GenXpat: The Young Professional's Guide To Making A Successful Life Abroad (Paperback)

by margaret Malewski (Author)
Key Phrases: expat contract, expat packages, accompanying partner, United States, Tel Aviv, Look-See Trip (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The first book to deal specifically with the 'GenXpat' generation - the 25-39 age group that typically sets off for the expatriate life when career is their primary consideration. This is my kind of book - it's informative, practical, and you get a real sense that the author knows what she is talking about." Ian Burns of Blackwell's Business & Law Bookshop, writing in Publishing News; "For young, single professionals just starting out as expats, with laptops instead of knapsacks, GenXpat should indeed help carve out successful lives abroad." Robin Pascoe, author and 'Expat Expert'; "Filled with anecdotes and first-hand experiences, GenXpat cleverly gives the wide-eyed college graduate or young professional good tips on how to get overseas and thrive once they're there. "Diane McGreal, Director of Trainers, Berlitz Cross Cultural; "GenXpat offers real-life scenarios for today's young expatriates, as well as strategies for navigating the transition successfully. I will recommend this book to my clients and their employees as they embark on their overseas assignments." Louis Lima, Director of Training, Prudential Global Workforce Development

Product Description
GenXpat: The Young Professional’s Guide to Making a Successful Life Abroad is the first guide written for the new generation of young, internationally and culturally mobile professionals. These young professionals from "Generation X" – the generation most broadly defined as between the ages of 24 and 39 – are more than 62 million nationwide* and have their own unique set of challenges. Often single and in the earlier stages of their careers, GenXpats tend to go into their expat experience dramatically unprepared and underserved.

Wrapped up in fast-paced careers that increasingly involve travel and frequent international relocation, many young people find themselves bouncing from one exotic assignment to another at the cost of work/life balance, meaningful relationships and a sense of continuity or connection. Margaret Malewski, who has lived the "GenXpat" life, wrote GenXpat to help young professionals achieve the personal fulfillment they need to succeed in their international careers, including information on how to:

- make an informed to decision to move
- optimize an expat contract to ensure their personal needs are met
- juggle work and relocation logistics
- deal with culture shock and cultural differences
- build social networks abroad
- manage the question of romantic relationships, be it by dating across cultures, embarking on a long-distance relationship or moving with a partner
- prepare a smooth re-entry to the home country, workforce and culture

Full of real-life examples from GenXpats who are now working for multinational companies, GenXpat explains what to expect when starting an expat adventure.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 219 pages
• Publisher: Intercultural Press (June 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931930236
• ISBN-13: 978-1931930239
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #467,158 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good start, February 9, 2006

By	Dude (nyc) - See all my reviews

This book is quite a good start for anyone preparing for a life overseas. I'm in the middle of such an adventure; this book and "Expert Expatriate" have both been most helpful (supplemented by region-specific titles, of course), specifically in the strategic planning - grasping the multitude of details, professional and personal, associated with such a move. It framed a lot of questions in the proper light for me, starting with my reasons and expectations for moving overseas, down to the details of how to maintain my personal relationships after the move. She starts each chapter with an anecdote or mini-case study to introduce the larger ideas - a really great balance between readability and information. It is geared towards readers younger, or without families to move, and is written by someone who grew up with the internet (avoiding the inevitable and ridiculous phrases one might find elsewhere, such as, "The Internet is a wonderful resource for information. Email is a powerful tool for the traveler.") A good book for planning an overseas move, especially for the younger generation. See "Expert Expat" also.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Short and simple survival manual for young expats, March 8, 2006

By	Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract.com" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Author Margaret Malewski has a clear thesis and works hard to prove it. She contends that Generation X (that's Gen X, born between 1964 and 1981) expatriates have distinct needs and concerns that differentiate them from previous generations of expatriates. Malewski provides a fairly comprehensive survey of the issues that most expatriates encounter on their sojourns abroad. She pays particular attention to those affecting younger professionals, especially relationship and romance issues. This is one of the few books about expatriate life that addresses, for example, the problems encountered by co-habiting partners and the sensitive issues of cross-cultural dating. Some of her conclusions may seem a bit obvious to the internationalized Internet generation, but we acknowledge that her warnings about culture shock and career challenges are well informed. This book certainly could be helpful to those sheltered Gen Xers when they go overseas to work. The author proves that they have a distinctive problem - and having defined the issue, she sets out solidly to address it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for any young professional heading abroad for the first time, August 31, 2005

By	Emma Bird (Italy) - See all my reviews

When I moved to Milan several years ago, I thought I had everything under control. It's only now that I'm a relocation consultant I realise I could have secured myself a better expat package. The chapter on negotiating in Malewski's book is a must-read for anyone relocating to a foreign country (and not just for GenXpat either) and the rest of the book contains plenty of food-for-thought, too. This book not only gives a clear idea on the ups and downs on expat life, it also provides solutions.