Optimize Your Career With the Blinkist App

When it comes to getting ahead at work, many companies, career coaches, and recruiters talk about the T shape. This T shape refers to someone who has depth—expertise in one or two skills or areas or the vertical line of the T—and also has breadth—a working knowledge of related industries and skills or the horizontal line of the T.

For example, a T-shaped person could be someone who specializes in email marketing, but also has a solid understanding of social media, sales, and UX design as well as skills like communication, leadership, and creativity.

Building a T-shaped skill set is often hailed as the key to excelling at work. However, finding time for professional development when you’re already working a full-time job can sometimes feel impossible.

Blinkist is an app that can facilitate accomplishing this goal. Blinkist shares insights from nonfiction books in 15-minute reads and listens. There are 5,500 titles to choose from across 27 categories like entrepreneurship, productivity, and management and leadership.

The app’s bite-sized content allows go-getters to learn new skills, grow knowledge of their industry, and gain both breadth and depth in many topics, all in less time. Blinkist even received recognition from Apple and its CEO, Tim Cook, for its practicality and has since been called one of the top 20 apps for lifelong learning on the App Store.

“With Blinkist you can boost your knowledge and gain new perspectives so that you can be a better professional, a better partner, or a better you.” – The United NationsLtoR: The Blinkist founders: Niklas Jansen, Tobi Balling and Holger Seim. Not pictured: Sebastian Klein

The company was founded back in 2012 by four friends who loved learning. They knew how valuable the lessons found in nonfiction books could be, if only they had time to access them all, so they created an app to help them do just that. By sharing only the most important lessons from nonfiction books, the friends—and now the app’s 23 million users—can learn faster than ever.

A couple of years later, Blinkist exploded in popularity. It’s won awards from Google and the UN, and raised $35 million in funding, while Apple named it one of the best apps in the world. It has since gained almost 100 thousand 5-star reviews on the app stores from its satisfied users who can now fit professional development into their lives and optimize their career growth. Here’s how they do it.

A Book Explained in 15 Minutes

Nonfiction books are packed with knowledge that can give people an edge at work. Blinkist helps its users access this knowledge in less time. The app does this by sharing key insights from a book in about 15 minutes, so instead of the days or weeks it can take to read a book cover to cover, users can get to the heart of the title in a fraction of the time.

Get key lessons from the world’s best nonfiction books in 15 minutes

For example, if a user wanted to check out David Allen’s Getting Things Done to learn how to optimize their workday, they could get the main points on Blinkist with a 22-minute explainer.

With all that time they’ve saved, they could easily move onto Radical Candor, to learn how best to communicate at work, Coffee Lunch Coffee, to dive into the art of networking, and The 4-Hour Work Week, for ideas on getting more done in less time.

@blinkist is my now favorite thing to read. Such an amazing way to consume information. Reading books I’m interested in but too far down the list to get to any time soon, are now super easy to consume. Thank you!!

— ♟Benjamin Montrose (@rebelliousBen) April 28, 2020

Learning On the Go

To fit professional development into any moment of the day, Blinkist has an audio feature that allows users to listen to any explainer, enabling them to learn when they’re commuting, cooking or working out. If someone wants to listen to several explainers in one go, they can queue a list of titles for a long drive or run, for example.

Plus, Blinkist has made sure its audio is as easy to listen to as possible with several key features, like sound effects and more than one narrator. This makes the audio engaging, ensuring users are taking in everything they’re listening to, no matter what they’re doing.

“I use Blinkist when I’m in between meetings and can’t get a giant task done, but at least I can be productive.” – Sarah Schupp, Professor & Founder of UniversityParent.com

Learn the Skills Needed to Get Ahead

The app has titles across 27 categories, so users can brush up on virtually any skill important to their career. Categories include topics useful for any job like communication skills, creativity and productivity. There are also categories with titles for different stages of work like entrepreneurship, management and leadership, and corporate culture. Plus, the Blinkist library has dedicated sections on industries like technology, politics, economics, science, marketing and sales, and psychology.

