Success Tips for Expat & International Careers

World Surf Day, Expat Interviews and Crispy Waffles

Today I am participating in World Surf Day, which is essentially a kind of blog tag or a game of "the wave" between expatriate bloggers.  We share our thoughts about living in our own country and then link to another expat participating in the game.

Sitting down to try and write about my thoughts on life in Italy reminded me of the website Expat Interviews, where expats are interviewed about their experiences living overseas.  I had completed my interview on that site close to three years ago. I reviewed my interview there, and thought that almost all of what I said still rings true.

So given I am a bit under the weather, and in the interest of keeping the "the wave" of expat experiences going on World Surf Day, I am going to refer you to my interview on Expat Interviews as part I of my report on my expat life in Italy.  I do plan on writing a part II when time and health permit in which I will share select photos and anecdotes to give you a bit more insight into what my "la dolce vita" is like in Rome these days.

The expat blog I invite you visit to do your part in keeping "the wave" going is full of recipes and gorgeous photos of luscious foods and sweets. The owner Sheryl, currently living in the Netherlands, had dedicated her site to the "the humble waffle" and has aptly titled her blog, Crispy Waffle.  Though I do warn you not to visit during hours that your boulangerie or pasticcheria are not open...I wouldn't want to get you inspired to indulge in a sweet with no means of doing so!

Expat Careers: Attention Expat Writers - Freelance Writing Week!

Attention all current and aspiring expat freelance writers - have you read about Freelance Writing Week?  I'm writing to let you know about a must-see collection of valuable writing resources compiled by accomplished American expat writer and attorney, Michelle Fabio, who lives in her family's ancestral village of Calabria, Italy. 

Michelle is also the author of a blog infamous in the expat blogosphere (and a recent finalist in the European weblog awards) - bleeding espresso - where she shares about her passion for food and coffee - a woman after my own heart!

I first connected with Michelle on Twitter, and one of our exchanges spawned the Expat Snapshot Contest for which she became a judge.  Since then I have been following her with delight as she shares her insights into life in Calabria and Italy and from an Italian kitchen.  (It is my secret wish that someday I will be able to sample some of the amazing food she writes about.) Needless to say, I believe that bleeding espresso's RSS feed should be on every Italy Lover's google reader!

Expat Careers: Are you an Aspiring Expat Looking for a Job in Australia, New Zealand, Canada or the UK?

If you are an aspiring expat looking for job in Australia, New Zealand, Canada or the UK, there there is a website that you simply must visit - www.workingin.com.  This site is jam-packed with fantastic information to help you in all areas of your job search and move to one of these countries.

I was fortunate enough to connect with WorkingIn's Editorial Manager, Jessica Meyer, and its co-founder and CEO, Scott Mathieson, and had a chance to ask them some questions...

Can you tell us a little bit about www.workingin.com?

We are global experts on connecting employers with skilled people moving country through international recruitment expos, magazines and the web. WorkingIn.com aims to be a one-stop-shop to help skilled, aspiring and returning expats find jobs in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and elsewhere. Over 4 million people will visit the Working In sites this year.

Many of us at Working In are expatriates who have successfully set up a new life in a new country, so we have the insight and a keen interest in helping others to have easy and positive expatriate experiences. We know that finding a job, packing, moving, getting visas and settling in to a new home in a new country can be time consuming and hard to manage while juggling an existing lifestyle. So we say, “Why waste time when we've done a lot of the hard work for you?”

In addition to the workingin.com websites, Working In owns and operates the highly successful Opportunities Expos held in the UK specifically for people who want to live and work in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Additionally, our popular expos in South Africa attract skilled migrants to New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the UK. Further expos in New Zealand help direct migrants to Australia. And we’ve just launched the Health Jobs around the World Expos to help UK & Ireland skilled health professionals find work in countries round the globe. 
 
The expos collectively draw about 100,000 qualified candidates each year, all of whom are dedicated to moving country. The expos provide the ideal opportunity for employers and service provides to meet face to face with prospective employees and customers. 
 

Our high-quality glossy Working In magazine targets people committed to moving Down Under. The magazines feature employment opportunities and employer profiles in Australia. Every single expo visitor gets a copy of the most current Working In magazine.

Expat Careers: How Does Searching For a Job Abroad Differ from one at Home?

In today's tumultuous marketplace with people losing jobs left and right, many job seekers are either looking outside their own country for new opportunities for the first time, or are finally considering indulging their dream of becoming an expatriate.

As an expat career and personal branding coach, I regularly get questions about how to go about running a job search overseas.  So given the recent increase in inquires on the subject, I thought I'd share some of the differences here.

I think the biggest differences are the obstacles that one has to face in looking for a job in another country that they do not have to face when looking for a job at home.  Reviewing these differences will often "weed out" those who are not really ready to take on what in my estimation is one of the greatest (albiet very challenging at times) adventures in life - living and working abroad.

• Work documentation - Part of securing a job involves also securing a work visa or permit. Most of the time a job offer is required to get this, and usually this involves an organization having to complete paperwork and pay some sort of fee. So being sure your career marketing materials really help you to stand out on- and offline is essential. (Of course, this is not such a problem for everyone. For example, if you happen to be a citizen of an country in the European Union(EU), you have permission to work in other EU countries.)

• Having credentials that are jurisdictional - Your particular credentials may position you as an expert at home, but if they are not recognized in your target country you will have to get creative about how you communicate your value. 

• Language skills - if you only speak your mother tongue, this can limit the number of job opportunities available to you in other countries where your mother tongue is not spoken. If you are an English speaker, as it is the language of business, you will have more opportunities than most monolingual people.

Tales from an Expat Writer Part II: Anastasia Ashman on Expat Living & Working

Here is the continuation of an interview with Anastasia Ashman, writer and co-editor of Tales from the Expat Harem. If you didn't catch it, you can read part I here.

What do you feel were the most important actions you took to grow as a writer and develop your writing into a full-time career?

I’m very conscious of the fact that writing is rewriting and in order to rewrite you need new information. I’ve been a member of critique groups for the past 15 years and maintain personal-professional relationships with other full-time writers with whom I can discuss the larger picture of the writing life. It’s a solitary activity so I believe you need to be actively engaged with other writers and learning and growing alongside them.

I’ve invested in adult education courses like MediaBistro.com’s 10-week Journalism Bootcamp to pick up news skills and discipline. www.writers.com offers online courses that might be of interest to writers overseas. I’ve also worked one-on-one with a holistic writing coach on a weekly basis for three years. All of these endeavors and commitments have made me a stronger writer and a more effective captain of my writing career.

What qualities, skills and strengths do you feel are essential for a professional writer to have?

The ability to keep learning. The commitment to join writing and publishing communities as a productive, respectful member. To be able to work harmoniously with editors and consistently deliver clean, accurate work on deadline and in the exact style of the publication.  To be able to dissect the work you see being published and figure out why the editor said yes to it.

How important do you feel a strong online identity or presence is to a professional writer?

For any writer it’s important to be able to have a place to send people to learn about your work but for an expat writer it’s imperative if your main markets are in another country. Being based in Turkey I know I need to continue to improve my online presence if I want to have more of an effect in English language markets. I’ve got an author page at Redroom which is a start.

It’s good to have an online portfolio with ‘clippings’ of your published work, as well as special content just for the web. I recommend a useful recent post at Tumblemoose that talks about an online portfolio tool.