Take This Job and Thrive
60 Ways to Make Life More Rewarding in Today’s New Workplace, by Anita Bruzzese

Impact Publications, ©2000, 140 pages

By Melody Brumis

If you are going to spend more than half of your waking hours at work (or looking for work), why not have the time work for you? This book tells you how to do just that.

Take This Job and Thrive is a fun read, and full of useful tips. Anita Bruzzese writes, she says, "as if I am sitting across the kitchen table from my readers." Being a journalist, she introduces topics and experts to expand on them. Her "On the Job" column from Gannett News Service runs weekly in several newspapers (unfortunately not in local papers).

In a section called "Charming the Birds Out of the Trees," Tony Alessandra, a motivational expert, says the "seeds of charisma" are within us. To help us grow our charisma, he provides a charisma quiz with self-help guides based on our scores.

While in the "new workplace" sometimes we forget what’s so new about it. What’s new, according to Bruzzese, is how different types of people interact to get the job done. In "It’s Not Your Workplace, Anymore," she shows how the Gen X-ers are different from the Baby Boomers. The Gen X-ers—born between 1963 and 1977—are looking for exciting work that can create new pieces for their portfolios. And, in some cases, they are just breaking into work, while the Baby Boomers often use their experience to run the place. Neil Strouh, an organizational manager, suggests that Baby Boomer managers prepare to pass the torch (as they do in the Olympics) by encouraging the new generation of workers.

In "News Flash: Men and Women Have Trouble Understanding Each Other," psychologist Judith Tingley proposes "genderflexing" as a way to ease communication problems. Genderflexing is when you "temporarily communicate using behaviors typical of the opposite gender." Women could talk about the "big game" (money, business, and sports). Men could talk about feelings, family, and relationships. And women can be (at least in this exercise) direct about their opinions, while men can be more open to feedback.

If you are not currently in the workplace, the book also has job searching tips. Pam Dixon, an online job search expert, says, "Job searchers should never have to pay to send their resume." She recommends Recruiters OnLine Network as an organized way (with 73 specialty categories) to send your resume to over 7,000 recruiters. And if you have had no bites in your area, one relocation consultant suggests moving. You can find out everything about a new location online at homefair.com/.

Finally, Bruzzese does not shy away from the difficult topics like "Work Gone Wrong." She shares her own "war stories" and shows how to resurrect your reputation (and your confidence). She discusses being "de-hired," depression, and looking for work when you’re over age 50.

The Devil Mountain Views -- Mar/Apr 2002
(ebstc.org/newsletter/front.html)
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