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Weird in a World That's Not: A Career Guide for Misfits, F*ckups, and Failures
An honest, sharp-witted, practical guide to help you get and keep the job you want - from an outsider whose been there and done it, a woman who went from being a broke, divorced college dropout to running some of the biggest websites in the world.
Jennifer Romolini started her career as an awkward 27-year-old misfit, navigated her way through New York media, and became a boss - an editor in chief, an editorial director, and a vice president - all within little more than a decade. Her book, Weird in a World That's Not, asserts that being outside the norm and achieving real, high-level success are not mutually exclusive, even if the perception of the business world often seems otherwise, even if it seems like only office-politicking extroverts are set up for reward.
Part career memoir, part real-world guide, Weird in a World That's Not offers relatable advice on how to achieve your dreams, even when the odds seem stacked against you. Romolini helps you face down your fears, find a career that's right for you, and get and keep a job. She tackles practical issues and offers empathetic, clear-cut answers to important questions:
How do I navigate the awkwardness of networking?
How do I deal with intense office politics?
How do I leave my crappy job?
How do I learn how to be a boss not just a #boss?
And, most importantly: How do I do all this and stay true to who I really am?
Authentic, funny, and moving, Weird in a World That's Not will help you tap in to your inner tenacity and find your path, no matter how offbeat you are.
Jennifer Romolini started her career as an awkward 27-year-old misfit, navigated her way through New York media, and became a boss - an editor in chief, an editorial director, and a vice president - all within little more than a decade. Her book, Weird in a World That's Not, asserts that being outside the norm and achieving real, high-level success are not mutually exclusive, even if the perception of the business world often seems otherwise, even if it seems like only office-politicking extroverts are set up for reward.
Part career memoir, part real-world guide, Weird in a World That's Not offers relatable advice on how to achieve your dreams, even when the odds seem stacked against you. Romolini helps you face down your fears, find a career that's right for you, and get and keep a job. She tackles practical issues and offers empathetic, clear-cut answers to important questions:
How do I navigate the awkwardness of networking?
How do I deal with intense office politics?
How do I leave my crappy job?
How do I learn how to be a boss not just a #boss?
And, most importantly: How do I do all this and stay true to who I really am?
Authentic, funny, and moving, Weird in a World That's Not will help you tap in to your inner tenacity and find your path, no matter how offbeat you are.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published June 6, 2017
181 people are currently reading
4086 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Romolini
4 books165 followersJennifer Romolini is an author and podcast host.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 165 reviews
July 12, 2018
The advice in this book is spot on. Be yourself and work hard.
The writing style is OK. I felt genuinely inspired by the introduction. Many parts of the book were good.
The flaw in this book for me is the inclusion of memoir-style stories by Romolini. I know that "weirdness" isn't a contest but holy cannoli is this a main-stream chick. Her examples of weirdness are disappointing. I think she might have some actual weirdness in her life, but it isn't really shared in this book. What you get in this book is an awful sense of charmed white privilege. Now, I'm as white and privileged as the next guy but Romolini lost me when she said her dad would give her $50 for selling flowers whether or not she turned a profit. I grew up in a family business too and that is NOT how things worked.
She makes a point to describe herself as "almost failing" high school but as the story progresses, it seems like maybe she got an F in gym once? She graduated with her class, she didn't even have to do summer school. And then she WENT TO COLLEGE in the fall. Yes, she eventually failed out of college three years later but c'mon, there are more college drop outs than college degree-holders in America so this does not qualify as "weird".
Over and over again she shares stories of doing bad things (such as discussing the company she works for, in company email, to a reporter) and KEEPING HER JOBS. I honestly don't remember a story of her getting fired. This is just bananas. And she considers herself a screw up because she didn't land her dream job until she was 27. 27, y'all. 27.
She acknowledges her privilege about an hour into the audiobook but it's one of those things where you can't just say it and move on. It's just TOO BIG. It's Kylie Jenner getting called "self made" because she technically "made" some of her money "herself".
Man, I know I sound jealous and petty. It's an OK book. Romolini is a good enough writer. I can appreciate her feeling of being "weird" even though there's not an outside observer on the PLANET who would second that motion. Hey, man, we feel what we feel.
Lastly I have to criticize the last chapter. I'm so tired of self-referential meta-chapters where authors talk about writing the book that I'm reading. That trend needs to stop yesterday.
