Lilit Marcus, co-creator of the website Save the Assistants, has turned her own career ups and downs into a complete editorial on living with a job you hate. A simply must have book for anyone fresh out of college or thinking of doing an internship at an office building.
The book is peppered with humour and pop culture references that help to drive the book home. (Warning: If you are like me and have never seen the movie Office Space or television show The Office you will be as lost on the references as I was )
With everything you would need to identify the different boss-stress types, to how to take a personal day, to how to hunt for a better job; Save the Assistants is a handbook for the modern worker.
One of the best tips I feel the book's author gives is a simple one "Get Your Job Description Clarified"
How often have many of us gotten to day one of a job only to get bowled over by it not being what we thought? Or worse, being there for awhile only to have it change on us in a bad -not a promotion- way? as talked about on page 16 under the Buzzword heading of Combo Job.
The addition of personal stories from the STA blog readers, was a great way to make the points on a personal and universal level, while the pop quizes I found reminded me too much of something you'd find in a fashion magazine, the splattering of buzz words were entertaining as well as useful, (and proved how out of the loop I am) as were the movie/music lists where were added for an extra lightness.
The lists of bad celebrities vs good celebrities who are famous or infamous as the case may be, for their treatment of their assistants was both endearing and point on. This really gives you a sense of how good your job can be even if you are just the average person at an average job.
I have to admit something here, this book threw me for a bit. I wasn't expecting a strict how to book; and I've been puttering around for a full week on just how to tackle a review for it, which included me listing off every job I have had in the last twenty years on my personal blog. As when I first was offered a chance to review it, I'd never heard of Lilit Marcus or the website and was expecting more of a satire.
The book proved to be more then good, it's essential.
But in this case, do not take it from me, hit up your book store and get one. Actually get two, one for your house and one for your office library, trust me your co-workers will thank you for it.
