The purpose of this book is to prevent you from failing at your first professional job. As a recent graduate, you likely have all the intelletual knowledege and skills necessary to thrive in the professional world. But unless you know how to comport yourself in the office environment, there are numerous traps that can ensnare you and shortcircuit yur career. Don't let that happen. Learn about: work habits; how to dress on the job; work etiquette; e-stuff; and how to prepare your resume. Read this book and learn the things you were never taught in college, law school, business school, public policy school, or some other graduate program. Sections of the book address such issues as how to deal with bosses and how to treat secretaries. They advise against becoming too cozy with new office colleagues and to beware of the first person who befriends you in the office. They discuss how to dress professionally including how to make sense of "casual" days. The book addresses office romances, office parties, the sort of disposition good employees display, and how to brief bosses. A chapter provides advice on e-stuff, including the things you should never do on your office computer. The last chapter, a brief two pages, tells every thing you need to know about resume preparation. This book was chosen by Michelle Singletary, Washington Post and nationally syndicated columnist of the Color of Money, as her Color of Money Book of the Month.
About the Author: The author, Robert L. Deitz, a lawyer, has held senior positions in the private sector, as a litigating partner in private law practice, and in the public sector, as the general counsel of the National Security Agency and as the senior councilor to the Director of the CIA. He is now a professor of public policy at George Mason University's School of Public Policy. In his 35 years in Washington, he has watched the careers of many young professionals blow up for reasons having nothing to do with their academic training or their intellectual acuity. He has seen everything that is set forth in this book. He has even violated some of the rules himself -- to his regret -- over the course of his career. Mr. Deitz graduated from Middlebury College (B.A., cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1968); The Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University (M.P.A., 1972); and Harvard Law School (magna cum laude, an editor of the Harvard Law Review, 1975). He clerked for Supreme Court Justices Douglas, Stewart, and White. He was a special assistant to the Secretary of the then-Department of Health, Education & Welfare and to the Deputy Secretary of State, both during the Carter Administration.