Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams

Does your corporate career leave you stressed out, burned out, or just plain bummed out? You’re not alone. The good news is that there’s a way out–and you’re holding it. Written by career expert and corporate escapee Pamela Skillings, Escape from Corporate America inspires the cubicle-bound and the corner-office-cornered to break free and create the career of their dreams–without going broke. With no-nonsense advice and unflagging humor, Skillings shows you how to

• assess your job’s “suck” factor–from terminal boredom to boss from hell
• identify your true calling–brainstorm fantasy careers and test-drive your dream jobs
• develop your Escape Plan–set goals, figure out your timing, and evaluate your finances and health insurance options
• find jobs that don’t bite–entrepreneurial corporate environments, energetic start-ups, the nonprofit sector, and flexible work options
• be your own boss–explore entrepreneurship and freelancing, assemble an advisory team, and start a business while you collect a paycheck
• follow your creative dreams–learn how to make time for your artistic passion and develop a plan to quit your day job
• overcome any obstacle–deal with fear, doubt, negative people, and other bumps along the road

Plus, Skillings shares success stories from dozens of corporate escape artists, including celebrity TV chef Andrea Beaman, Cranium CEO Richard Tait, and many others.

Full of practical strategies and fun-to-follow exercises, Escape from Corporate America will help disgruntled office workers everywhere find more meaningful, fulfilling careers.

Praise for Escape from Corporate America
"With insight and humor, Skillings enumerates the stages of “Corporate Disillusionment” and the features of the “toxic workplace”—the bullying bosses, moronic co-workers, “terminal boredom” and rampant racism and sexism. A multitude of questionnaires, exercises and worksheets helps readers determine their dream job, assess expenses and assets, and plot an escape plan to break free of corporate life without going bankrupt....Vignettes of successful fugitives from the corporate world populate the book and an extremely useful “Escape Tool Kit” supplies information on where and how to find career coaches, health insurance, job listings and a wealth of other much needed resources when embarking on career change. Comprehensive, informative and witty, this book will be indispensable to those looking to start new careers with concrete plans and well-defined goals." –Publishers Weekly

“Escape from Corporate America isn’t just the best book ever written on creating the career of your dreams -- it is the most stirring and useful book on careers that I’ve ever read. Pam Skillings inspired me first with her own story and then with stories who successfully escaped dreary, heartless, and sometimes nasty workplaces. This masterpiece will give you the skills to make the leap from a mind-numbing job to a great career and the courage to follow your heart.” –Robert Sutton, Stanford Professor and author of The No Asshole Rule

“This book might just change your life!”
–Barbara Sher

“Pamela Skillings gives you the tools you need to take control of your career and have a more fulfilling life.”
–Beth Schoenfeldt, founder of Ladies Who Launch

www.escapefromcorporate.com

Pamela Skillings is a journalist, author, and successful entrepreneur with over ten years years of experience as a senior marketing executive at companies including Citigroup and MasterCard. She is the founder of Skillful Communications, and also conducts career-related seminars in New York City. Born and raised in a small rural town in Pennsylvania, Skillings's first published writing appeared in the local paper alongside photos of prize deer carcasses and Dairy Princesses, and has since explored careers as diverse as cocktail waitress, focus-group hostess, and pharmacy assistant. She lives in New York City.