A Career in Your Suitcase: Finding the Prefect Portable Career [Paperback]

Joanna Parfitt (Author), Michelle Ffrancon-Smith (Illustrator), Laura Westbury (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1998

A woman's identity is closely related to the roles she plays. Being a wife and mother are two important roles, but for many women this is simply not enough. It is work that gives them the highest self-esteem. As more and more parents in full-time work are expected to relocate, not just around the UK, but throughout the world, the perfect career needs to be more portable too. This is a practical handbook aimed at women looking to create a career that fits their skills, interest and lifestyle. The book offers information and innovative ideas, using a series of interviews with spouses who have learned to "tilt their hats" rather than change or discard them. The careers discussed range from hairdressing to horticulture, and cover part-time, contract, freelance, voluntary and full-time work. The women interviewed have been selected for their wide variety of skills and their flexibility and self-promotion. The interviews are preceded by chapters which discuss the value of networking, assessing your skills, working from home and the expatriate spouse. The book also offers a checklist for anyone wishing to start their own business.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'I've recommended this book to expats, repats and domestic movers since the first edition was published in 1998. It is a small book that is absolutely packed with practical information (no excess baggage here) and advice that can be applied immediately, 'Paula Kugelman Expat-Repat Advisor/Consultant/Licensed clinical Social Worker. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Jo Parfitt is an acclaimed international journalist and speaker who, after a decade as a working expatriate wife, specialises in portable careers. Her sell-out book 'A Career in Your Suitcase' has now been completely revised and her free website www.career-in-your-suitcase.com was launched in April 2002. She is well known for her inspirational, interactive workshops on topics that include networking, finding your passion and making things happen. Past clients claim that her work empowered them to lead more fulfilling lives. Her journalism has been published all over the world and she is a regular contributor to many publications including Expatrium, The Weekly Telegraph and Business Woman Canada. In 2002 her work was published in Hobsons Career Guide for Women and she was recently employed as editor for Woman Abroa --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Summertime Publishing (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0952945304
• ISBN-13: 978-0952945307
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,062,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My first book was accepted by the first publisher I approached, back in 1984. The book was 'French Tarts' and the publisher was Octopus. I went on to have 13 word processing and desktop publishing handbooks published by Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, Pitman and Paradigm, over the next few years. By then I had become an 'expat wife' and was living in Dubai. In 1993 we were posted to Oman, Word had become the only WP program and so my other work dried up. Inspired by the landscape and produce of Oman I decided to co-author another cookbook and create Summertime Publishing in order to do it myself. 'Dates' sold thousands of copies but in 1996 we were posted to Norway. Here, I realised my decade abroad had taught me much about expat life and portable careers. Summertime published 'Forced to Fly' and 'Career in Your Suitcase'. I had become an expat expert and my career as a journalist specialising in expat issues and speaker at international conferences took off.

In 1997 we returned to England for a while and I published 'Find Your Passion' and 'Grow Your Own Networks'. In 2005 we moved to the Netherlands and I returned to traditional publishing and new editions of 'Find Your Passion' and 'Career in Your Suitcase' were published by Lean Marketing Press and 'Dates' by Zodiac. In addition LMP published my books 'Release the Book Within' and 'Expat Entrepreneur'.

Today, I'm still in Holland and Summertime Publishing is back on full throttle, not only as a publisher but also as a complete mentoring and publishing service. In March I published my poetry memoir, 'A Moving Landscape' and have now begun publishing other people's books too.