With the economy still lukewarm at home, intrepid types are looking further afield for their paydays. Emerging economies like China, Russia, India and Brazil are running white hot and the demand for skills and experience is creating jobs for Americans abroad.
If you've got what it takes, the adventure of living and working abroad can be yours. Finding the job and sorting out the visa is not as difficult as it used to be. International recruitment companies are scouring the globe for the best and the brightest, and visa application services take all the stress out of getting work permits.
Living and working abroad is the ultimate way to experience another culture. International experience looks great on a resume, but more importantly working abroad offers a fresh start; a way out of the professional or personal rut you may be in.
It almost goes without saying, but working abroad comes with it challenges. What would an adventure be without some challenges, right? There are some pitfalls to working and living abroad, but if you know what to expect, you can be sure that your transition into your new life will be a smooth one.
Things here will never work the way they do back home: Back home you can open a bank account in a few minutes at a suburban mall, but overseas it could take days. Queuing for almost everything is to be expected, and deadlines and the rules of the road are given as much thought as a serving suggestion on a cereal box. If you constantly compare your new hometown to your old hometown, you're going to drive yourself crazy. Just accept that you alone can't change things. It's like fighting the tide, so why bother. Embrace your new life abroad and all its quirks. To help manage your expectations it helps to research the in and outs of your new life abroad. The most honest firsthand accounts of what to expect can be found on expatriate online forums. Ask questions and get and all of the information that you can from the expats who have gone before you.
They won't speak English - no matter how much you yell: Americans and other native English-speakers like Australians, Canadians and the British have been stereotyped abroad as arrogant yellers, and with good reason. No matter how much you raise your voice, a non-English speaker is not suddenly going to find their English tongue. And why should they? This is their country. You should be making an effort to speak to them in their language. Even if your job abroad is conducted in English, you're going to have to deal with the locals eventually. Take an elementary language course before you leave home. It will give you a working knowledge of the local lingo. When you arrive, follow up the basics with an immersion language course. Practice with your new colleagues every chance you get. You'll be surprised how quickly you pick up the language when you have to. Now, even if many of the locals do speak English, don't ever assume that they do so on first introduction. Endear yourself by greeting locals in their own language and politely asking if they can help you in English.
You will suffer a bout of culture fatigue at least once: No matter how much you research a new culture in advance, nothing can quite prepare you for the sensory overload that comes with actually encountering it firsthand. At first it's a feast of new sights, sounds and experiences! And then the indigestion sets in. Suddenly, like a bolt out of the blue, everything you love about this new culture you start to loathe. You feel over stimulated and plain worn out. This new adventure of yours starts to feel anything but. Now before you quit your brand new job in a torrent of tears and catch the first flight home, know that this feeling will pass.
It usually strikes about two weeks into a new job abroad. Stressors like a new job routine, an exotic diet and acclimating to the weather make you venerable to culture fatigue. To ward it off you need to create cultural pit stops in your life. These are spaces and activities you can escape to when you need to regroup. Put down that nasi goreng and pick up a Big Mac. Hide out in a Starbucks for an afternoon or stay in bed for the weekend and curl up with a 24-hour movie channel. Give yourself permission to take breaks from the culture you're living in. It's very important that you maintain friendships with other local expats. The expat community in any foreign city is a close knit one and they take care of their own, so lean on them when culture fatigue creeps up on you.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ripley_Daniels
If you've got what it takes, the adventure of living and working abroad can be yours. Finding the job and sorting out the visa is not as difficult as it used to be. International recruitment companies are scouring the globe for the best and the brightest, and visa application services take all the stress out of getting work permits.
Living and working abroad is the ultimate way to experience another culture. International experience looks great on a resume, but more importantly working abroad offers a fresh start; a way out of the professional or personal rut you may be in.
It almost goes without saying, but working abroad comes with it challenges. What would an adventure be without some challenges, right? There are some pitfalls to working and living abroad, but if you know what to expect, you can be sure that your transition into your new life will be a smooth one.
Things here will never work the way they do back home: Back home you can open a bank account in a few minutes at a suburban mall, but overseas it could take days. Queuing for almost everything is to be expected, and deadlines and the rules of the road are given as much thought as a serving suggestion on a cereal box. If you constantly compare your new hometown to your old hometown, you're going to drive yourself crazy. Just accept that you alone can't change things. It's like fighting the tide, so why bother. Embrace your new life abroad and all its quirks. To help manage your expectations it helps to research the in and outs of your new life abroad. The most honest firsthand accounts of what to expect can be found on expatriate online forums. Ask questions and get and all of the information that you can from the expats who have gone before you.
They won't speak English - no matter how much you yell: Americans and other native English-speakers like Australians, Canadians and the British have been stereotyped abroad as arrogant yellers, and with good reason. No matter how much you raise your voice, a non-English speaker is not suddenly going to find their English tongue. And why should they? This is their country. You should be making an effort to speak to them in their language. Even if your job abroad is conducted in English, you're going to have to deal with the locals eventually. Take an elementary language course before you leave home. It will give you a working knowledge of the local lingo. When you arrive, follow up the basics with an immersion language course. Practice with your new colleagues every chance you get. You'll be surprised how quickly you pick up the language when you have to. Now, even if many of the locals do speak English, don't ever assume that they do so on first introduction. Endear yourself by greeting locals in their own language and politely asking if they can help you in English.
You will suffer a bout of culture fatigue at least once: No matter how much you research a new culture in advance, nothing can quite prepare you for the sensory overload that comes with actually encountering it firsthand. At first it's a feast of new sights, sounds and experiences! And then the indigestion sets in. Suddenly, like a bolt out of the blue, everything you love about this new culture you start to loathe. You feel over stimulated and plain worn out. This new adventure of yours starts to feel anything but. Now before you quit your brand new job in a torrent of tears and catch the first flight home, know that this feeling will pass.
It usually strikes about two weeks into a new job abroad. Stressors like a new job routine, an exotic diet and acclimating to the weather make you venerable to culture fatigue. To ward it off you need to create cultural pit stops in your life. These are spaces and activities you can escape to when you need to regroup. Put down that nasi goreng and pick up a Big Mac. Hide out in a Starbucks for an afternoon or stay in bed for the weekend and curl up with a 24-hour movie channel. Give yourself permission to take breaks from the culture you're living in. It's very important that you maintain friendships with other local expats. The expat community in any foreign city is a close knit one and they take care of their own, so lean on them when culture fatigue creeps up on you.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ripley_Daniels
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