The Technobedouin Manual: Job hunting abroad

Job hunting abroad is relatively easy, as long as you know the rules.

First of all, if you really want to work in a particular city, job hunting is easiest done if you already live there. In other words, pack your bags and get yourself over there to get to know the place and do your job hunting. As an extra bonus, you will learn the local language quicker and you can also analyse whether the place really reflects your ideals. Another option is to do some cold calling to the right people abroad, and you can do this via internet telephone services, such as Skype (very affordable these days). This way you can try to sell yourself to them, or perhaps you can try to get a job in a company’s international department.

If you get offered a job abroad, you will also get a foreign contract. Their benefits are usually much less than an expatriate contract with a domestic company sending you abroad would offer. It is worth asking yourself whether it is the money or life experience you are after, and bearing in mind that in the long run, a foreign job with a foreign contract may take you anywhere with much better money than when you started.

So, the quickest way to get to any particular country is to relocate and job hunt over there. You should prepare for your move with marketing calls, so that you have some job interviews lined up after you arrive.

As a second point, never ever send your CV to Human Resources. This may sound peculiar, but really, I have never heard of anyone getting a job offer abroad this way. Many large companies have boxes full of CVs gathering dust in the corner and their servers packed full of resumes. When they quickly need to get a new person in, it seems that no one in a managerial position ever has time to start going through these piles - instead they call a head hunter, recruitment agency and their local contacts to try to locate somebody. This is why being there is so vital in this process. The best thing would be to give the right director a call (always start high, from the Managing Director, even with bigger companies - you will certainly be directed to the right person. And you can be sure that when you speak to them, your opening line of “I just spoke to your Managing Director about meeting…” always works wonders.) Only after these phone calls is it time to start sending your CV.

Thirdly, register with local recruitment agencies and headhunters and don’t forget to update your CV with them from time to time, so that they start to recognise your name and hold your latest details. Spend some time in creating an impressive CV, with complete and accurate information.

As a fourth point, there is nothing wrong with starting at a lower level than you would in your home country. You can then proceed more quickly or apply for a new job once you have become established. It is not worth spending a lot of time in a dead-end job, though, because it will have an impact on your CV.

As a fifth point, know the history and culture of your destination and study its language.

Lastly, be patient. Getting a good job can often take at least six months with all necessary negotiations etc. The negotiation stage can be quite long, so make sure you have several possible options open, ensuring that at least one of them will ultimately result in a job.

Published at 20:00

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