1. ©C. Feuille, Esprit Global Learning, 2016
Five Key Reasons To Work Internationally
International work experience has become a key way to expand and leverage your
career success. Here are five salient reasons:
1. Dual or multi-country experience provides you with a kind of back-up plan to qualify
for jobs in new sectors. This flexibility allows you to move on if your local market
dwindles due to outsourcing or other economic changes.
2. Geographical experience, not just prior experience in a given sector, counts with
recruiters. This is partly because more companies are global and require global
experience to qualify for mid and high-level management positions, such as in high
tech manufacturing.
3. Living in another country is the most direct way of learning or improving fluency in a
foreign language, a growing requirement for certain jobs in many global companies.
Even if English, for example, is spoken by many in an organization, the expatriate
still needs to learn the local language to gain more credibility on the job as well as
for survival needs and socializing, etc. Besides, the days of the monolingual
English-speaking expat who was sent abroad only for his/her technical expertise will
soon be a past practice.
Furthermore, job applicants speaking English and some Japanese for a
manufacturing quality system manager position in, say, a Japanese auto plant in the
United States, may have an advantage over a candidate who speaks only English.
This is especially likely if the department team is co-located in Japan.
4. Jobs in finance and business are especially in demand in emerging markets like
China, India, some countries in Eastern Europe and Africa. So, less competition and
faster paths of advancement than in developed countries/markets may equal new
opportunities for your career.
5. Moving up the ranks in your organization could mean leading a global team for either
a project or on an ongoing basis. Learning to build communication, trust,
collaboration, and how to influence becomes much more challenging. It requires
both intercultural knowledge and skills and frequent business trips. For the
ambitious, adventurous professional, this international work experience is a great
way to position yourself for promotions.