“Don’t Hook Up with the Dude in the Next Cube,” a book full of career advice for young professional women, aims to help new graduates land jobs and keep them.

“Don’t Hook Up” contains over 200 tips on everything from how to clean up your online presence to how to make sure everyone in the office adores you, in a strictly professional way, of course. Co-authors Nancy Shenker and Lindsay Brown want 20-somethings to get started in the right direction and be ready for some of the common pitfalls of the business world.

For example, tips number 19: “Google yourself before someone else does,” urges readers to make sure they have a positive online presence. Using social media to make business connections is just one of many tid-bits on how to use tech skills to your advantage.

“Socializing and building relationships is a fundamental part of job hunting and marketing,” Shenker said.

Personal branding is key, according to “Don’t Hook Up,” as well as making sure you actually enjoy what you’ve chosen to do for a living. The book contains a handy “passions pin-pointer worksheet” to map out your interests and align them with possible careers. There’s no point in making big bucks if you’re miserable doing it.

Shenker was inspired to write the book when her own daughters, ages 19 and 23, started asking her for career advice. After witnessing a few of her young, female interns behaving foolishly, she realized that not all women have a business-savvy mother to guide them.

“I don’t want to be sexist as a woman,” Shenker said. “But I do find that a lot of women, when bad stuff happens in the workplace, they tend to take it personally.”

Learning to separate what happens in business from personal feelings is important for women, according to Shenker.

Agreeing to take overtime is a must, as long as it’s not every day, according to “Don’t Hook Up.” Dumping your slacker friends for more business-minded folk might seem cold, but Shenker and Brown say it’s helpful on the road to success.

A 30-year veteran in the marketing world, Shenker hopes that “Don’t Hook Up” can help young women avoid some of the mistakes she made while working her way up in the business world.

“Yes, I did hook up with the dude in the next cube, at one of the points in my career.” He dumped her, started dating someone else, and she still had to see him all the time in the cafeteria.

“We women are still learning how to hold on to our feminine side while being taken seriously in the working world,” Shenker says in the book.

“Don’t Hook Up” is stocked with fresh and sound advice for 20-somethings looking to start or advance their careers.

You can find more information about the book and authors at www.2booms.com

Tags: Don't Hook Up With the Dude in the Next Cube, graduation tips, job hunting, review

People: Lindsay Brown, Nancy Shenker