Customer Reviews

Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The bookshelves groan with the weight of self-help books, some invaluable, and some ordinary common sense made marketable by astute `guides'. Though this remarkably readable new book by Pamela Skillings is subtitled `A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of your Dreams', suggesting yet another of the self help series genre, what this carefully detailed, wise, and immensely user friendly book offers is a call to the reader savvy enough to buy this guide to address not only employment and how to make meaningful, plausible changes in job situations, but also how to essentially take charge of your life in every facet of living.

Skillings uses a conversational style of writing, full of wit, insight into the unspeakable issues that crowd many of our professional lives, and practical approaches to what other authors have created as `formulas', and in doing so she manages to supportively take the reader by the hand and lead the way down the dark hall of indecision or stifling boredom to the possibility of light at the end of the tunnel of change. `You don't have to settle' is a term she frequently inserts into this fact-filled examination of the good and the bad side of Corporate existence. The signs and symptoms of corporate burnout are detailed in lists of levels of `disease' states that provide a lot of truth as well as significant humor (monotony, control issues, workplace drama, cubiclitis, etc.). But Skillings has the wisdom to refuse to push her readers into leaving the womb of corporate security. Instead, she offers skilled advice on how to evaluate job and life goals, and follows this with detailed methods of how to approach dreams of finding the perfect job - along with a healthy list of the possible temporary setbacks and side effects of making change.

One of the many fine points of Skillings' mentoring is her realistic approach to the challenges that accompany change. After long chapters on how to decide what kind of job would provide personal satisfaction as well as a means of viable financial support, she outlines sensible and attainable pathways to make the `change' work. After deciding just what would make the reader's life happy in the work environment (and it follows, in the home environment), Skillings suggests seeking advice from people in the field of work being considered, doing temp work in that field, volunteering in areas associated with the goal (adding to the resume as well as to the conviction that the change will be what the seeker wishes) - all before `quitting the day job'. In other words, Skillings advice is crowned by recommending sound research and implementation of dreams BEFORE taking the leap.

Within the context of the conversational advice are numerous examples of people who indeed escaped from corporate America, lists to complete to aid the reader in defining exactly what are the goals and the steps toward achieving them, and a constant supply of warmly friendly, gently humorous, reality based supportive asides that reassure the reader that `you can do this'! In her final chapter HAVE A NICE ESCAPE, before she shares myriad contacts and resources to aid the reader, Skillings warmly states `Only you can decide if you're really ready to escape from Corporate America. The most important thing to remember is that you always have options. You deserve an inspiring, fulfilling career, and there's no reason you can't have one.' Dreams and Visions fill the pages of this fine book and it would be difficult to find a more informed and supportive guide to attaining those than Pamela Skillings. Highly Recommended! Grady Harp, May 08

I think the title is misleading. Almost all of the examples in the book are from people with previous jobs titles such as, "Investment banker", "Management consultant", "PR and marketing executive", and on and on.

As the "average person" I found it hard to relate. I mean come on, an investment banker making a career change? That's more like, "I made so much fr*ggin money messing up the markets and screwing everyone else I don't need any more and now I want to do something fun".

Good for you.

As for the rest of us? The book has the usual set goals, create a budget, do something you like, yadda, yadda, yadda. I give the book one star for the valid points the author puts forward about the transition out of the workplace and into your new career. That was well summarized. But nothing you couldn't glean from a 5 minute peruse in the book store or some internet research. So nothing new here for me.

I'm fortunate... I love my job. That doesn't mean there aren't some days where I'd gladly trade it in for a new model, but that's true for anything you do. However, I'm constantly amazed by how many people truly *hate* what they do, and only continue working because they can't afford not to. Pamela Skillings looks at people in that predicament and offers them a way out in her book Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams. It's a well-written book that should give you all the help you need to start making choices and decisions to change your current situation.