“I read a lot of management, self-improvement, and entrepreneurial books through Blinkist because I can gain specific knowledge on my industry or on ways to improve myself.” – Steven Renwick, CPO of Regis24

Bite-sized content makes it easy to learn a skill when it’s needed, like checking out titles on pitching just before a sales meeting, or managing remote teams after a move to working from home.

“Blinkist is a lens to kick off thinking, a surveying tool. I can, for example, quickly review a few of the best books on negotiation.” – Adam Gries, Founder of OKpandaLearn new skills by listening or reading to bite-sized explainers

Keep Up with the Latest in Every Industry

Getting ahead at work often requires staying ahead of the latest in the field. However, when the world of work moves fast, keeping up with the latest developments can be a full-time job in itself.

The Blinkist team adds 70 new titles each month which means you’ll always be up-to-date with the latest New York Times bestsellers and trending titles. Users can therefore easily stay on top of titles in their industry or skills important to their career.

“When I go to a social function and have to be “in the know” about something, I listen to Blinkist to get key information quickly.” — Aria, Educator

Read Every Book You’re Recommended

When it comes to career advice, many people give out book recommendations. However, when you start adding up the recommended reading from managers, mentors, colleagues and friends, it can be overwhelming—not to mention impossible to get through.

With Blinkist, users can learn from every book they’re recommended. Many of the world’s best nonfiction books are on the app, as well as more niche favorites and hidden gems. Plus, users can seek out recommendations from leaders in their fields and successful figures through Blinkist’s curated collections. These collections include book recommendations from the likes of Bill Gates, Arianna Huffington, and Brené Brown, so users can take inspiration from people at the top of their game.

Hands down, @blinkist is one of the best apps I have. Pure gold: That kind of subscriptions you pay gladly. Every time someone recommends a book, I just go to Blinkist and put it in my to-do list. 75% of the times, it’s in there.

— Ma. Antonia Marturet (@TonaMarturet) August 5, 2019

Over 90 Thousand 5-Star Ratings

Beyond turning to thought leaders for advice, many go-getters rely on recommendations from their peers. The app itself comes highly-recommended by others looking to excel at work. 75% of Blinkist ratings in the Android and Apple stores are 5 stars—that’s 90 thousand 5-star ratings in total! Here’s what some users have to say about Blinkist:

“In the two hours I’ve spent on the app I’ve learnt so much on time management, productivity and entrepreneurship […] Highly recommend it for young professionals with a busy life.”

“As an entrepreneur in the startup stage, I found the concise information extremely practical and easy to follow. I am looking forward to applying what I have learnt.”

“Just brilliant. 3 books a day during my commute is an easy and convenient way to keep adding to my skills. A great app with some of the best business/leadership insight around. I have been recommending this widely to my colleagues who believe they are too busy to plan and complete personal growth activities.”

Apple Thinks Blinkist is a Top App for Lifelong Learning

As well as the thousands of reviews, Blinkist has gained one recognizable fan in particular: Apple. The tech leader named Blinkist one of the world’s best apps and crowned it one of the top 20 apps for lifelong learners alongside TED, Coursera and Khan Academy, and frequently promotes the app to its users. Blinkist was featured as the ‘App of the Day’ on the App Store more than 500 times worldwide in 2019.

Explore thousands of titles in the app designed for lifelong learners

One of the World’s Best App

Users don’t have to take Apple’s word for it, Blinkist is loved by many other big names and organizations. The app has won awards from the UN, for its contribution to the education field, and from Google, for its unique design. It’s even won an award from the International Sound Awards for its unique audio style. The app has been featured by the likes of The New York Times, Forbes and TechCrunch, and it got the attention of Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, who praised the app and the Blinkist team.

“Impressed with the growing and talented team at Blinkist. Helping everyone understand and experience some of the best non-fiction books is a great example of how a single idea from college can evolve into a solution for a problem we all share — too little time!” – Tim Cook, Apple CEO

Blinkist has become a leading app in the education space, and its fans trust it as a reliable source of high-quality information. Millions are using Blinkist to optimize their careers and get ahead at work. If you, too, want to fit professional development into your life, download the Blinkist app today.