Authors@Google: Tamara Erickson January 6, 2009

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Tamara Erickson visits Google's Cambridge, MA office to discuss her book "Plugged In: The Generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work." This event took place on December 16, 2008, as part of the Authors@Google series.

Although Erickson admits that her own Generation Y son informed her that he would prefer to consult a blog for career advice rather than dead-tree technology, her effort—chock-full of demographic data and a portrait of the generation's collective aspirations—is certainly worthy of the effort required of literally turning pages. An author and researcher in demographics and organizational behavior, Erickson has the ability to customize career strategies for this newest generation entering the workforce in a way designed to be immediately useful. The author's thoroughness in translating generic advice—such as the importance of developing good communications skills—into Gen Yspeak makes the book informative and appealingly fresh. Despite gearing her message to younger workers, Erickson's effort speaks to a much broader audience: her examination of what influences and motivates this emerging generation would be of interest to potential employers and marketers.