Portable Executive: Building Your Own Job Security - From Corporate Dependence to Self-Direction - Softcover

John A. Thompson; Catharine A. Henningsen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0684818914 ISBN 13: 9780684818917

Publisher: Touchstone, 1996

Synopsis

The downsizing of America -- once thought to be a temporary cost-cutting measure to boost profit margins -- has brought a swift end to the era of "lifetime employment." Given the fact that these terminations are nationwide, affect every industry, and are usually neither fault-based nor predictable, no executive is immune.
Based on interviews with over 100 now-portable executives who were among the first casualties of downsizing, The Portable Executive explores the unlimited opportunities available to those who are independent, self-directed, and willing to work on a contract basis. It explains:

• How to make a smooth transition to becoming "portable"
  
• How to identify, continually update, and market your skills
  
• Why companies that downsize full-time employees are willing to hire executives on an as-needed basis
  
• How and why the relationship between employers and executives has changed from boss/worker to peer/peer

And much more -- including how to invent a business, what to charge clients, how to network, market, and sell yourself as a "personal service business entity," and, most important, how to enjoy a greater sense of creativity, satisfaction, and long-term job security than ever before.

About this title

About the Author

John A. Thompson is the founder of IMCOR, the nation's first and most successful interim management firm. He lives in Westport, Connecticut. Catharine A. Henningsen is a writer and consultant whose articles have appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, and other periodicals. She lives in Branford, Connecticut.

From Library Journal

For executives facing the prospect of layoff due to downsizing, the concept of lifetime employment is so ingrained that they immediately begin to search for a new position. Thompson, the founder of an interim management firm, offers an alternative: package your skills and offer them on a contract basis. With writer Henningsen, he shows how this can be accomplished. Despite downsizing, businesses still need the skilled people they have removed, creating new opportunities for displaced executives. This comprehensive guide reveals how to assess your skills, develop an action plan, market yourself, handle pricing and finance, and confront all the other complexities of going it on your own. With the reengineering of American business, more executives face early layoff, and this work can offer a valuable alternative to updating the resume. Highly recommended for public libraries.
Joshua Cohen, Mid-Hudson Lib. System, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Touchstone
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0684818914
• ISBN 13: 9780684818917
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272