Flip-flops and Microwaved Fish: Navigating the Dos and Don’ts of Workplace Culture

Peter Yawitz

Greenleaf Book Group (JAN 14) Hardcover $24.95 (272pp), 978-1-62634-682-6

Starting your first job out of college is tough, as Peter Yawitz knows. Helping young people to navigate their new worlds of employment with plenty of humor, Flip-flops & Microwaved Fish is written with the wise but sarcastic tone of a favorite uncle or a dad who’s a whole lot cooler than your own.

Tackling issues that range from the importance of body language to writing correctly and eating well with others, this text is the employee manual that young adults won’t actually get from their employers, but that they are likely to be in desperate need of. Full of example work scenarios, helpful charts, and write-in letters from young people in need, the book touches on nearly everything that a young adult needs to succeed in new environments of peers and managers.

Though confronting contemporary issues that range from equality fights to the challenges of AI, the text’s advice is of the sort that never goes out of style. It includes avoiding clichés and being more direct in communication, as well as the technological issues that people face when entering the workforce. Social media, video conferencing, and composing professional text messages are all considered, alongside rules for conduct in presentations and the right ways to handle office politics.

With a bright, open tone that’s suited to its audience, the book is packed with useful information. Relevant, insightful, and useful no matter what type of work environment a person is entering, the book’s chapters are easy to scan for the needed information, with examples aplenty to present new perspectives on common work dilemmas.

Both informative and humorous, Flip-flops and Microwaved Fish is the go-to etiquette guide for the new generation.