Contents:
Quiz: Are You A Corporate Casualty?
Part 1: Plan Your Escape
1. This Is Not Your Father's Job Market
2. The Trouble with the Rat Race
3. True Callings and Wrong Numbers
4. Let's Get Practical
Part 2: Exploring Escape Routes
5. Corporate Jobs That Don't Suck
6. Take A Break
7. Swim in a Smaller Pond
8. Go Solo
9. Build a Business
10. Follow Your Creative Dreams
11. Make A Difference
Part 3: Going Over the Wall
12. Going Over the Wall
Have a Nice Escape
The Escape Tool Kit
Acknowledgments
Meet the Corporate Escape Artists

The thing I like most about this book is that it doesn't try to fit everyone into a "one size fits all" mold. In the job world, "one size fits almost nobody". Skillings lays out the reasons why you may not be satisfied with your corporate existence. Sometimes it's due to burnout, sometimes to disillusionment, or even due to reorganizations that have relegated you to working for the boss from hell. Whatever the case, getting to the core of your dissatisfaction is key to figuring out how to correct it. Once that's established, she then explores the potential options that you might want to explore. For some, corporate life is fine, but you need a new pond. There's nothing wrong with a cubicle if that fits your style and comfort zone. Perhaps for others, it's just a sabbatical that's needed to recharge the batteries a bit. Maybe a start-up where you're playing a variety of roles? Become your own boss as a contractor/consultant? All those possibilities are put out there for you to consider, along with hints as to why or why not each one may be right for you. The final part of the book wraps everything up with a realistic expectation of what you'll feel when you've made the decision to pull the trigger... fear. Often that fear keeps people from taking that final step. With Skillings's help, you can see that for what it is and act accordingly.

Another thing that makes this an enjoyable read are the real-life examples interspersed throughout the book. She's gone out and interviewed a number of well-known people and asked them how they fell into their "dream job". What you'll find is that the differences between you and them are not as large as you'd think. In many/most cases, they started with the same fears and concerns you have, along with a feeling that they were missing something in their current situation. The main difference between them and you is that they've taken the step and done the hard work, and are now reaping the rewards. You're not guaranteed to succeed, but you're guaranteed to fail if you don't begin.

An excellent book to recommend to that cube dweller who continually laments their lot in life. Things can be different, and Escape from Corporate America can help show you the way.

Have you ever watched The Office only to realize the skewering social satire is not that far off the reality of your mundane day-to-day life at work? I knew I wanted to read this book the moment I saw the title, and I was fortunate to receive an advance copy from the author's husband. Truly leading by example, Pamela Skillings has written such an entertaining tome on seeking career fulfillment that it stands among the most insightful in an increasingly crowded field. It's a thorough start-to-finish treatise that resonates from Skillings' own story as an aspiring journalist who ended up working in corporate America for twelve years earning a six-figure salary only to realize she was never really satisfied. For most of us, such a revelation, if it ever reaches the level of our consciousness, comes with a wave of dread that crystallizes into a paralyzing fear over an unknown future. With a fluctuating economy that produces constant employment uncertainty, the clarity that comes with living a life of predictable mediocrity may hold a certain appeal to those unwilling to incur a risk by taking a deep-dive journey into themselves.

Unbeknownst to them, this book needs to become a must-read because Skillings does an adept job in convincing us to embrace change and not waste most of our days in "toxic workplaces" full of boredom, political plays and even worse. She begins appropriately with a quiz as to your readiness to leave corporate America. Once you know where you are in terms of satisfaction, then she makes clear how you need to plan your escape. First, you need to forego the preconceptions of what job suits you based on the conformist ideas and white-picket-fence dreams of your father's generation. I particularly liked her section on recognizing the warning signs at the workplace and how one should separate economic reality from career fantasies. Skillings manages to be pragmatic without being cynical and goes through the questions of finance and health care with refreshing directness. The bulk of the book focuses on exploring your escape routes, and here she discusses all the possibilities, whether it be a more attractive corporate career, taking extended time off, pursuing job shares or flex time schedules, working in a start-up, building your own business, or even more adventurously, following your creative dreams.

