Going Corporate: Moving Up Without Screwing Up
- Book Review,
by Jared Shapiro
From Publishers Weekly
Though they promise to provide advice on how to successfully enter the corporate life, Embree and Shapiro spend most of their book rehashing Dilbert and Drew Carey while dispensing a mish-mash of familiar tips and debatable advice. Trying to decide if a potential boss is winner or a loser? Check out the placement of his or her family photo, they say: "If it’s there for the whole world to see, that’s a good sign … If it’s only facing the boss—bad." Such guidance makes the corporate world seem as confusing and trivial as "The Office," and it’s often hard to tell if the book aims to be a useful guidebook, a corporate tell-all or a self-promoting standup routine. Among the guffaws, Embree [...] and Shapiro, a writer for Star magazine, do offer some useful ideas for raisings readers’ "promotion potential" by clueing them in to the imperceptible trip-wires underlying most offices. But mainly they dwell on strategies for avoiding doing much work at all. They boast of writing their book, creating a Web site and a film on company time, with company computers, in between bouts of instant-messaging their buddies and checking sports scores. They encourage lying on résumés, having friends crank-call bosses to get raises and admit to handing out jobs (internships) based on how frequently an applicant contacts them—saving them the un-hip effort of picking up the phone themselves. Culminating in a list of the "Top 10 Things You Will Hate About the Corporate World," this book is as bitter as the last dregs of free coffee in the company kitchen. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Two brash twentysomethings proffer a few tips and a rash of one-liners on corporate working lives and livelihoods to recent college grads. As writers in Los Angeles and New York, respectively, Embree and Shapiro talk about virtually everything that could happen inside and outside cubicles, whether it's bodily functions or salary-increase requests. First, the narrative centers on the acclimation period: computers, desks, coffee, extracurricular activities (tied to the business), and conversation starters and enders. The segue--to rules of the road, people, and careers--discusses the niceties of the work environment; collecting business cards is a top priority, for instance, while offering a clammy hand to shake isn't. Examples of their points include "cubicles are mousetraps disguised by computers and fluorescents"; a blank page follows "the importance of your college transcript"; and "if something isn't fair, you suck it up." There is some truth inside this series of chapters, but it'll take some time to ferret it out. The solution? Take two chapters for relief after a bad day at the office. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"Going Corporate is 100% on the money. The hysterical analysis reminded me of all the reasons I bolted from Corporate America after just one year. If I had read this book then, maybe I would have lasted an extra year or two before self-destructing. And it will certainly guarantee that you don't get fired!"
- Sam Solovey, entrepreneur and contestant on NBC's hit reality show, "The Apprentice"
"An accurate and hilarious account of what goes on behind the fluorescent lights and screen savers of Corporate America. Going Corporate covers everything from the dangers of Christmas party catastrophes to the devastating effects of a weak handshake. A must-read for anyone looking to make sense of a new office environment. Shapiro and Embree capture the mix of humor and humiliation that we all experience our first year out in the workforce."
-Wendy Straker, author of Sexy Jobs in the City
"Going Corporate exposes the reality of the corporate world. Anyone who has a boss, anyone who has a job-needs to read this book."
- Bonnie Fuller, Chief Editorial Director, American Media, Inc.
Review
"Going Corporate is 100% on the money. The hysterical analysis reminded me of all the reasons I bolted from Corporate America after just one year. If I had read this book then, maybe I would have lasted an extra year or two before self-destructing. And it will certainly guarantee that you don't get fired!"
- Sam Solovey, entrepreneur and contestant on NBC's hit reality show, "The Apprentice"
"An accurate and hilarious account of what goes on behind the fluorescent lights and screen savers of Corporate America. Going Corporate covers everything from the dangers of Christmas party catastrophes to the devastating effects of a weak handshake. A must-read for anyone looking to make sense of a new office environment. Shapiro and Embree capture the mix of humor and humiliation that we all experience our first year out in the workforce."
-Wendy Straker, author of Sexy Jobs in the City
"Going Corporate exposes the reality of the corporate world. Anyone who has a boss, anyone who has a job-needs to read this book."
- Bonnie Fuller, Chief Editorial Director, American Media, Inc.
Wireless Flash News
Learning the etiquette of things that seem unimportant enhances what the two call the "Promotional Potential."
USA Today
"A fast, slick read that is tears-streaming-down-the-face funny, and the advice is dead on!"
New York Post
"Shapiro and Embree have enough wit to amuse even the most humorless recent college graduates."
The Boston Globe
"Embree and Shapiro offer acerbic observations on the soul-sucking quality of fluorescent lights alongside utterly earnest career-advancement tips."
Book Description
There are so many unwritten rules and potential pitfalls that new hires need to learn--yet no one explains. Going Corporate is a hip yet informative guide to everything newbies need to know about making it in the corporate world:
· Why not to be "yourself" at work
· How to stay two steps ahead with email etiquette
· Where to pass gas
· Why not to bring your lunch
· What to wear on casual Friday
· Why not to listen to your Walkman in the elevator
· How to enhance your promotion potential
From hangovers and music to sex and rebelliousness, everyone on the cubicle farm wonders how to tackle the issues and climb to the top. This is one insider's guide no one should be without.
About the Author
Jared Shapiro graduated from American University after receiving the Best Picture Award for his film Decivilized at the American Visions Film Festival. He started working at Star magazine as Bonnie Fuller's assistant and is now a writer there. Jared lives in New York.
Brad Embree graduated from UVA, where he was a staff writer at both campus newspapers. He works for the London production company FilmFour, with an office at Warner Brothers, and lives in Los Angeles.
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