The writing style is OK. I felt genuinely inspired by the introduction. Many parts of the book were good.
The flaw in this book for me is the inclusion of memoir-style stories by Romolini. I know that "weirdness" isn't a contest but holy cannoli is this a main-stream chick. Her examples of weirdness are disappointing. I think she might have some actual weirdness in her life, but it isn't really shared in this book. What you get in this book is an awful sense of charmed white privilege. Now, I'm as white and privileged as the next guy but Romolini lost me when she said her dad would give her $50 for selling flowers whether or not she turned a profit. I grew up in a family business too and that is NOT how things worked.
She makes a point to describe herself as "almost failing" high school but as the story progresses, it seems like maybe she got an F in gym once? She graduated with her class, she didn't even have to do summer school. And then she WENT TO COLLEGE in the fall. Yes, she eventually failed out of college three years later but c'mon, there are more college drop outs than college degree-holders in America so this does not qualify as "weird".
Over and over again she shares stories of doing bad things (such as discussing the company she works for, in company email, to a reporter) and KEEPING HER JOBS. I honestly don't remember a story of her getting fired. This is just bananas. And she considers herself a screw up because she didn't land her dream job until she was 27. 27, y'all. 27.
She acknowledges her privilege about an hour into the audiobook but it's one of those things where you can't just say it and move on. It's just TOO BIG. It's Kylie Jenner getting called "self made" because she technically "made" some of her money "herself".
Man, I know I sound jealous and petty. It's an OK book. Romolini is a good enough writer. I can appreciate her feeling of being "weird" even though there's not an outside observer on the PLANET who would second that motion. Hey, man, we feel what we feel.
Lastly I have to criticize the last chapter. I'm so tired of self-referential meta-chapters where authors talk about writing the book that I'm reading. That trend needs to stop yesterday.
Read
August 31, 2018I love a good self-help book and good career/management books. This one is aimed at 20 and early 30 something women, and while that's me, I feel more stable and established than I think those who'll get the most out of this will be. I really enjoyed how straight forward and honest Romolini is, and she's encouraging about being weird and embracing it as part of who you are and how you work. She gets real, though, in the places where it's utterly necessary to get your shit together and be an adult.
There's a particularly good section in here about toxic workplaces and bosses that would have been game-changing for me when I was in that situation in my mid-20s. For that alone, I can see recommending this book over and over again to many who feel those things and not only feel they're alone, but that there's no way out (there is -- sometimes, it just takes a lot of work).
Listened on audio and enjoyed the performance quite a bit.
There's a particularly good section in here about toxic workplaces and bosses that would have been game-changing for me when I was in that situation in my mid-20s. For that alone, I can see recommending this book over and over again to many who feel those things and not only feel they're alone, but that there's no way out (there is -- sometimes, it just takes a lot of work).
Listened on audio and enjoyed the performance quite a bit.
October 16, 2017
I was charmed by the snippet of this book I initially read, an autobiographical recounting of the author's first marriage and experience waitressing. As it turns out, the bulk of this book is not memoir. Nor is it the career advice book I was expecting. Rather than forging new career paths from an unconventional work history, this is more about how to succeed in a typical corporate environment coming from that kind of background. Not a bad topic, but the advice and beliefs the author presents are too contradictory to be helpful.
Early on the author asserts that most career books are unhelpful, and yet the bulk of her advice is standard corporate propaganda. She defends millennials against the stereotype of entitlement, then goes on to insist that sometimes you just have to work 60 hour weeks and give up your weekends, as if there are no other possible options between those extremes. Advice from one chapter is contradicted in the next without any added context or nuance. At one point, she described a situation after the birth of her child where she was pursuing an executive position but was overwhelmed by life circumstances beyond her control. The lesson of this story was apparently to change your attitude to be more positive because the author got the position after 6 months. How is "suck it up" and "it will all work out in the end." more helpful career advice than the dreck the author was ragging on in the first place?
And the cherry on top of this is that the author isn't even weird. How many current billionaires also flunked out of college? Is liking soap operas as a child supposed to be eccentric? At worst I'd say she's clearly still dealing with the insecurity and people pleasing impulses she details struggling with and is trying too hard to sound cool and relatable. ("I was mad face emoji"??) At times, she seems to identify her target audience as Highly Sensitive Persons, which makes more sense. But then why denigrate your audience by calling them "weirdos" and "fuck-ups"?
