Happy Birthday, Escape from Corporate America! Career change guide details options
Today marks the one year anniversary of the book launch party for Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams, by career expert and corporate escapee Pamela Skillings. As a contributor of several tips and tools included in the “Let’s Get Practical” chapter, I couldn’t resist making the trek down to NYC to attend what turned out to be quite a bash. Although the Mojito, not Pink Slip Lemonade, was the party’s featured drink, the book has much to offer those whose layoff, actual or impending, may be the trigger for a career change.
In my recent post about my own career change story, one of the things I listed as a “woulda, coulda, shoulda done” before being laid off was to research my career options. If only this book had been available at the time, that would have been a whole lot easier!
That’s because Pam interviewed a lot of career changers, documenting their stories and identifying the different strategies that made them successful. In addition to the “Let’s Get Practical” section specifically addressing the financial piece of the puzzle, the book includes sections on why today’s job market differs so much from those past, identifying your true calling, various options for “escape routes” out of a dead-end job, and tips for finding the courage to take the plunge when the time comes. She looks at the pros and cons of many paths out of corporate disillusionment, including corporate jobs that “don’t suck,” joining a start-up, becoming a solopreneur or entrepreneur, and going to a non-profit. She also explores the question of fit, i.e. what makes a particular path a good choice for a particular kind of person, maybe you? Better yet, she does all this in a hip, slightly irreverent way that makes the book a fun read.
In the year since the book was launched, Pam’s “Escape from Corporate America” Web site and blog have grown exponentially to include many more profiles of escape artists, escape clubs, interviews with career experts, workshops, and other resources designed to help — as Pam might say — the “cubicle-bound” and the “corner-office-cornered” break free to the career of their dreams. Check ‘em out!
[...] was my go-to financial planning expert for Escape and she wrote a lovely post about the party and the book today on her great new blog, The Career Change Financial Planner. She brought back some fond [...]
[...] was my go-to financial planning expert for Escape and she wrote a lovely post about the party and the book today on her great new blog, The Career Change Financial Planner. She brought back some fond [...]