Brazen Careerist
Author: Penelope Trunk
Release: May 25, 2007
Tagline: The New Rules for Success
Publisher: Warner Business Books
Genre: Self Help, Job Search, Business, Career
ISBN-10: 0446578649
ISBN-13: 978-0446578646
Synopsis: “45 tips that will get you thinking bigger, acting bolder, and blazing trails you never thought possible, Brazen Careerist will forever change your career outlook.”
Declassified by Agent Palmer: Brazen Careerist Makes a Dated but Important Case for Finding a Mentor
Quotes and Lines
I wrote this book to provide a road map that I wish I’d had when I started out in business. This isn’t a book by a career coach, advising you on how to navigate a world she never had to navigate. These are firsthand stories and practical advice on how our generation can successfully maneuver in the new workplace, from someone who’s been there.
Generations X and Y will give up a lot to achieve balance in work and life–something the older generations were not willing to do. So advice like “Don’t leave gaps in your resume” is simply unsupportive and unrealistic.
“Our generation cannot gain a foothold in society until age thirty. But our parents’ generation has age twenty in their head. The crisis is a clash of generations.”
The only way to lead an interesting life is to encounter uncertainty and make a choice.
We spend eighteen years in school being told what to do and being rewarded for meeting other people’s goals for us. The adult world requires us to set our own goals and this is something school does not teach.
“Sending your resume to a big company’s Web site is like sending your resume into a black hole…”
Don’t assume that your work speaks for itself. It doesn’t. Most people will have no idea what you have done or what you do now.
Authenticity Is the Buzzword of the New Millennium
What people value in business is what they value in life, and that is a real connection. People need to see a genuine part of you and they need to relate to it.
Technology is only part of your communication repertoire. Use it well, but use it with caution. The younger generations have a lock on technological communication and the older generations often scoff at overreliance on technology. The people who can bridge gaps between the two types of communication will stand out in a multigenerational office.
Good talkers recognize that there’s something interesting about every person and it’s their job to get them talking about it.
Write a blog. A blogger puts herself out in the world as someone who is interesting and engaging–just the type of person everyone wants to meet. “A blog increases your network because a blog is about introducing yourself and sharing information,” says branding consultant Catherine Kaputa.
People who refuse to believe that $40,000 is all you need to be happy are people who do not want to take responsibility for fixing the things in their lives that have nothing to do with money.
Whatever sort of training you use–self-generated, corporate-funded, or a mix of the two–if you create a life that encourages constant learning, your career and your life will be more interesting and more fulfilling.
“The new American dream is much more entrepreneurial,” says Kamenetz [Anya Kamanetz, author of Generation Debt). “And it’s about shaping one’s own destiny: mobility, flexibility to do your own work, and the ability to have a career as an expression of who you are as a person.”
Choices are difficult today because the new American dream is not as measurable as the old one. You cannot look at your bank statement or count your bedrooms to assess your success. The new American dream is about fulfillment, which is a murky, slippery goal, but you will know it when you feel it.