Is Working Abroad Important to Your Career?
Here is how working abroad can boost your career:
Work with Different Cultures for Best Practices
Accepting an offer to work abroad will greatly increase your cultural awareness. You should absorb all the positive things you can from working in a different culture and learn all about their practices. Getting an insight into the best strategies and practices applied in foreign countries will help you use more out-of-the-box and creative solutions for tricky or uncommon issues at work. For example, when you go back to your home country, you will be able to implement all the pioneering problem-solving techniques you gained from working abroad.
Enhance Your Employability Skills and CV
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Working overseas gives you the opportunity to observe and learn new procedures and business practises in a foreign market; for example, you can witness how a product is launched in China or how contracts are negotiated in Germany.
This overseas opportunity will help improve your adaptability, flexibility and communication skills in general because trying to get your point across to an organisation or someone with a different cultural background will improve your cultural awareness and sensitivity.
By working abroad, the chances are you will be working with a diverse set of people where you will have to achieve common goals together or even manage a team that is very culturally diverse which will help you adapt new leadership styles. You will learn the importance of accepting different viewpoints by being objective, reasonable and fair.
Build Global Networks
We have talked about how important networking is for our careers and how building and maintaining a strong network is essential for your career growth. By accepting a job in a different country, you will also be able to create new global contacts and learn about new industries or fields that aren’t readily available in your home country.
Working and cooperating with other colleagues both in and out of the office helps you create and maintain working relationships for your global career. This will expand your career possibilities in the global market as well as develop your knowledge and skills by staying up-to-date with global issues when (and if) you go back to your home country.
Discover New Career Opportunities and Be More Appreciated
Working abroad could help expand your entire mindset because you will be able to distance yourself from your own culture or even language and enable you to find a voice that you never knew you had. By having a more open-minded approach to business issues, you might be able to discover something that you wouldn’t have otherwise tried due to certain limitations in your country.
For example, you might be an actress in the UK and already know everything there is about British acting techniques, however, by taking the opportunity to act in France you might learn new techniques inspired by the Nouvelle Vague.
Also, you might find it difficult to get a job in your home country because of the competition or in-demand skills and therefore, it might be easier for you to get a better job abroad. Just because it's hard to get a job in the UK doesn’t mean that the same will be true of other countries in Europe or even outside of Europe.
This way, you can get an entry level job in a country that has more jobs available at the beginning of someone’s career and eventually, with the experience and skills you will gain you can go back to your home country and get the job of your dreams.
Once in a Lifetime Opportunity
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This point applies mainly to young professionals; just do it when you are young and have the chance! As soon as you graduate from university, take the opportunity to work abroad before you have more responsibilities that will prevent you from moving overseas.
Once you have settled into a career, it will be very difficult to pack up your stuff and move country; unless you are one of the lucky ones who get a job abroad through their organisation. If you leave your company for a job abroad, you will be risking everything because you might not be able to get your old job back even though you will have more desirable skills.
These opportunities don’t come around often, and you might never get the chance again so think about it carefully.
Makes You a Better Job Candidate at Home
We often see professionals who have taken advantage of their job abroad to fast track their career and grow professionally. Working abroad can increase your chances of promotion or benefits at work. It can also offer you a number of advantages that will help in your success when (and if) you do return to your home country like becoming a more mature and independent professional and acquiring new language skills (if it is in a country with a different language).
Employers value maturity and self-reliance in young professionals as well as language skills - we live in a globalised world and therefore, being an expert in more than two languages is considered a great advantage.
How to Present Working Abroad on Your CV
Now that you have gained all the experience and knowledge during your time abroad you need to show it on your CV. The most vital thing is to emphasise how the job abroad has increased your professional knowledge, offered you opportunities to take on challenges and of course demonstrate all your great achievements.
Make sure to show all the projects that you were involved in and don’t forget to talk about the industry professionals or important clients you networked with during the interview process of a potential job.
Soft skills are just as important as hard skills and knowledge, so ensure that you demonstrate the new soft skills you acquired during your time abroad. For example, as someone who has lived and worked abroad for an extended period, you can adapt easily to new environments, feel comfortable with changes, are dedicated, independent and self-motivated.
Have you ever thought about risking everything and moving abroad for a new job? The advantages of taking on a job abroad are numerous but it also requires hard work and dedication to become a successful professional in a different country. If you are ready to do this, it can be one of the best decisions of your life.
Source: http://www.careeraddict.com/how-working-abroad-can-boost-your-career