If the author wants to write a proper memoir I'd happily read it. Her stories about her career failures are actually very entertaining and helpful. And amazingly they are relatable even divorced from the distracting and incessant pop culture references, some of which are already dated. The ability to extrapolate those into a salient point is just absent. The author sounds like a great manager and a cool person. But just because a psychic tells you to write a book (plot twist!) doesn't mean you should.
Early on the author asserts that most career books are unhelpful, and yet the bulk of her advice is standard corporate propaganda. She defends millennials against the stereotype of entitlement, then goes on to insist that sometimes you just have to work 60 hour weeks and give up your weekends, as if there are no other possible options between those extremes. Advice from one chapter is contradicted in the next without any added context or nuance. At one point, she described a situation after the birth of her child where she was pursuing an executive position but was overwhelmed by life circumstances beyond her control. The lesson of this story was apparently to change your attitude to be more positive because the author got the position after 6 months. How is "suck it up" and "it will all work out in the end." more helpful career advice than the dreck the author was ragging on in the first place?
And the cherry on top of this is that the author isn't even weird. How many current billionaires also flunked out of college? Is liking soap operas as a child supposed to be eccentric? At worst I'd say she's clearly still dealing with the insecurity and people pleasing impulses she details struggling with and is trying too hard to sound cool and relatable. ("I was mad face emoji"??) At times, she seems to identify her target audience as Highly Sensitive Persons, which makes more sense. But then why denigrate your audience by calling them "weirdos" and "fuck-ups"?
If the author wants to write a proper memoir I'd happily read it. Her stories about her career failures are actually very entertaining and helpful. And amazingly they are relatable even divorced from the distracting and incessant pop culture references, some of which are already dated. The ability to extrapolate those into a salient point is just absent. The author sounds like a great manager and a cool person. But just because a psychic tells you to write a book (plot twist!) doesn't mean you should.
September 12, 2017
Never in my life have a read a book that was so sadly desperate to sound cool.
The book reads like a series of Buzzfeed articles pieces together with snippets from the Onion and then some trying-way-too-hard advice from your youngish mom or aunt. It will also only be relevant (if it is in fact so) for about 15 minutes as there are references to celebrities nicknames and colloquial millennial nonsense sayings throughout the entire book. The 'Gram for example *shudder*. The writer assumes the reader has the attention span of about 10.5 seconds and as someone who has a short attention span, I found that quite annoying. It's a book not a youtube video. You don't have to grab for my attention so hard with your "hipster" lingo and curse word-ery.
The content boiled down to this: even if you work very hard and pour your life into something it might still suck and most likely you won't feel happy but go for it if it feels right and never forget you got this dude! Garbage.
The book reads like a series of Buzzfeed articles pieces together with snippets from the Onion and then some trying-way-too-hard advice from your youngish mom or aunt. It will also only be relevant (if it is in fact so) for about 15 minutes as there are references to celebrities nicknames and colloquial millennial nonsense sayings throughout the entire book. The 'Gram for example *shudder*. The writer assumes the reader has the attention span of about 10.5 seconds and as someone who has a short attention span, I found that quite annoying. It's a book not a youtube video. You don't have to grab for my attention so hard with your "hipster" lingo and curse word-ery.
The content boiled down to this: even if you work very hard and pour your life into something it might still suck and most likely you won't feel happy but go for it if it feels right and never forget you got this dude! Garbage.
January 28, 2021
This book is out dated and out of touch.
Despite the title, it's a corporate how to guide for people (cis, straight, white girls) who ultimately want to conform to get ahead.
Written by a Gen X woman who is "weird" about how she made it in the New York magazine scene starting in the early 00s. Which means she's never had to deal with any of the hiring mechanisms that have become common in the past 10 years or the highly competitive nature of finding a job. Her advice ranges from the sort of useful ('find people you are really jealous of professionally, and figure out why- it may help you figure out what you want to be doing') to odd ('never leave kitchen post its'; 'wear a bra') with a few that perpetuate toxic work norms ('stay until your boss leaves for the night'; 'Don't be Entitled: a chapter'.)
