Life After College by Jenny Blake.
Very seldom do I write about a book before reading it in its entirety. When I do you know I'm pretty excited about it.
On the top of the back cover of Jenny's book it reads:
Life After College. Is your portable life coach. Congrats, you've graduated!
Stewie Griffin can deduce that Life After College is being targeted to
recent college graduates. I believe however, there is another group of people who can benefit from Jenny's sage advice just as much. And, after I tell you a quick story you'll come up with a third audience as well.
I had the privilege of receiving an advance copy of Penelope Trunk's book, Brazen Careerist. Penelope knew that I was (and still am), insanely interested in Gen-Y.
After reading Brazen Careerist I felt as if I had been struck by lightning. I discovered that there was a group of people out there who could benefit as much if not more, from the best career book written for Gen-Y'rs. Baby Boom managers. Suddenly I felt like James Bond as I wrote a few articles for this older generation and explained how they could get un-perplexed, un-frustrated and un-agitated with this most promising generation by reading Brazen Careerist and trying to understand them first.
That group of people who Life After College is a veritable treasure chest full of wisdom and knowledge? High school juniors to college seniors. Students have the opportunity to reflect and prepare for life after college without the pressure of finding a place to live, finding a career-related job that's meaningful and finding one's self while staring at a mountain of college related bills and trying to figure out a way to manage their money.
I recommend students use Life After College as both a compass and a journal. The high school junior has a minimum of six years to soak in Jenny's messages on:
- Life
- Work
- Money
- Home
- Organization
- Friends & Family
- Dating & Relationships
- Health
- Fun & Relaxation
- Personal Growth
The advantage that I enjoyed with Brazen Careerist is the same one students can use with Jenny's book. When we look at something through a different lens, that subject matter has a tendency to become stickier. It allows us the freedom of exploration and the opportunity to experiment with connections. By the time the student graduates and is ready to apply the contents of Life After College, she will have a huge edge on those who graduate and say, "Hello world, it's nice to meet you. Where should I send my resume?"
I will have more to say about Life After College in a formal review, but I can see already it's one of the best books around for the college graduate.
That third audience I spoke of earlier? Baby Boom and Gen-X managers.
One other reason that I feel confident in recommending Jenny's book (without reading in its entirety) is I've been reading her work at the Life After College Web site for quite some time and Jenny's message has always been consistent. Consistently appropriate that is.
Note: I received a copy of Life After College from Jenny's publicist.