As someone who has firsthand experience with corporate downsizings and major reorganizations, I am more than familiar with what Skillings describes so accurately here. In fact, a few years ago, I found myself packing up my desk, handing in my ID, and letting that overwhelming feeling of failure envelope other aspects of my otherwise productive life. I became a consultant in my field of specialty, which is why I read with interest the chapter on "solopreneurship". I wish I had this book back then to guide me through the process because Skillings has such a firm, clear-eyed grasp on how to maximize the opportunity presented by a layoff in a constructive, applicable manner. I also appreciate how she does not rely solely on her expertise and has recruited a number of people to speak to their own major career transitions from Sally Fegley, a corporate real estate executive who turned into a gourmet chocolate maker, to more renowned people like Dilbert creator Scott Adams and gossip columnist Perez Hilton. Naturally, Skillings ends the book with how to "go over the wall" by forging a new identity and not getting burdened by others' opinions of your actions. There is also a helpful section at the end called "The Escape Tool Kit" which is full of good reference material to help you get started. All of a sudden, reading Richard Bolles' classic manual, What Color Is Your Parachute?, doesn't seem nearly enough. I really believe Skillings' book is indispensable for career-switchers.

I didn't think the world needed yet another book on being an entrepreneur, but this book is quite original. Before you invest any time at all, Skillings has you take a smart quiz "Are you a corporate casualty?" which will be a big eye opener for many, mostly because this talented writer has a gift. It feels like she's talking to you and to you only.

It was actually quite eerie to hear someone talking to me, describing all the feelings I had been harboring inside, sharing them with no one, about my corporate job. Skillings knew exactly what was going on with me (after all, they'd been going on with her) but she even listed the feelings in the order I was having them. It was at that moment this book had me.

It is also a very balanced view .. and Skillings realizes that not everyone is a candidate for corporate dropout. In fact, she spends some time talking about corporate jobs that don't suck. And - things you can do (more little tests and quizes) to validate your decision; things you can do to improve your situation. She realizes escaping corporate America to follow your dream is always going to involve a leap of faith, but she truly wants you to do it with your eyes wide open.

I especially appreciated the level of research that went into this book, which gives iy credibility and objectivity. Skillings found the corporate dropout path the right one for her, but she doesn't assume it's the right one for you, and she pays homage to those corporations that do everything they can to make it work. But at the end of the day, there are certain people that just won't ever be happy in the corporate machine, and to those people, she offers a practical guide.

If you are thinking of doing something else besides the corporate thing, buy this book and read it.

Skillings' book addresses a dream that many have and that many have made come true: getting out of that cube and into the best job in the world. She presents the case for and the means of escape in a variety of ways: sound advice, case studies in success, gradual approaches to leaving the rat race, and resources for the legal, tax, and other factors that go into creating a business. Through it all, she maintains a bouncy optimism that could well be contagious. Various chapters deal with the problems of the corporate world, the attraction of 'solopreneur' life, and the steps needed to bring the vision to life. Others deal with "corporate jobs that don't suck," careers in the nonprofit world, teaching, and other ways to find satisfaction without the many (and possibly under-represented) problems of going it alone.

One thing stands out in many of these success stories. So many of them start with person X leaving a six-figure (or higher) paycheck that it starts to sound like a pre-requisite. In many cases, starting your own business will go through a lean year or two or more, so any savings you start with will help a lot. In others, the costs of equipment, materials, trade shows, sales trips, and a gaillion other things have to be up-front money, before you see your first nickel of revenue. So, what about the man or woman who starts with less, maybe lots less? Some of the advice here, like starting the new thing months or years before leaving the old, will help the startup starting with less. Still, this book might not be ideal for those who haven't already made a pile elsewhere. This book's other weakness lies in near-zero mention of the publicity campaign you'll need for selling yourself. There are endless opportunities there, including writing reviews at Amazon! (My current job came because of an Amazon review, and my brother has been invited to add to a forthcoming book based on one of his reviews - it can happen.)

Despite minor flaws, Skillings does a great job of motivating the reader to get on with her (or maybe his) dreams. She acknowledges that change can be scary, especially when it means a dramatic down-sizing of income, possibly to zero or less, during the startup phase. Well, fear isn't all bad. The right kind has amazing power to focus your attention, and one message comes through consistently: focus and dedication are two things needed to live the life you dream, and might be the only things needed.