The book also defends shitty managers ('they were going through tough times!'; 'if you're amazing at your job, it'll be fine!'), so I kept thinking about this recent article about how toxic media companies are: https://jenzerb.medium.com/i-left-my-...
And this older one: https://www.glamour.com/story/verbal-...
This book does no one a service and I'm a mad face emoji for having read it.*
*Okay, all but two chapters. This is also a joke on the writing style.
Despite the title, it's a corporate how to guide for people (cis, straight, white girls) who ultimately want to conform to get ahead.
Written by a Gen X woman who is "weird" about how she made it in the New York magazine scene starting in the early 00s. Which means she's never had to deal with any of the hiring mechanisms that have become common in the past 10 years or the highly competitive nature of finding a job. Her advice ranges from the sort of useful ('find people you are really jealous of professionally, and figure out why- it may help you figure out what you want to be doing') to odd ('never leave kitchen post its'; 'wear a bra') with a few that perpetuate toxic work norms ('stay until your boss leaves for the night'; 'Don't be Entitled: a chapter'.)
The book also defends shitty managers ('they were going through tough times!'; 'if you're amazing at your job, it'll be fine!'), so I kept thinking about this recent article about how toxic media companies are: https://jenzerb.medium.com/i-left-my-...
And this older one: https://www.glamour.com/story/verbal-...
This book does no one a service and I'm a mad face emoji for having read it.*
*Okay, all but two chapters. This is also a joke on the writing style.
August 6, 2017
I picked up this book at a time in my life when I really needed it. Serendipity? Needless to say, I related to a lot of what this author was saying and helped to cope with some of the hopelessness I'm currently facing in my work life. I laughed and I cried, but I never felt like she was preaching to me.
May 16, 2017
Hilarious and inspiring! This it the college graduation present you need to get for the young f-up in your life.
February 19, 2019
As a "weird" person myself, this book fell flat in so many ways.
I was hoping to find some advice for the real untraditional employees in this world-- the writers, the firewood salespeople, the acrobats, the massage therapists, etc, who make up the bulk of the people I know and would actually deem "weird," yet what I found was... advice on how to get by in the office. Yes, the office. That career trap that, apparently, no matter how strange you are, you'll end up working at eventually.
Romolini also valiantly attempts to relate to millennials (her target audience) but instead ends up talking down to us, by warning us not to get too down in our "sads," making sure we #bossup for the 'Gram, and best of all, sagely advising us to "just wear a bra."
Romolini obviously has charm and achieved her goals in life because of her pluckiness, but she also worked in decidedly unweird places and then decided to quirk out her book to try to appeal to the true weirdos.
I was hoping to find some advice for the real untraditional employees in this world-- the writers, the firewood salespeople, the acrobats, the massage therapists, etc, who make up the bulk of the people I know and would actually deem "weird," yet what I found was... advice on how to get by in the office. Yes, the office. That career trap that, apparently, no matter how strange you are, you'll end up working at eventually.
Romolini also valiantly attempts to relate to millennials (her target audience) but instead ends up talking down to us, by warning us not to get too down in our "sads," making sure we #bossup for the 'Gram, and best of all, sagely advising us to "just wear a bra."
Romolini obviously has charm and achieved her goals in life because of her pluckiness, but she also worked in decidedly unweird places and then decided to quirk out her book to try to appeal to the true weirdos.
July 6, 2018
To be honest, I was so relieved to finally be done with this book. I heard the author speak at SXSW in her talk called “How to be a Boss without being Bossy”, and absolutely loved it! Everything was super practical for navigating the world of business. And extremely tweetable (who doesn’t love that). I went immediately to the SXSW book store on search of the book she was promoting in the talk.
When I began reading it, however, I was extremely disappointed. All the actionable, practical insights from her talk were nowhere to be found. The beginning and middle dragged with stories from her early career and experiences in the publishing/magazine world. Only towards the very end did she have something new to share, in the final chapters where she talked about her management experiences. I wouldn’t have finished this book if it hadn’t been for my goodreads book goals (way behind) 🤷🏼♀️
When I began reading it, however, I was extremely disappointed. All the actionable, practical insights from her talk were nowhere to be found. The beginning and middle dragged with stories from her early career and experiences in the publishing/magazine world. Only towards the very end did she have something new to share, in the final chapters where she talked about her management experiences. I wouldn’t have finished this book if it hadn’t been for my goodreads book goals (way behind) 🤷🏼♀️
June 5, 2017
This book is for anyone who has ever felt out of place in a corporate work environment. The author manages to walk this wonderful encouraging yet real talk line of "you are a special snowflake" and "come on, they pay you for a reason." I plan to reread the section on job interviews before every one I go on. This book is funny and real and honest and I loved the author's voice.
