The Brazen Careerist Writes a Book

I'm in my late 30's. My waaay late 30's.

I have only six days left of them. I'm fine with this. Life is good. Many people I hang out with are older than 40 and make it look perfectly doable. And if Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman can turn 40 this year, then I guess so can I.

When I graduated from college 18 years ago, I had no idea I was part of Generation X. This is because Douglas Coupland's book wouldn't be published for another two years, which cemented the term's use in popular culture.

When I was 22 and desperately seeking a clue about navigating corporate life, all I knew was that I was in the shadow of the Baby Boomers, who were busy taking over the world. I was not wise, I was not empowered, I was not part of a movement or a generation. I was just young and in debt to Sallie Mae.

What I would have given to have had a book like Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success to help me out!

Luckily young careerists now have a great resource to turn to that is filled with practical career advice written in Trunk's singular, direct style.

What makes the book especially distinctive is both Trunk's understanding of the current younger generation of employees and her, well, brazen way of making her point.

I challenge you to find this advice elsewhere:

• "Forget 360-degree reviews, go to couples therapy instead"
• "Use harassment to boost your career"
• "Manage your relationship with your [bad] boss with more empathy, more distance and more strategy"
• "You only need $40,000 a year to be happy"

Trunk's advice is refreshing and her arguments are thought-provoking. She challenges us as readers to take a clear-eyed view of what we want in our careers and consider new ways of getting it.

She has dedicated years to writing about careers and specifically how they contribute to our happiness, and it shows in her solid knowledge of current corporate workplace trends.

I don't agree with every single point she makes, but I never agree with every single point in any book. I appreciated having the opportunity to challenge and reaffirm my own views on job searching, succeeding within a team, and risk taking among other key career skills.

Whether you're 23, 39 or 54, if you work in corporate America, I recommend you pick up this book and learn something new about today's workplace and about yourself.

Click here to read more reviews of Brazen Careerist.

Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com