The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl: Real-Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use

In a disclaimer, Burns makes it clear she is ""not an expert in the field of work. Or in any other field."" Her credentials are nonetheless impressive: 40 years of dedicated work in 59 different jobs across America and Europe (listed in a handy appendix, from Minnesota paperboy to Versailles ""disciplinarian"" to Kirkland, Washington artist). With a seemingly endless supply of experiences, Burns unveils a flurry of short pieces, each designed to illuminate a single point in the galaxy of employment options, obstacles, aggravations and accidents. Divided into three sections-""Clueless,"" ""Confident"" and ""Carefree""-Burns looks at standard issues like interviewing and resume writing (""Bad news: You can write the perfect resume, but you can't make 'em read it. More bad news: You have to write the perfect resume anyway""), but also the health hazards of gainful employment, three easy steps for dealing with mistakes, juggling multiple jobs, and operating outside of your element. Burns is encouraging and funny, but also a hard-nosed pragmatist who isn't about to do the work for you-but neither is she going to waste your time with pages condescending instruction. Instead, her snappy chapters provide perspective and action points for a cascade of work conditions, indexed helpfully in multiple appendices.