October 14, 2017
i just quit a well-paying social work office job in june to go back to a lower-paying but way less awkward job in residential treatment. part of it was because my agency was dysfunctional and shitty but a lot of it was because i just couldn't hack office life. i felt like the biggest freak in the world. it made me super depressed and self-hating in a way i hadn't been since high school (or, more precisely, my last very bad office job, c. 2010). i wish i had had this book back then, or at any of my other disastrous office jobs! it's comforting and full of great advice. i'm only halfway done but couldn't resist posting!!!
June 27, 2017
From the minute I started reading, this book felt like it was written precisely for my kind of people. This is a book that has multiple office-life applications, from advice on how to navigate those cringe worthy small talk conversation to just outright empowerment for anyone who feels weird or out of place in a regimented world.
One note of interest. This book seems to be advertised in some places as "for women." And sure it's written from the female perspective, but as a man I can tell you with certainty it's definitely still very helpful and humorous.
One note of interest. This book seems to be advertised in some places as "for women." And sure it's written from the female perspective, but as a man I can tell you with certainty it's definitely still very helpful and humorous.
May 18, 2017
Easy to read book full of encouragement to go after what ever it is that you want and not to give up when you think that you are a failure or too old or not smart enough and do not dress well enough. Jennifer Romolini's life and career history is full of reasons that she should have just given up, but not everyone fits into the normal cookie cutter life and she shows the reader that is okay.
July 5, 2018
I think overall this is a nice career advice book, but the title is misleading. Maybe I'm just too weird for the Weird Career Book?
June 17, 2018
I am probably not the audience Romolini had in mind for her book. While I believe I would certainly fit the title and subtitle callouts, I am an older male. The author, and quite a few of her stories, are aimed at women at work, generally young women at work. How can I tell? The book includes advice and anecdotes on working while nursing and on when to wear a bra, among other things. But I still found this a fun-to-read book, filled with stories of a unique person as well as some advice on working and careers. I didn’t find the career advice sections all that earth shattering, but there were bits that were aimed at untraditional advice relating to career, such as sleeping with co-workers. These kinds of advice really just made me feel old, but helped me to understand the generational changes in the approach to work and careers. I most enjoyed the stories of Romolini’s life including her work history with a series of low paying jobs before she got serious on getting a career. There’s a definite turning point in her work life, and this could have been further analyzed. Quite interesting.
February 28, 2018
Partial memoir and partial business book that is written to avoid legal and formal lingual. It's a secular, no-nonsense, casual read; it almost felt like a series of blog posts or something of that nature before it was compiled into this book. A part of me wishes that I didn't receive the ARC so I could easily flip to the sections that are only the tips; Romolini heartedly encourages you to use this book in any way that you want. I mostly enjoyed her honesty since it pairs nicely with her advice.
Plenty of cursing too, so it might not be a book for people sensitive to harsh language. I don't understand why this book is in the self-help tag personally since I felt that it didn't devote that much of its contents to warrant it; it is there, but it's through a secondary effect from her advice of "being true to yourself" and "don't worry, everyone else in life is a basket case too." Even Romolini suggests easing up on that attitude if you're a woman who wants to be taken seriously. She doesn't seem to provide much tips for people of color, but at least she admits as much herself early within the book.
I think if you're pretty insecure about your career yet skeptical about conforming to any particular corporate role for whatever reason, you might like this book. It's a pretty fast read and comes from someone who has been in your shoes.
I received the book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
Plenty of cursing too, so it might not be a book for people sensitive to harsh language. I don't understand why this book is in the self-help tag personally since I felt that it didn't devote that much of its contents to warrant it; it is there, but it's through a secondary effect from her advice of "being true to yourself" and "don't worry, everyone else in life is a basket case too." Even Romolini suggests easing up on that attitude if you're a woman who wants to be taken seriously. She doesn't seem to provide much tips for people of color, but at least she admits as much herself early within the book.
