A Career in Your Suitcase

“Hands up who would like a review copy of the 4th edition of A Career in Your Suitcase? … ” read the tweet next to its thumbnail, of a composed looking Jo Parfitt sitting next to a colourful pile of books.

“I’d be happy to review!” I waved back into cyberspace.

Shortly after that, the revised and updated fourth edition of A Career in Your Suitcase, a collaborative work by Jo Parfitt and Colleen Reichrath-Smith, appeared in my inbox.

For the expatriate family, a new posting to another corner of the world can often be seen as a lucrative move for the family. This, however, doesn't always take into consideration the plight of a trailing spouse, who may often find re-adjustment more difficult to cope with. She, or in some cases he, will often have to leave behind a career in full swing, and, if upon arrival there is no organized employment or a permanent position available, some of the sparkle of the new host country may lose its allure. Without prior knowledge of a country, its language, or a solid network, the initial experience can be unnecessarily distressing, especially when embarking on a search for new opportunities.

Start again? Yes, you may be disgruntled that all that hard work you’ve put in, to reach where you are in your career is literally going to be swept away, but once you’ve made the move, with a little bit of determination and self-analysis and a copy of A Career in Your Suitcase you can start along the road to self-re-invention. The career you will create will not only be suitable for that posting alone, but one that can continue to travel with you, remain current as well as engaging, and will only need  tweaking and updates now and again.

A Career in Your Suitcase is a collation of information by its authors, from more than twenty years of living abroad, into a comprehensive directory filled with: advice, tips, exercises, references and soul searching. This can be used as a starting point on which to build a portable career. One that has the advantage of being adaptable into an international career, and is perfect for use within the global community, as well as utilizing Internet and social media communication to the full.

Whilst reading, you are actively encouraged to participate: ask your circle of friends and family to support you with advice, or summarize your strengths and weaknesses; analyze your past, your family, and follow Internet links to discover hidden personal characteristics, which will ultimately help to build a fuller picture of who you are. It is, however, suggested when doing exercises from the book that you note down thoughts, answers, or make lists, using a pen and paper instead of a computer. This may sound laborious, but there’s a reason for it – physically writing uses the creative half of the brain (right), as opposed to the analytical half (left) when a computer is used. By doing this, you will tap into the creative in you, patterns will emerge, and you will discover actual capabilities along with what your subconscious desires really are.

For some, the process may be simple when it comes to re-inventing skills, thinking out of the box, or updating qualifications. Whilst for others, the journey may be a little longer. A Career in Your Suitcase gives you the opportunity to make a more in depth search to discover your inner passions, which can then be developed and nurtured. Why not try and pinpoint the gap in the market and provide the solution? Should inspiration not be forthcoming, it is suggested that volunteer work could be an interim and rewarding choice. This will allow you the space and time to think about your next move, and, more importantly help with cultural integration, as well as the start of building a new network of friends.

An expatriate myself, living in The Northern Netherlands I wish I had come across this book earlier. The process of repeatedly adapting to one’s situation is a theme I know all too well, regardless of whether you speak the language or not. Changes in my circumstances always came as more of a ‘knee jerk’ action as opposed to being actually planned. With this book in my possession, I find I am not alone and will be able to make more informed choices in the future.

With an already insecure work climate, and in Jo’s words: no career is for life anymore, A Career in Your Suitcase is not just for the mobile expatriate, but is relevant to anyone wishing to take part in finding their direction, discovering new opportunities and realizing their goals comfortably, all the while contributing to the much needed transformation of the global working environment as a whole.

Want to discover your true passions and take the world by storm? 

© Alison Day Designs

Website: Alison Day Designs
Blog: Alison Day Designs

Letters Never Sent

Hot off the press, in the hands of Jo Parfitt (Summertime Publishing).

Recently, I was asked by Jo Parfitt of Summertime Publishing to help with the re-publication (4th) of Letters Never Sent by Ruth van Reken. This involved resetting the internals and designing a new cover. Designing the cover was wonderful - it does something when one of your designs becomes a fully-fledged book cover! Resetting the internals, however, was initially not so wonderful and became a very steep learning curve for me indeed: learning a new program, intermittent major rants, as well as loads of cups of tea. But now, mission accomplished, it's out there and I'm very pleased to have been involved in its re-issue.

