to and from.
I’ve had that situation and it is nice. Right now, I walk to work.
– Carl West, co-owner of Prospect Hill Forge: The Blacksmithing Classroom,
www.prospecthillforge.com

And, another from a daughter who obviously took her dad’s advice to heart and success:

As the middle of three daughters, my sisters and I always are receiving advice from
my dad, Steve Hagendorf, a retired municipal bond salesman and current volunteer
children’s story-hour reader.
“If you don’t ask, you don’t get. The worst they can say is no.”
“If you have to choose between a pay-raise and a title change, take the money. You
can’t pay your bills with a fancy business card.”
“If you always do what you always have done, you only can get what you already have.”
– Lisa Hagendorf, Director of PR, Digital Media, www.playboy.com

Where else can you get nearly sixty other dads telling you what to do? I mean, seriously. You can buy DIG YOUR JOB at www.digyourjob.com. Three versions: pdf, kindle from Amazon, and a paperback. Contact digyourjob@jobdig.com for quantity discounts if you are an outplacement firm, whatever.