Customer Reviews

GenXpat: The Young Professional's Guide to Making a Successful Life Abroad

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I'm in the process of starting a Masters Program/Career in Sweden. I purchased the book with the hope of obtaining some insightful information on relocating oversees and it delivered: kind of. Most of the continent is basic common sense knowledge of travel and living in a foreign place.

For instance, I'm aware that long distance relationships are difficult. I'm also aware that living in Switzerland is more expensive than Canada.

If you're looking for a general book that covers a 10,000 ft view of the subject, purchase this book.

An introduction to living abroad as an expat. The major flaw with the book is the author's assumption that the reader will (like, apparently the author) be working for a large corporation.

It says it right in the title, but the book really covers aspects specific to young single professionals who are considering their first expat opportunity.

The book is worth reading if you are further along in your career and have an opportunity to work in another country, but about half the book will not be of interest to you. The book is well organized so that it is very easy to focus just on the chapters that are of interest to you, and the chapters are very self contained. There is no "singles advice" mixed in with "preparing for relocation".

Margaret Malewski provides some much-needed advice for a massively growing (but until now neglected) group - the have-laptop-will-work -abroad young person. The chapter on negotiating your contract is worth the price of the book alone. An essential part of the global worker's toolkit.

I have pre-ordered a copy, but have not yet read it, so I am recommending this based on my high opinion of the author, who did not ask me to write this. Margaret helped me plan the research for Primacy Relocation and the Employee Relocation Council's annual survey "BBest Cities for Relocating Singles." Her guidance helped make our ranking of U.S. cities' adaptibility for transferring newcomers more accurate and useful. She understands her subject matter both professionally and personally.