Letters Never Sent, is a series of letters written in retrospect by Ruth van Reken to her parents. Although never actually posted in letter form, it is her way of documenting her earliest childhood memories, not only for them, but for herself too. In the letters, she tries to explain the separation and loneliness she experienced, whilst her missionary parents were out doing  'God's work' on placements in other countries than where she was. 

From a young age, Ruth didn't see her parents for long periods of time, and we can feel the struggle and ensuing sadness inside her. We follow her journey from young girl to adult woman; notice her unwavering faith in God and her attempts to be happy and 'cope'. Often-times she is aided by a deep self-examination and an underlying feeling of shame, which emerges as her survival mechanism. All this is coupled with supportive friends, teachers and supervisors - her second family at boarding school - who help to establish her identity. Later, we are privy to her continuing journey through life: her marriage, the start of a family, and eventual following in her parent's footsteps.

Ruth van Reken is one of many whose childhood circumstances have led them to be referred to as TCK's (Third Culture Kids). This classification arises when a child lives in a third culture to which it is not native and is alien to those cultures its parents originate from. Although not a native to the third culture, the child will take it on in order to form an identity, and in doing so help to stabilize feelings of unrest or insecurity. As the movement of people the world over increases, so do the number of TCKs and global nomads at large. As a result this story may evoke a few 'Aha!' moments or a sympathetic understanding from those with similar histories. 

Letters Never Sent is an insightful, poignant and interesting read for all, regardless of your religious affiliations. 

For your own copy of Letters Never Sent, you can purchase it on Amazon as a Kindle edition or as a paperback .

Review: Expat Bookshop (16.04.12)

© Alison Day Designs

What's Hot, What's Not - 'Home Keeps Moving' by Heidi Sand-Hart.

She has spent the greater part of her young life traveling all over the world, living in countries such as India, where school trips were by no means ordinary, and involved visiting jungles inhabited by tigers and elephants and crystal clear lakes. It is here too that her mother set up two orphanages, to help the unwanted baby girls rejected by their families, who would be unable to meet the demands of the customary dowry expected of them when the girl reached marrying age. So, from an early age Heidi learnt to interact with people from other cultures and had the added bonus of young Indian sisters to play with. 

Heidi perceives herself as a global nomad, as during her informative years (due to her parent’s missionary work), they generally spent no more than four years in any one place, often moving after only one or two years; as a result she attended over 9 different schools. Her life, although challenging has been unique, and although friends have been hard to make along the way, those that remain, are worth their weight in gold. Adaptation becomes the name of the game, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. One point she does make, however, is that she sees all the variety and excitement she has experienced as a gift. ‘Real life’ is rather more mundane and to try to re-create this lifestyle now as an adult would cause her to be alienated from her peers.

Often feeling mature beyond her years, and grappling with unresolved grief within, as well as the delayed adolescent rebellion (due to a highly organized and pressured nomadic existence) has meant that compiling Home Keeps Moving has been a long time in the making. It wasn’t until she came across the “Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds”, by Ruth van Reken and Dave Pollock that she was able begin to rationalize her thoughts enough to make headway and to express precisely what she thinks makes her feel different as a TCK, in comparison to others.

A cultural chameleon she certainly is, and it is interesting to hear that she has managed to build a relationship (on her own terms) with each of the three main cultures she is involved with. Of her birth country England she says: 

“Whenever I arrive in London, the familiarity makes me feel at home...like I almost belong there”. Of Norway: “It was never more than a summer holiday destination to me, until we moved there in 1996, and it highlighted a lot of TCK tendencies to me, so for that I am grateful”. And finally, of her mother’s country, Finland: “Finland is called “the Land of a Thousand Lakes,” and I have pleasant memories of steaming hot saunas, night swims, roasting sausages on open fires, moonlit boat trips with our cousins, adventure, and beauty”.

But as to where she considers home to be: “The truthful answer is that home is wherever my family members are”.

Heidi’s book, ‘Home Keeps Moving’, provides the reader with an honest and interesting account of the life of a TCK and MK. As well as including her own experiences, for extra dimension, she has included accounts from other multi-cultural global nomads and TCKs, including her brother, Ben. Her story touches on the advantages and disadvantages of being a third culture kid in today’s world. It is a lifestyle, which can be said to provide, on the one hand, a rich education about the real world and its issues, as well as how to interact with people of many cultures, and on the other, how to deal with culture shock, continual packing and unpacking, and the inevitable restlessness caused by the lifestyle of a global nomad.

First published in the Connections magazine #30 Winter 2011 

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs