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Work abroad: Operation Job Seeker

Many would-be expats, going without the benefit of being recruited by a multinational, score high marks on having the little things prepared to work abroad. Then they flounder on the seemingly obvious question: “how am I going to earn a living in a brand-new country?”
Times are hard. Oftentimes, employers just don’t want the hassle of employing a foreigner with little or no local language skills. But muttering darkly that there are no jobs in a country, while tempting, will ultimately not put food on the table. That is precisely why you need to plan in advance, as if you were embarking on a military campaign. Consider how foolish it would be for the commander-in-chief to order his troops to invade an enemy country without having a clear idea what his army was going to do once it has seized the capital.
Don’t be like that over-optimistic general, hoping you will be greeted with open arms by the local populace. Double the chances of success by coming to your new country with a clear game plan.


Step 1: Reconnaissance

Look on Expatica or at your local bookstore; you’ll find all kinds of advice from experts on how to approach finding work abroad. Our advice is to read plenty and take notes. Then sit down and start planning Operation Job Seeker.

Step 2: Marshal your forces

Are you living abroad to be with a local partner or an entrenched expat? If that’s the case, you already have a valuable resource when it comes to finding work abroad. Use your partner for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. Find out what the country is like and get names of family members, friends, and business associates who might be able to help in spotting vacancies or even employ you straight off the plane. It’s important to have as many people as possible with their ears to the ground, preparing for your landing.
Get your name out into the public and map out potential leads. If you are a member of a union or professional association, ask the organization for a list of contacts and introductions — or, better still, job vacancies — in the country. Once armed with local contact details, sound the organizations out before making the move. Perhaps they won’t be interested to help before you arrive, but at least you can separate potential allies from the hostiles.
Your partner should also help you read the appointments pages in the local newspapers and to get a picture of the labor market. Having other people help you find work abroad doesn’t mean you can sit back and rest on your laurels. On the contrary, you need to decide what your marketable skills are and how to maximize them.
Get into the habit of checking out job websites for expats as often as possible. Sign up with job seeker data banks. Monitor the local main job sites regularly. Get your partner or another local to help you navigate these resources.



Step 3: Re-arm

Regardless of whether it is part of the job specs or not, you should make an effort to familiarize yourself with the local business culture. This will go a long way to getting hired, particularly higher up on the professional ladder.
English might be the lingua franca of international business. But wouldn’t it be useful if you could at least convince your new boss in the local language that you intend to finish your language course? Knowing a little bit of language will also help you make friends among your new colleagues easier.
What about your other skills? Do you have abilities and experience that will make you an attractive prospect for employers? Consider taking some extra classes (or even an other degree). This might push back D-Day, but it’s better to postpone moving abroad than to land unprepared. It should go without saying that you must arrange the proper documentation to allow you to work abroad.
You can also contact the embassy in your home country or your relevant government authority. A lot of expats get the right documents and then come looking for work abroad with the wrong sort of curriculum vitae. There is a lot of literature on creating the right resume and compiling references. Use it.

Step 4: Attack

Ideally, you should have some job interviews lined up to coincide with your arrival. But don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You might need time to acclimatize to life in your new country before you launch into work abroad. The first few weeks might be the only free time you have for a while, so enjoy yourself. Then it’s time for a blitz, so get into job search overdrive. Write a sparkling CV that showcases your skills and experience – perhaps even using an online resume-builder like Resume.io. Get your CV out there because it won’t do much good if it just stays on your desktop. Once you send it out, follow up.
Get confirmation that the potential employer received your application and check when it will be suitable to follow up to hear the verdict. Often, employers only contact the successful applications. Don’t be left in the dark. Perhaps you don’t strike employers as CEO material straight off; perhaps you need to consider taking work abroad that is below your competence level.
There is no harm in this as long as you make clear to yourself and your employer that you would like to move onto something more challenging when the time is right. You are in a new country; therefore, you must be prepared to contemplate trying new challenges. The worst thing you can do is to step back and say, “I can’t do that.” View your first job abroad as a training period. Then, go for the jugular when you are ready.
If you really want to dig into your new country, you might have to endure an entry-level job at first. In Europe, networking and word-of-mouth can be key factors for landing the perfect job. Think of your first steps abroad as integrating into the local culture. Once you’ve built up some local experience, you’ll appear more attractive to a more established firm or a budding local startup.

