About the Book

Starting a first real job—or stepping into a new role—can feel exciting, intimidating, and confusing all at once. Start Smart gives new professionals quick, practical advice for navigating workplace communication, office culture, relationships, confidence, and career growth.

Written by NYU Stern professor and communications executive Jeffrey Sharlach, this highly giftable guide features 60 concise lessons paired with sharp black-and-white illustrations by New Yorker contributor Juan Astasio. The result is a career advice book that feels useful, funny, polished, and easy to return to again and again.

Packaged as a faux leather hardcover, Start Smart is a standout gift or desk companion for anyone ready to move up with more confidence and clarity.

Here’s what makes Start Smart a practical gift for the next career step:

  • 60 quick workplace lessons: Concise tips on communication, relationships, confidence, office etiquette, and career success.
  • Perfect for graduates and new hires: A natural fit for college graduation, MBA graduation, internships, first jobs, and onboarding.
  • Credible professional guidance: Written by a longtime NYU Stern professor and founder of a global communications firm.
  • Polished hardcover package: Faux leather binding and humorous illustrations make it useful, memorable, and display-worthy.

Start Smart is the perfect graduation gift, first job companion, or desk accessory for graduates, new hires, and anyone beginning their professional life.

Meet the Author

Jeffrey Sharlach is the founder of JeffreyGroup, the international corporate communications consulting firm today with hundreds of employees providing counsel to global brands and multinational corporations. He’s trained as a journalist (BSJ, Northwestern) and a lawyer (JD, New York University) and is a recognized authority on communication in business quoted by The New York Times, CNN, ABC News and Huffington Post among others and a frequent conference speaker. Since 2007, he has been an Adjunct Professor of Management Communication at the NYU Stern School of Business teaching undergraduates and MBA students. He lives in New York City. 

Meet the Illustrator

Juan Astasio is proud to call himself “a formerly rejected cartoonist at The New Yorker magazine,” where his distinctive illustrations now appear regularly. Juan’s illustrations and cartoons have also been featured in numerous other publications and books, and his artwork has been exhibited at the Society of Illustrators in New York City and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid. After many years living in Brooklyn, Juan now resides in Barcelona.

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