--- title: Job Advice: Being Weird Is an Asset description: Jennifer Romolini writes in her new book "Weird in a World That's Not" about how to be socially awkward at work canonical: https://time.com/4810468/weird-in-a-world-thats-not-review/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-08T10:53:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:19:18.980Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Perks of Being Weird In the Workplace og:description: How to use social awkardness and originality to your advantage og:url: https://time.com/4810468/weird-in-a-world-thats-not-review/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97268630d5e4ff7c/6988d0cf0a4a2200279ce86a/weird-world-not-jennifer-romolini.png?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Weird in a World That's Not og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Perks of Being Weird In the Workplace twitter:description: How to use social awkardness and originality to your advantage twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97268630d5e4ff7c/6988d0cf0a4a2200279ce86a/weird-world-not-jennifer-romolini.png?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Perks of Being Weird In the Workplace by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 8, 2017 10:53 AM UTC  HarperCollins by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 8, 2017 10:53 AM UTC “For a long time,” [Jennifer Romolini](https://twitter.com/jennromolini) writes, “I was pretty sure I would never make it in the world, that I would never become ‘successful.'” The reason: she was just too weird, too sensitive, too far outside the realm of mainstream office culture. But the former editor of [HelloGiggles](http://hellogiggles.com/) and Yahoo Shine did eventually succeed, and in her new book, [_Weird in a World That’s Not_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062472720/?tag=timecom-20), she offers several tips to help fellow misfits climb the corporate ladder. If you’re socially awkward, she writes, try over-preparing for even the most mundane workplace situations — rehearsing compliments for small talk with co-workers, for example, or writing scripts for major meetings. Romolini also advises turning weirdness into an asset, as she did: when yoga became a fad in New York City, she drew upon her unusual new-age upbringing to corner the beat as a freelancer, which soon landed her a full-time job. “If you are a card-carrying weirdo,” she writes, “\[it’s\] not a detriment, it’s an asset.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4810468/weird-in-a-world-thats-not-review/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4810468/weird-in-a-world-thats-not-review/"},"headline":"The Perks of Being Weird In the Workplace","datePublished":"2017-06-08T10:53:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:19:18.980Z","description":"How to use social awkardness and originality to your advantage","url":"https://time.com/4810468/weird-in-a-world-thats-not-review/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97268630d5e4ff7c/6988d0cf0a4a2200279ce86a/weird-world-not-jennifer-romolini.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97268630d5e4ff7c/6988d0cf0a4a2200279ce86a/weird-world-not-jennifer-romolini.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Weird in a World That's Not","caption":"Weird in a World That's Not","creditText":"HarperCollins","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4810468/weird-in-a-world-thats-not-review/","name":"The Perks of Being Weird In the Workplace"}}]}] ```