Dual Career Solutions

Solving The Dual Career Dilemma
By Jo Parfitt

Not long ago, women who followed their husbands on overseas assignments were content to look after the family and organise bridge parties. Not any more. Companies can now ignore the growing murmurs of discontent from the trailing spouseat their peril. Multinational companies are having to choose their second or even third choice candidates for expatriate postings. In a recent survey almost three quarters of human resource managers spoke of these recruitment difficulties. And it is the spouse's career that is most usual reason for a posting to be declined. The issue of spousal dissatisfaction has to be addressed and quickly.

To this end Shell founded a Spouse Employment Centre in 1995, based in The Hague, which provides careers and retraining advice as well as financial assistance. Schlumberger have seen only too keenly, that wives cannot be ignored any longer. They recently decided to hook all international spouses up to their intranet and email. This is proving invaluable, not only for global communication, but also for careers, teleworking and distance learning.

In 1997 I returned to England after ten years as a trailing spouse, moving from Dubai to Oman and later Norway. During this time I created a bulging portfolio of portable careers, from the tuition of French and computers, to freelance journalism, network marketing and workshop presentation. In June 1997 I set up Summertime Publishing, with the objective of publishing books that help others create and maintain a proactive expatriate life. Its first book, A Career in Your Suitcase, was released in March 1998 and launched at the 5th Biennial Women on The Move conference in Paris.

I believer that the secret of finding the portable career that works for you is first looking look inside yourself to see what you truly enjoy doing. Then you have to look outside at the local market and work out what services are needed. Finally, you build yourself a support team and network like crazy.

It sounds so simple and so obvious, but in my workshop of the same title, I never cease to be amazed at the way the audience see my view as something unique.

'I just never saw it in that way before,' said Rose Butler, a delegate at the Paris conference. 'It's just lateral thinking, really.'

'I give careers counselling, and it was new to me,' said Angela Linda Sanfilippo, an American relocation expert.

'I am a new woman,' said Christine Yates.

A Career in Your Suitcase is important to Human Resource Departments of the same multinationals that are having recruitment difficulties.

Corporations such as Maersk shipping in Denmark and company spouse associations can see the value in such a book and have bought multiple copies.

A Career in Your Suitcase is an inspiring and practical handbook for anyone looking to create a career that works for them. A career that may have to fit round family commitments and local constraints. A career that can give spouses an identity beyond that of wife and mother.

So many women give up their careers when they have children, only to find their confidence has waned into nonexistence when they re-emerge into the world of work. Valerie Scane, a repatriated expat wife herself, now produces a spouse newsletter for Conoco. Her PhD research into the identity of the accompanying partner has led her to dub them 'hollow women'. Couple that problem with that of being placed on a short term assignment in a foreign country without family or support and it can be almost impossible to consider working again. When on the economy, full time work is not an option, a portable career may be for you.