Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success
Don’t trust anyone over 40.
Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, provides a no BS, straight-talking, tell-you-what-to-do and-how-to-do-it twist on the 1960s counterculture phrase, “Don’t trust anyone over 30.” The book’s advice is aimed squarely at workers under 40.
It’s a career manual, a hip, irreverent What Color is Your Parachute for those who were born into the workplace with parachutes on their back and who never had to deal with the shock of layoffs in the 1980s, pension terminations, and the surprise of medical co-pays. For them, uncertainty is a gimme.
Written by Penelope Trunk, career columnist at the Boston Globe and Yahoo Finance, Brazen Careerist is a book that should be read by everyone under 40 who wants to know the real deal in corporate America. And it should scare the crap out of those over 40.
Job Loyalty is So 1997
You take a job, do well, get promoted, and stay for a long time, even to retirement. Those are the rules, right? Not anymore. Ms. Trunk cites Bureau of Labor statistics that say the average twentysomething will have an average of 8.6 jobs before age thirty-two. That works out to be about a job a year. This isn’t your father’s Oldsmobile, kids. If you’re over 40, you might bristle a bit, but just because you do doesn’t make what Ms. Trunk says any less true. It’s the new rules, and if you don’t know them, the kids in your shop sure do.
The New Rules for Success
The Brazen Careerist is filled with advice for the modern worker — and managers, too. It’s written in a snappy and succinct style. Want lots of fluff and passive language? Maybe this isn’t the book for you. Want direct advice in an active voice? Pick up Brazen Careerist.
Here’s a sampling of the 45 new rules in the book:
- Rule 4: If You’re Stuck, Take an Adventure
- Rule 11: There Are Stupid Questions, So Don’t Ask Them
- Rule 20: Being Likable Matters More Important Than Being Competent
- Rule 25: Stop Using Adverbs
- Rule 32: E-Mails Will Be Your Epithet: Five You Should Never Send
- Rule 37: A Long List of Ways to Dodge Long Hours
- Rule 41: Title Schmitle, You Can Lead Without One
Brazen Careerist is coming out in May and is available for pre-order now. Buy it. I won’t tell anyone you’re over 40 if you don’t tell them that I am. And yes, even though I’m over 40 by a good seven years, you can trust me on this one…Brazen Careerist is a book you’ll want to read this spring.
While You’re At It
Penelope also writes a highly-regarded blog that’s called Brazen Careerist. Hmm, coincidence? Since you followed my advice about using Google Reader, you can add her to your reading list with this RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BrazenCareerist.
Just One More Thing
Brazen Careerist is the book that all HR people should be reading. The rules have changed, and what we “know” about employees and their motivations no longer holds. If you want to move ahead in HR, here’s the roadmap that a lot of people will be following. NB: Gen X and Geny Y don’t work for money, but it’s not for the reasons that you think.
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4 Responses to “Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success”
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Frank:
I took your Google Reader advice last week - and THANKS - it is awesome for keeping up with the blogsphere. Awesome.
Tom O’B
Hey Tom, that has been a boon to me in keeping up with friends and various thinkers around the world (including you!). Glad that’s worked for you…it’s been transformative for me…just have to watch the reading addiction.
I agree with your review, and add that anyone that is or wants to manage people under 40 must read this book to understand the rules too. Penelope’s style came through loud-and-clear in this awesome book!
Jason Alba
CEO - JibberJobber.com
Hi Jason,
I do think that Brazen Careerist is the book to read this year…it’s really a wakeup call. Thanks for the kind words.