LEAVE YOUR MARK
Land Your Dream Job. Kill It in Your Career. Rock Social Media.
Author: Aliza Licht
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group
If you’re committed to doing whatever it takes to rock the career of your dreams, Aliza Licht wants to set the record straight: Zombies need not apply.
In other words, your career success starts with (and depends on) YOU taking responsibility for owning your passions, actively managing your career and walking your talk. And as a professional career coach and someone who shares Aliza’s passion and vigor for helping people land their dream jobs, I couldn’t agree more and enthusiastically dived in.
Whether you are just launching your career or are an experienced professional, a traditional 9-to-5er or a budding entrepreneur, you’re in luck, because social media superstar and PR powerhouse Aliza Licht has written the bombdiggity bible of career development that traverses all ages and industries. And as SVP of Global Communications for Donna Karan International, a global mentor and the identity behind DKNY PR GIRL (with over half a million Twitter followers to boot), Licht knows a thing or two about building and leveraging a powerful personal brand to catapult your career forward.
Part personal branding blueprint, communication and etiquette code and motivational makeover, Leave Your Mark is Licht’s way of sharing a cup of joe and some candid career conversation with her global mentees past, present and future, all-in-one.
Chock full of saavy strategies, eye-opening anecdotes, as well as don’t do’s and must-do’s, Licht dishes out solid, actionable advice that she has personally experienced, learned and tested. And the fact that she delivers it with a healthy and heartfelt dose of street smarts, wit, humor, sass and passion, is what makes its messages and morals all the more easy to gobble up, digest and jump in feet first and get crankin’ on applying.
Leave Your Mark kicks off with advice on finding your right career path, writing a killer resume, cover letter, nailing your interview and “sucking your internship [or first career opportunity] dry”. But her most important lesson here is that it’s not just about getting the job, but what you do with it while you’re there.
In Part 2, Licht shares advice on getting ahead, pursuing a promotion/raise and perhaps the most poignant and powerful chapter, Surviving People and Politics. Ever had a maniacal manager or been thrown under the bus by an overcompetitive colleague? Through courageously sharing her own personal stories, she allows us to instantly identify and empathize with her on a deeper level as a trusted friend and someone who has been there too. Best of all, she provides invaluable guidance on avoiding political pitfalls and confrontations, the importance of developing a thick skin and covering your ass with class, while keeping your career trajectory unscathed and on track.
Similarly, Licht spares no space in covering the (crucial) importance of proactively curating your social media presence, being social media savvy and managing damage control (heed her words, so you won’t need to use it!). After all, thanks to technology and the internet, the lines between professional and personal have blurred [just as the number of equally qualified candidates for coveted career opportunities has increased exponentially]. In turn, Licht emplores using this as an opportunity to distinguish yourself even further and cultivate the strongest, most powerful first (and lasting) impression of yourself possible, ad infinitum.
Leave Your Mark culminates in a supercharged section Creating the Brand of You, which kicks off with the why’s and how’s of creating and managing your personal brand, throughout which Licht makes one thing consistently clear: the impression you make is just as important as the skills and strengths you bring to the table.
The book also boasts specialized chapters on topics such as presenting/public speaking, networking and creating your personal style, as well as a chapter aptly title When You Get to the Top, Don’t Be an Asshole.
At its essence, Leave Your Mark is real. A real, honest, inspiring and no-nonsense narration of the real life career lessons, personal stories, challenges, opportunities and responsibilities, that once made a familiar component of your career vocabulary and toolbox, will empower you to confidently manage and steer your own career journey successfully, no matter what comes your way.
If you’re ready to vault your career from ordinary to extraordinary, walk your talk and leave your mark!
*Thank you, Aliza, for creating such an inspiring, invigorating, valuable career resource!
Keep Rockin’,
Vicki
