A Career in Your Suitcase – a practical guide to creating meaningful work, anywhere

by Jo Parfitt, Colleen Reichrath-Smith

WE RECOMMEND THAT PURCHASERS OF THIS BOOK IN KINDLE FORMAT CONSIDER BUYING OUR CAREER IN YOUR SUITCASE COMPANION WORKBOOK IN WHICH TO COMPLETE THE MANY EXERCISES IN THIS BOOK.

Do you want to find a career that is:

a) based on what you love to do more than anything;
b) created from your strongest skills and best assets;
c) will let you work anywhere;
d) can be sustained and developed even if you move again?
then you need A Career in Your Suitcase.
In this fully revised and updated 4th edition, A Career in Your Suitcase enters its 15th year of inspiring, motivating and supporting men and women who want to love what they do for a living.
Now packed with over 20 exercises that combine to create your unique Career Passport, the new edition covers everything you need from finding your passion, to developing a brand, networking on and offline and marketing. This time, careers consultant, Colleen Reichrath-Smith, joins serial expat entrepreneur, Jo Parfitt, in the latest and most comprehensive incarnation of this best selling book.

"A 'how to' manual for the career oriented person wanting to thrive wherever he or she may be living in the world, No one knows how to do that better than Jo Parfitt. If you buy only one book this year, this is it."

Yvonne McNulty, PhD, author of Managing Expatriates: A Return on Investment Approach

“Not only is this is the bible for global nomads looking to establishing their careers abroad, but it is so rich and informative it is also a must have for those looking to start their next career adventure – wherever that may be.”

Donnalee Bell, Senior Consultant, The Canadian Career Development Foundation, www.ccdf.ca

"Identifying passions and values is as critical to professional success abroad as it is on home turf. This a step-by-step approach will guide the reader through the challenging process of maintaining a professional identity based on skill set, not physical location. "
Alison Cavatore, Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Global Living Magazine.
www.GlobalLivingMagazine.com

Genres: Nonfiction

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 4, 2008

Reviews

[Véronique Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Career in Your Suitcase is a practical book that shows it is possible to develop a portable career based upon our own passions, motivations and skills if you are an accompanying partner. After setting the scene of dual career spouses, the author devote the three following chapters of the book to coach the reader. She invites him/her to do a deep self-assessment. Thanks to exercises, she helps him/her to determine what his/her passions are while giving practical examples of portable careers. Jo Parfitt puts the emphasis on the idea of flexibility to which every people wanting to expatriate should stick to. She insists all along the book that it is necessary to have conscious of our motivations, values and skills to be able to re-evaluate them once in a new country. If we do so, it will be easier to adapt our professional project locally and globally. After the coaching parts, the author gives practical advice to make it happen: how to network, how to get a job abroad, how to start a portable business, how to balance private life and working life when working from home. , etc. …
If your identity is deeply linked to your professional activity and you have to give it up to follow your spouse abroad, this book is made for you. The chapters dealing with self-assessment are efficient. The personal involvement of the author who explains with details her own experience is invigorating. Nevertheless some chapters dealing with practical aspects such as networking or looking for a job might seem obvious and then useless for some readers. But at least they are clearly and consistently outlined.
So before leaving for a new relocation, put A Career In Your Suitcase in your luggage. Indisputably this book will help you to better cope with this new step of your personal and professional life.

[Lindsay Feliz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not sure what I expected when I started reading this book. I assumed it would be general advice for expat wives as to how to keep a career going as they trailed around the world with their husbands. It is much much more than that and I was amazed at the wealth of information the book actually contains.
It is not just a list of information. What keeps the book alive, vivid and engaging are the fascinating stories from Jo and Colleen about how they managed to be expat wives who kept their careers going as they moved from country to country, which are not only very informative and interesting, they are also used in an excellent way to emphasise the points they make throughout the book.
In addition, there is a clear logic as you go from chapter to chapter, with detailed information, clearly highlighted sources for additional information, and worksheets. This is not a book you just read and put back on the shelf, this is a workbook to transform your life and the way you work.
It is also not simply a book for expatriate wives, it is an indispensable tool for anyone who is not happy with their work and wants to change in the best possible way and with the best chance of success.
It is quite simply, superb.