Avoid "The Brazen Careerist" at All Costs

During some downtime at work about a week and a half ago, I went on Yahoo to check my email. I noticed a featured headline about "Ten New Etiquette Tips for the Workplace." Since I'll be in the real world of work this time next year, it definitely looked like something worth checking out.

The article was written by an advice columnist named Penelope Trunk, also known as "The Brazen Careerist." After reading the article about Etiquette Tips, going through some of her other archived work, and then reading her blog on her official website, I was appalled by most of what she had to say. I hope others read her idea of "advice" and run the other way, and here's why.

My main problem with Penelope (not even her real name, by the way) is that she has no business writing a career advice column. Her biography on Yahoo Finance says she was a part of companies that went bankrupt or otherwise folded, so clearly she has not much had business success. Even the company she founded no longer exists.

Furthermore, she also had a stint as a beach volleyball player. I have never looked at her statistics, but this isn't what I'd want to see on the biography of any successful business person. Considering she spent time modeling advertisements on her chest, what does that have to do with working in the corporate world? Professional athletes may be successful, but do you see Barry Bonds dishing career advice for working America? I didn't think so.

While reading Penelope's advice column, I took issue with some of the things she was writing. Most of her advice contradicts what you'd hear from your parents, professors, or any writer on Monster or Career Builder. Here is some of the appalling "advice" I've found in her articles:

Don't report sexual harassment (and what, continue getting harassed? Speaking as a former victim of workplace bullying who successfully reported her bully, I really take issue with this statement, as did another commenter who was sexually harassed).

It is OK if you have eight jobs by the time you are 30 because you need time to figure things out (most employers don't want to hire people who job hop constantly, so Penelope should realize that job hopping hurts in the long run. How will an employer know that someone would be loyal to them if they can barely stay in one place for a year?)

Women should show some skin in the work place to get ahead (wrong again. Workplace dress should be all about modesty while still looking fashionable.)

You can actually buy happiness. Ms. Trunk writes an entire article devoted to this. I hope there are people other than me who believe that money doesn't equal happiness; it's what you are doing with your life and how you have lived so far that really matters.

You should call people at home on the weekends because your work life comes before you personal life no matter what day of the week it is. What happened to work/life balance? Today, many companies seem to be trying to help their employers lead personal lives away from the office. Ms. Trunk is not promoting that.

You should not go to graduate school because a graduate degree makes you more employable. If anything, most people go to graduate school to advance themselves and in some areas, a master's degree is almost necessary for advancement.

Don't ask for time off; just take it. A lot of employers require advanced notice for a reason: to schedule other employees to replace you and for you to be able to finish any projects before vacation. In some cases, employees who just don't show up for work will get fired or seriously reprimanded. Vacation is important, but your employer should always know when you will be gone and when you will be back.

If it won't matter in five years, you don't need to work on it. Well, in any workplace, you do the projects expected of you. Would anyone actually have the guts to tell their employer that they won't do something because it isn't going to matter in five years? I started a bad job in collections five years ago, and no what the customers said to me doesn't matter now, but I wasn't going to tell my boss that when she gave me a pile of calls to handle.

Among the bad advice given, Penelope once also asked her readers what they think of the negative comments she gets. This screams that she needs people to build her ego and that she has no faith in what she is writing. I guess she doesn't realize that no matter what she puts out there, people will criticize her for it. If she can't take it, now is a better time than later or never to get out of the Internet writing and journalism business.

In her Yahoo articles, she cannot cite any credible sources, which is key to being a good writer. Instead, she consistently links back to her own blog entries, instead of saying something like "According to an interview with..." or "An article written by John Smith says..." Your blog is never a credible source when writing an article that thousands of people read. While she does cite other works in her blog, she needs to do the same on Yahoo.

I could keep going, but I'm going to end by saying if you are looking to get ahead in your career in any way at any point, don't take Penelope's advice. She is out of touch with reality and unqualified to be educating anyone on this issue. I will be sticking to the writers at Monster, Career Builder, and even the Dummies and Complete Idiot's Guides to any and all work place topics.

If you hear about her book "The Brazen Careerist", I would also advise against picking it up because it's pretty much different nonsensical advice that she has already embarrassed herself with. (Although if I do decide to ever waste money on it, I plan on writing a review on what a joke it is, so stay tuned.)

Hopefully, Penelope stops referring to herself as an "expert" or switches the focus of her advice column to "How to Get Fired". She is even fooling herself by appointing herself an expert on anything except poor writing and even worse advice. If you can, stay far away from her work. It will actually help your career in the long run.