Work and travel: unpacking your career

It’s fine for the expatriate employees when moving abroad, right? They just show up at their new office in their new country, spot a few familiar faces, are shown to their new desk, and start work. But for the rest of the family, particularly the accompanying partner, the pairing of work and travel might not be so simple. It’s likely that an accompanying partner sacrifices or downshifts a career in order to support the employed partner. Oftentimes, these couples don’t properly prepare for this reality until they’ve started to settle in.
Dual-career couples don’t really have a place in the fast-moving expatriate world. While the academic world has taken some steps to address their needs, the reality continues to be that few companies choose to employ both partners. Thus, the accompanying partner is sometimes forced to create and maintain a different kind of career, if he or she is to continue with a mobile lifestyle.

How can accompanying partners maintain a career abroad?


Find your passion

If a portable career is to withstand the tests of time and frequent upheavals, then you must love your work. Your work should inspire you and fill you with energy. It takes at least two years to establish a new business in the non-expatriate world. It is vital that work and travel can mutually benefit one another through your own motivation and excitement.
If you love what you do, you’ll be enthusiastic. If you are excited about your work others will become excited too; they will want to know more and this, in turn, breeds success. Reconnect with natural talents that may have become buried in the mire of the rat race and the pursuit of income. Explore growing interests and new possibilities inspired by your new experiences.

Manage your expectations

It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to move smoothly from place to place without needing to rethink what you will do professionally. Uninformed and unrealistic expectations about work and travel are one of our greatest sources of discontent. Managing your expectations appropriately can help you counteract this. Don’t assume that transitioning to another culture will be easy. Anticipate cultural differences and temporary setbacks. If you know what to expect, you won’t be setting yourself up for disappointment in trying to uproot your career to a new context.
The better you prepare beforehand, the more easily you’ll make the move into your new environment. Find out what opportunities may be available to somebody with your talents, skills, and training. Through a mentor, discover what kind of work, paid or volunteer, other people in your situation are doing. Also, check on whether there are places to study, and check the availability of affordable childcare, good Internet connections, and reliable transportation. You may need to recycle some skills, return some to your proverbial suitcase, or learn a few more before you are truly set for your new location.
Any time you spend on research and planning will not be wasted. Find out in advance whether your brilliant idea is viable in your new location, if at all. Plan it out; imagine that you have the career of your dreams and live with it for a few days. See if you still consider it to be ideal after a few days. It is always wise to look at your idea from all angles and do a thorough investigation before spending any money.

Learn to improvise

At the same time, develop your improvisational skills and ability to respond to changes and unexpected developments. In this world of fast-paced change and information overload, it is hard to plan and predict everything, especially when you are in a new environment and culture. Learn the skills to deal with the unexpected, recognize unplanned opportunities, and engage fully in your current reality. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and work remotely.

Listen to people

Sadly, few jobs come completely naturally to us, especially when we’re new in town. We have to go out and find them. It is likely that you may have to carve your own path when it comes to work and travel. One of the best ways of finding out what goods and services people in a given area need and want is to go out among the local community. Chat with people who have been around for a while to find out what they are complaining about.

In Jo’s village, people were always wishing they could find reliable babysitters, gardeners, cleaners, and window cleaners. While you may have no desire to babysit, garden, or clean, you could manage a team of people that does. Problems are opportunities in disguise, so find out what gaps exist in the local market and see if you might be able to fill them in a way that uses your skills, experience, and talent or allows you to grow new ones.
Of course, a newcomer may not be immediately privy to such information. Think about kickstarting the process by attending networking meetings, social events, and civic gatherings. More than three-quarters of all positions are found not through agencies or advertisements but through networking. You can also read the local paper to see what people are doing, what advertisements are posted, and what people are asking for in the wanted sections.
Get out there and start listening and looking with eyes and ears wide open for opportunities abroad. Creative application of your skills, talents, experience, and vision for your future will create a whole new world of possibilities for you as you begin to work and travel more. It will most likely come in very unique packaging!


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