BlogHer - Taking An Overseas Assignment Could Be The Best Thing You Ever Do For Your Career - Comments

Getting the Most Out of Working Abroad

Stacie Berdan — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 22:07:33 -0500

As co-author of the book featured, no matter how many stories I’ve heard – and I heard lots as part of my research for the book – I can’t get enough. Really. I guess it’s because no two experiences are alike, and they’re all so interesting. That’s one of the beauties of the international experience.

Things don’t turn out they way you expect them to – and how could they? You’re living in a strange place, surrounded by people different from you. And although it’s been great for loads of people, it’s not for everyone. To help you figure out if it is right for you, we recommend asking yourself a bunch of questions. Things such as having a sense of adventure and curiosity…thriving outside your comfort zone…picking up on a whole host of clues coming your way from people who are different from you. That’s just the starting point.

In order for you to make the most of the experience professionally and personally, it’s so important to know what you want out of it. Some people just want to live somewhere else, perhaps drawn to a particular place. Others want to get ahead faster or learn new skills, perhaps offered at an earlier stage in a different market. For others it’s about the money – tough job with combat pay.

I wanted to live in Asia, specifically India, but got close enough in Hong Kong. Then I worked my way throughout the region and spent 2 months of fun in India on my way back to DC.

Once you know your objective, you’re more likely to meet it. It will make the living abroad more tolerable – and can even make it more fun if you accept the challenge. Living in another country is more than simply learning how to get to the office and eat different foods. It’s about rediscovering yourself. It involves a subtle change in your expectations of yourself and others. You have to cope with the loss of identity and familiarity.

But you can do it – if you want to – like so many other women. Don’t forget to focus on you – and the personal component of living abroad. We dedicate a chapter to this topic because we appreciate how important it is.

Check out our web site at getaheadbygoingabroad.

Working Overseas

Pam — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:41:28 -0500

I'm inclined to agree that working overseas is, indeed, a great career building experience. I worked for a while for a large multinational in Salzburg, Austria, and another one in Dublin, Ireland. Both times I learned volumes of useful skills, volumes. Wow.

However.

You can't separate going overseas to work from going overseas to live. And as a sometimes expat, I gotta say, I think one should really spend equal time looking at what going overseas means for out of the office time. You're not hopping the jet at 8 and again at 5 to go back to home. Cultural differences aren't just in the office, they're in the supermarket and at the doctor's office and on the bus.

I'm not saying this to talk anyone out of it, only that it's totally glam to think "I'm going to work in Munich!" and another thing to think "I'm going to LIVE in Munich." And if you go to work somewhere, you have to live there too. Think 3-D.

Now's prolly a good time for me to mention that I am registered as a mentor on Expat Women (for Austria) and if anyone wants to trade mail about the reality of working or living in Europe, just contact me. I'd be happy to blab on about it endlessly and answer your questions as best I can. And for context, I'm a writer that works on software documentation, web sites, manuals, that kind of stuff.

I'm pam (at) nerdeseyeview (dot) com.

Nerd's Eye View

Singapore back to the US and then to Shanghai

Sherry Read — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 23:45:59 -0500

As an HR professional, I wanted to be where business was growing. Setting out to find a job in Asia Pacific, I was fortunate to be offered the assignment of HR Director, Asia Pacific for my current company. The decision to move to Singapore as a family took no longer than saying "yes". Learning to balance the perspectives of corporate, regional and local management, the variety of the challenges, the enthusiastic staff, and living as an expatriate combined to make that assignment a highlight of my career.

Did it move my career forward? Since my preference would have been to stay in the region when it came time to repatriate, the answer were be no. My heart was still with the regional role.

I've since returned to Asia Pacific as a traveling spouse. Having the opportunity to enjoy the expatriate experience from another perspective and use this time to build my career in another direction.

Do I recommend overseas assignments? If you are open to the myriad of ways there are to solve a given problem, if you are fascinated by why people do what they do, if you enjoy seeing other people develop and grow, then yes. Just don't do it believing that you know the right answers!

Sherry L. Read
Read Solutions Group
Coaching Successful Professionals
www.ReadSolutionsGroup.com

In my sophomore year at University...

Koan — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 08:41:47 -0500

... I decided I wanted to work in the US for the summer (which, given I was a Brit, studying at University in England, and hadn't then been across the pond, nor knew a soul in the US, was all a big deal) - so I did. So I spent the summer of '86 in Boston, working for a car rental company, developing an abiding love of America and its peoples (which has only taken a slight knock during the Bush years).