-- wiredweird, reviewing a complimentary copy

From the number of people I have heard talking about getting out of the corporate rat race, I would guess nearly everyone has that desire at some point or another. However, very few people actually do it. To understand this, it helps to know a beautiful word that isn't used often enough: velleity. It dates from the early 17th Century and comes from the Latin word velle, which means wish or will. It represents something you feel a desire for, but not strong enough to overcome inertia and do anything about it. Sometimes, not acting is a very good thing. You shouldn't abandon your family because of a single fit of anger or frustration. Nor should you quit your job and dip yourself into the molten hot problems of not being able to pay your bills, not being able to finance your dreams, or have enough to even eat on a regular basis.

Whenever I am in a vast room with acres of cubicles I can barely breathe and want to flee. Despite their regular paychecks, solid benefits, and structured work life, I know for certain that life is not for me. For some people, the dread of spending any more of their precious time and life energy in one more meaningless meeting, or working one more day in a beige half-cube sitting in identical chairs, working at identical computers, regulated by identical policies as if you really were just another cog in a vast machine becomes too much to take. When you get to that level of dread, for your own mental health, you should investigate your alternatives. Not that you should rashly act on the first idea or two that pop into your head. Instead, you should read this book and look at the wonderful range or opportunities Pamela Skillings has laid out for you. Best of all, she gives you toolkits for each idea that help you work out whether that path is right for you.

The great thing Skillings does is to show you a number of alternatives to the horror show your present job has become. You don't have to leap from a reasonably secure and comfortable mid-level management job to the utter uncertainty of starting your own business from scratch. There are a large number of alternatives you can and should investigate. She divides the books twelve chapters into three parts.

Part 1 is called "Plan Your Escape" and has chapters on why today's market is not what it was a generation or two back, the burnout and boredom that can accompany modern corporate work, the myth of the one true calling, the fantasies we have about work that we pretend can become a reality (they can't), and how to try out your dream job without jumping off a cliff. She also talks about the practicalities of career change and how to mitigate the very real downsides and landmines you can set off with a careless misstep.

Part 2 is "Exploring Escape Routes" and guides you through seven gradations of alternative changes. The first is how to "Corporate Jobs That Don't Suck". And really, that is a personal thing. What you may think is a great job may well be a poor choice for me and vice-versa. There is also a chapter on switching to part-time work, or even taking some time off, a sabbatical, or leave of absence and how to make your case to your boss so you can have a job to come back to if you need it. Another alternative is moving to a smaller company. Skillings walks you through the positives and negatives of leaving the big machine for a smaller one.

Her discussion of the solo-entrepreneur or solopreneur as she calls it is quite good and something I have experienced first hand. She doesn't discuss much about what can happen if things take longer to catch fire than your expected. It can be a tough go, and you really need to make sure you have enough steel in your soul to bear it. Also, does your spouse want it with you? I want to say that I believe firmly that sacrificing a family for work is never a good idea for any reason. Work is for supporting your family not a substitute for it. Work is not the meaning of life, it is a means to provide and support what really matters.

Next, she takes you through the basics of building your own business and it is quite good as far as it goes. This is a very complex subject and there are serious issues about funding and your continued ownership or participation in the business that she doesn't discuss. Just know that once the original owners let the venture capitalists in their firm they will likely, very likely, be completely out of the firm within five years. And usually without anything like the financial benefit they dreamed of. Beware! However, there may be no other way for you to accomplish your dreams.

Nicely, the author also spends two chapters exploring the life of the artist and the life of working for a not-for-profit whose cause you believe in passionately. It may well be that you are an artist who thought you had to live a practical life and it is killing you. On the other hand, you have to be prepared for the very real financial sacrifices and life difficulties being an artist of any type always has (except for the very, very few who make it big). Working for a cause can bring benefits that can compensate for the bureaucratic red-tape you will still have to deal with for funding and the politics that always accompanies these kinds of organizations. Remember, the fights are so big because the stakes are so small.

The last part is a single chapter discussing what to expect from those around you once you go over the wall. The fear and peer pressure you will feel, the envy others might express, and so forth. The author wants you to be prepared for the other changes in your life changing your job will cause.