I think if you're pretty insecure about your career yet skeptical about conforming to any particular corporate role for whatever reason, you might like this book. It's a pretty fast read and comes from someone who has been in your shoes.
I received the book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
March 10, 2019
Flash news for Jennifer Romolini: she is not "weird," she is, quite simply, an introvert. Speaking for introverts everywhere, we do not appreciate being called names. The world is made up of extroverts and introverts and being one or the other is perfectly normal.
If her professional life is a failure, then mine would be considered downright apocalyptic! Losing a job because the company closed is not an employee's failure by any stretch of the imagination.
This book is written for people who can afford 401ks, which excludes all of us who work either for a salary or an hourly wage who count ourselves lucky that we can pay the rent and buy food for another month.
And finally, using the f-word over and over and over again just demonstrates a lack of intelligence, literary imagination, and makes the reader completely desensitized to any effort on the author's part to illustrate their point.
If her professional life is a failure, then mine would be considered downright apocalyptic! Losing a job because the company closed is not an employee's failure by any stretch of the imagination.
This book is written for people who can afford 401ks, which excludes all of us who work either for a salary or an hourly wage who count ourselves lucky that we can pay the rent and buy food for another month.
And finally, using the f-word over and over and over again just demonstrates a lack of intelligence, literary imagination, and makes the reader completely desensitized to any effort on the author's part to illustrate their point.
did-not-finish
December 25, 2023Meh. I like the approach (though it is still of limited--thankfully acknowledged, but still less helpful for me personally--value because I am a misfit who is also a WOC, and this author is a white woman), but the voice got a bit annoying, and for all that I think it was probably relatively good advice, so much of it is wildly out of date and non-applicable in 2023 (which is wild because it only came out in 2017!). Humans reading resumes? Not anymore. Student loan monthly payments being manageable and reasonable? Ha! (actually, that one was outdated and wrong even in 2017) Reasonable wages being something you can even remotely count on? As if. A book exactly like this that could somehow speak to the absolute hellscape we live in post-2020 would be awesome, but this one just unfortunately doesn't hit like it might have simply because the world has shifted so drastically.
December 16, 2017
In all honesty, I hardly enjoyed this at all. But I think that's because I really needed a different book. The author hardly mentions figuring out what you want/need your career to be, going so far as to say this is the easy part & you already have this figured out. I tuned out right then & there. Honestly hurt that the writer I was looking to for comfort just said my big problem isn't a problem, and moved on. I'm too sensitive. Anyways, I did love that she's very inclusive, and realistic about workplace issues, and there is some good stuff here. But, it just wasn't any help to me. I know how to get by & get ahead in the workplace. I just have no idea how to get a career I'd want to have. Just not the book for me.
August 25, 2017
I am slightly older than the target audience of this book but have certainly had experiences that mirror those of the author. I found her writing style refreshing and fun and her advice sound. This was a quick read and was a nice way to spend my lunch breaks. I would definitely recommend this book to my past self and all those women who feel a little out of step with traditional corporate life.
July 4, 2017
Juicy and needed read! Loved Jen's honesty. When she shares how her car broke down as she tried to leave a relationship, I howled.
March 28, 2019
Probably the most conventional career advice book I've ever read
June 16, 2018
The career guide every woman should be handed on their way out of university. I was drawn to the title but actually this is much more targeted to youngish women who feel insecure or out-of-place in their job search or in their work than it is to "weirdos".
I have to say that I only read the advice section - about half the book - as she recommends reading the book for what you need and ignoring the Type A compulsion to finish something in its entirety. As I read only the "embrace your weird" section, that's all I will address.
This was the most life-affirming career guide and exactly what I needed after one year of job searching and unstable work. Romolini is a straight shooter and somehow tells you everything you need to hear, both the explicitly supportive and the "get your shit together" kind of stuff. I read this during a week of preparing for a job interview and it oddly gave me a profound sense of calm about the process. One of the important pieces of advice, I thought, was that our careers are not "a race to the death sprint". As a highly anxious person I am worried that I need to figure it all out now but there's no rush. Also the chapter about working in fashion as a non-fashion person demonstrates that pigeon-holing is not real (something I've always worried about) and that you can kick ass at a job even if you start out not knowing what the hell you're doing. This book made me tear up on several occasions because it honestly felt like she was writing to me - if that's not a testament to how great this book is, I don't know what is.