I can't say that it did my future career prospects any good - but I certainly don't think it's ever counted against me - but I realise you're probably talking more about those who are building their careers, whereas I had, at that point, only the vaguest notion of where my future lay. I learned to enjoy Baseball with the bleacher creatures in Fenway Park (during that heady summer, destined for disappointment against the Mets in October, precursor to another 19 years before the Curse of the Bambino was finally laid) - learned to sail on the Charles river - and learned the value of air conditioning...!

In the last 21 years, I've had opportunities to work abroad, but declined them, for various reasons and at various times. I think I've finally reached the point where I'd take the right one, if it manifested itself.

Taking An Overseas Assignment Could Be The Best Thing You Ever Do For Your Career

Elana Centor — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 08:13:05 -0500

As a sophomore at the University of Missouri in the early '70s my roommate Janie and I decided we wanted to work in Europe for the summer. We sent away for brochures, waited the requisite six weeks, and when the brochures finally arrived spent countless hours pouring over them to learn what kinds of jobs we could have. If I remember correctly, it had a lot to do with living on a farm.

In the end we opted not to apply. My decision to not take the farming job was strictly based on fear. What if the brochure wasn't telling the truth? What if the working conditions were horrible- how would we get home? In those days, calling my parents in Richmond, Virginia from Columbia, Missouri was a big deal and something that was limited to Sundays and about 10 minutes.

The idea of going to a foreign country without the ability to stay in touch with family was very overwhelming to the 19 year-old me.

Turns out my instinct to work overseas would have been a savvy career move. According to Get Ahead by Going Abroad. A Woman's Guide to Fast-Track Career Success by C.Perry Yeatman and Stacie Nevadomski Berdan, taking an oversea assignment is the best way to break the glass ceiling.

In a phone conversation last week, co-author Stacie Berdan, who spent several years in Hong Kong working for Burson-Marsteller, said,

"Once you go abroad you're put on a totally different playing field. You're no longer a woman in finance. But you're Suzie who actually worked in Tokyo for three years." Berdan added, "It's not so much the fact that I'm wearing a skirt. It's about my capabilities and it's about my competencies. When we go overseas and we do a great job we're not so much looked at as just women or a mother with two children, we're looked at competent internationalists first."

The book is based on interviews with more than 200 female professionals who spent significant time overseas. It is part anecdotal - there are stories from more than 40 female executives who share their first-hand experiences, and it's part practical - the authors provide step-by step recommendations on how to land an overseas assignment and how to succeed once you are there.

What they discovered from their surveys is that being far away from headquarters can be a very good career move.

* 85 % agreed going overseas accelerated their careers
* 78 % agreed it had a significant impact on compensation
* 71 % agreed they were given increased responsibility earlier in their careers because of their international experience
* 53 % agreed an international experience is one of the best ways to break through the glass ceiling

Early in the book the authors address the issue of Gender Stereotyping.

Gender stereotyping is defined as a shared set of beliefs about purported qualities of females and males in a particular group. A great deal of research in the" United States over the past ten years indicates that gender stereotyping within the corporate environment continues to be one of several contributing factors limiting the advancement of women. The goal of this book is to offer advice to women on how to overcome some of these obstacles with a practical, relevant approach.

Yeatman and Berdan argue that while women's leadership style in the U.S. may be viewed by some as "too soft" ,it turns out to be the most desirable leadership style in cross -cultural situations.

In researching this book, we uncovered some interesting trends. It seems that many of the traits now deemed critical to business success in the international marketplace are also emerging as the critical ones for tomorrow's great leaders: adaptability, team building and inclusiveness. In addition, good communication and listening skills, cross -cultural competence, and the ability to influence, inspire and motivate despite conflict and stress serve business leaders well.

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As Berdan said in our phone conversation, "feminine traits do well overseas."

According to Pat Ewers of ExPatFacts, about 400,000 employees relocate internationally each year." While Berdan didn't have the percentage of women who make up that 400,000, she did say that the number of women taking overseas assignments have doubled or tripled since 1996 when she went to Hong Kong.

Want to work overseas? Visit the Escape Artist.com which has new job listings everyday.

Another great resource is Expat Women which has a blog directory that lists hundreds of blogs written by women working overseas.

Get Ahead by Going Abroad will be available in bookstores on September 4th and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.

Stacie Berdan will be checking this blog post throughout the week and if you have a question, just post it in the comment section and she will visit and share her response.