I love the humor in the book, the stories of others who went through what that chapter is discussing (The Daring Tales of Corporate Escape), the lists she asks you to fill out to help you think through your situation, what your real priorities are, and your financial situation. Skillings also gives you a process for each job type. If you follow her sound advice, you will certainly increase your odds for success and leave yourself bail out points so you don't have to ride the plane all the way through the crash. Best of all she is an advocate for YOU and YOUR HAPPINESS rather than trying to talk you into one path or another. Just terrific!

If you have ever thought about switching jobs or heading off into the great unknown, get, read, and USE this field guide to see what it is you really want. It may be that your present situation is better than you had previously considered. Or it may open the doors to a work life of excitement and joy you had never though you can experience.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

You might also want to look at:

How'd You Score That Gig?: A Guide to the Coolest Jobs-and How to Get Them

Delaying The Real World

"Escape from Corporate America" doesn't have the glitz and personality, the audacity and intensity, the big dream and the big promise, of Tim Ferriss' The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, a book I found both inspirational and thought-provoking. On the other hand, "Escape..." is a good deal more practical, in that while Ferriss sort of glossed over the part about setting up a stand-alone business that generates thousands of dollars with little or no effort, Pamela Skillings leaves nothing to chance in helping you decide whether "escaping" is right for you, and if so, how to do it.

Leaving a job, even an unhappy one, is no small matter, and if the reader takes nothing else from "Escape from Corporate America," it would be that you need to give that the hard work and planning such a change deserves. Whether you're burned out, bored, or just vaguely unsatisfied, this book serves many of the functions of a professional "lifestyle coach" (at a fraction of the price). From helping you get to the bottom of why exactly you're unhappy with your current situation ... to showing you how to identify alternatives and weigh the pros and cons ... to helping you tell the boss you're leaving without burning any bridges, there's a lot of useful information packed into these pages. She even gives you seven pages of financial-planning worksheets to help ensure you have a clear picture of what you'll need -- and what you don't need -- as you make the big shift.

The dream of escaping corporate America takes as many forms as there are people to have the dream, of course, and Skillings has something to offer a wide variety of dreamers. Whether you're an entrepreneur who wants to conquer the business world as your own boss rather than someone else's wage slave ... or poet, artist, or musician who took a straight job to pay the bills and discovered with a shock that you now have a decade-long career you never counted on, I think this book can go a long way toward helping you start achieving what you're looking for. That might not be tangos in Argentina à la Tim Ferriss ... but even if it is, you need to start somewhere and "Escape from Corporate America" may help give you the tools you need to achieve what you want.

This was a nice little book. I especially liked the cheery yellow cover. It is divided into three sections and 12 chapters as follows:

I. Plan your escape (1-4)
II. Exploring your escape routes (5-11)
III. Going over the wall (12)

1. This is not your father's job market
2. The trouble with the rat race
3. True callings and wrong numbers
4. Let's get practical
5. Corporate jobs that don't suck
6. Take a break
7. Swim in a smaller pond
8. Go solo
9. Build a business
10. Follow your creative dreams
11. Make a difference
12. Going over the wall
A. Have a nice escape
B. The escape toolkit
C. Meet the escape artists

I thought the book was well written and well organized. I liked the 5-page quiz entitled "Are you a corporate casualty? The author has invested 12 years in corporate America. And then she bailed. She now operates her own consulting shop. She says she spent 3 years talking to 200+ people in order to research this book. And it shows. The book's content makes sense, sounds like it has been well researched, and provides value to anyone who is thinking of following the author's lead and "escaping."

Since I am a SCORE (Senior Corps of Retired Executives) counselor who helps members of this book's target audience on a daily basis, my favorite chapters were 8, 9, and 12. Those are the topics I usually discuss with my SCORE clients. But this book covers all the basic options available to someone who is tired of the rat race and wants something different. 5 stars!

Easy read, thought provoking, good self assessment tools to determine whether corporate life is for you or not, along with strategies on how to consider exiting and pursuing a career of your dreams or a better fit.