There's some basic tips about resumes and interviews but it's really the it's going to be okay, shit happens that felt so useful compared with other career guides. Really, Romolini just seems to get it (plus, she's funny!) I can't recommend this enough to women in their 20s who can't help but feel out of their depth.
I have to say that I only read the advice section - about half the book - as she recommends reading the book for what you need and ignoring the Type A compulsion to finish something in its entirety. As I read only the "embrace your weird" section, that's all I will address.
This was the most life-affirming career guide and exactly what I needed after one year of job searching and unstable work. Romolini is a straight shooter and somehow tells you everything you need to hear, both the explicitly supportive and the "get your shit together" kind of stuff. I read this during a week of preparing for a job interview and it oddly gave me a profound sense of calm about the process. One of the important pieces of advice, I thought, was that our careers are not "a race to the death sprint". As a highly anxious person I am worried that I need to figure it all out now but there's no rush. Also the chapter about working in fashion as a non-fashion person demonstrates that pigeon-holing is not real (something I've always worried about) and that you can kick ass at a job even if you start out not knowing what the hell you're doing. This book made me tear up on several occasions because it honestly felt like she was writing to me - if that's not a testament to how great this book is, I don't know what is.
There's some basic tips about resumes and interviews but it's really the it's going to be okay, shit happens that felt so useful compared with other career guides. Really, Romolini just seems to get it (plus, she's funny!) I can't recommend this enough to women in their 20s who can't help but feel out of their depth.
April 25, 2024
This is a hilariously written career how-to by a woman who has held dozens of jobs and seen it all in business: sexist creepy bosses, divas in the fashion world, eccentric startup founders with little idea of what they’re looking for, entitled underlings, and toxic colleagues of all kinds.
I appreciate any memoir by a person who got less than 1000 on the SAT (raises hand!), going undiagnosed as neurodivergent throughout her life and barely passing school. I’m not interested in memoirs by people who always had connections, perfect grades, or a straight path to success. Jennifer has led a full, messy life that got her where she is today, and she’s the kind of person I want to take advice from. She has so much love for her workers and truly wants to help them grow and do better. I hope she gets to be someone’s boss again after writing books. She’s an exceptional one.
I appreciate any memoir by a person who got less than 1000 on the SAT (raises hand!), going undiagnosed as neurodivergent throughout her life and barely passing school. I’m not interested in memoirs by people who always had connections, perfect grades, or a straight path to success. Jennifer has led a full, messy life that got her where she is today, and she’s the kind of person I want to take advice from. She has so much love for her workers and truly wants to help them grow and do better. I hope she gets to be someone’s boss again after writing books. She’s an exceptional one.
December 9, 2017
This was such a refreshing look at what it means to be successful. For a lot of us weirdos, our inner racquet feels like it will keep us reaching great heights, but Jennifer Romolini makes a strong case for bullsh*t on that one. Her candidness about personal and professional fumbles, addressing them, and each time getting back up and trying again show that it’s not our flaws or failures that outline who we are - though they remain an integral part - it’s how we address and react to them. I immediately connected with the title of this guide when I first came upon it, and when reading it felt as though my life was being described, veiled through different events.
Fellow f*ckups, this one’s for you.
Fellow f*ckups, this one’s for you.
October 9, 2018
Although I thought the title was too long I am glad I picked up this book. Maybe it was the cover. The anecdotes and advice given by Romolini were honest and very helpful indeed for those who are new to management positions. Constantly trying to adapt and stay current in a changing workforce is tiring, and to succeed you need quality people around in your profession for support.
February 19, 2018
Insightful, relatable, and hilarious. Would recommend to every twenty-something woman who’s itching to have impact and be different in this world.
August 14, 2018
Enjoyed reading this book - the author hit on so many thoughts and feelings I have all the time and gave solid advice in real-woman terms that made sense to me. I enjoyed hearing about her life and progress. I have recommended this book to several women already.
January 22, 2025
this is a part memoir, part career advice book. although the authors life was endlessly fascinating, i do wish the book skewed more career advice rather than memoir.
December 26, 2018
Good to gift to someone who is wrapping up their undergrad.
Quick, easy to read
Quick, easy to read
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