Success Tips for Expat & International Careers

Expat Careers: Understanding & Overcoming Challenges in Pursuing an Expat Career

I'm the Expat Careers columnist for Expat Focus, one of the most comprehensive information and support resource for expats online.

I encourage you to visit Expat Focus to see the resources available and sign up for their newsletter. The newsletters are filled with great information and resources for expats of all ages and lifestyles.

For those in pursuit of an expat career, I also invite you to read my latest article there, Understanding and Overcoming Challenges in Pursuing An Expat Career.

Expat Stories: Miss Expatria Shares about Blind Confidence, L'Amour in France, Rome & Walking Off Cliffs

Christine Cantera is a freelance writer, editor and translator, as well as the author of BootsnAll's WhyGoFrance Travel Guide.

She is also the first featured "story" in the the new "expat stories" series you'll be reading on this blog. 

 

Miss Expatria

I first "met" Christine as @MissExpatria in 2008 on twitter. She was most certainly an enabler of travel addiction back then through her Miss Expatria blog where she shares about her adventures in the south of France and with the gay mafia in Rome. She became a judge (along @michellefabio, @mybellavita and @tinatangositaly) in my Expat Snapshot contest - a contest requiring entrants (expats in Italy) to complete the sentence: “You know you are in Italy when…”. Her insights into life into life in Italy made her a valued addition to the judge's panel. 

Since then I've seen Christine publish a book on her expat adventures, Miss Expatria, as well as continue to write freelance and be featured in major media. And she's now an author for WhyGoFrance.

I admire Christine for many reasons. Her ability to paint piercingly poignant snapshots of expat life with her words. Her unabashed honesty in her sharing of experiences. And her come hell or high water commitment to building a life for herself abroad.

As part of the "Expat Stories" series, I've asked Christine to share her story of how she came to be an expat, her reflections on it and any lessons learned she'd like to share with other expats who may benefit from her words of wisdom.  So without further ado...

Expat Stories: Jo Parfitt Shares About Her Story and New Book Sunshine Soup

Jo Parfitt, author of the new book Sunshine Soup: Nourishing the Global Soul, is an institution in the expat community and almost needs no introduction. For those of you who are not familar with Jo, she is an incredibly prolific author, publisher and a pioneer in addressing the issues of accompanying spouses and aspiring expat writers worldwide. She has drawn from her own journey as an accompanying spouse - her struggles and successes over 25 years - to help guide and inspire other women find their voice and realize their dreams of being a writer while overseas.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jo in person earlier this year after first connecting with her back in 2006 to discuss the book she was writing at the time, Career in Your Suitcase. It was fantastic to discuss various aspects of our respective expat adventures - the moves, dealing with the changing nature of expat assignments, the challenges of running a portable business and more.

 

Expat Stories

Given Jo's expertise and some of the themes in her new book, I thought a great way to start a new blog series I'm calling "Expat Stories" was to have Jo share some insights into how to write your story, as well as a bit about her own. I don't know that there is anyone who knows the power of the expat story more than Jo does.

The "Expat Stories" series is designed to help expats celebrate and share their successes and inspire others in the process. Since our stories can often help us uncover our unique strengths, talents and wisdom, I'm hoping these stories will also help the expats telling their stories learn something about themselves or at the least share some valuable "lessons learned" with others.

I'm most appreciative to Jo for taking the time to share her story, thoughts and news about her new book...

Expat & International Careers: Internationalizing Your Professional Bio

For those of you with an interest in internationalzing your bio for professional success at home and abroad, I recommend reading my latest article as the international job search expert on job-hunt.org. I talk about sharing your international experience, demonstrating you've got what it takes to succeed overseas, cultural relevancy and the importance of keywords.

EXPAT CAREER SUCCESS TIP: Read my article on internationalizing your bio. Identify one action you can take to "globalize" your profile and demonstrate your ability to thrive in our ever increasingly interconnected world. Then set a due date and take action!

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  career by choice can help you...become an expat and experience a global lifestyle ~ explore international career options and find work abroad ~ understand your Brand DNA and how you can perform at your best ~ clarify your personal brand to stand out and be sought after for top jobs overseas ~ develop branded tools and strategies to communicate your unique expertise in a differientiating, compelling way ~ strengthen and manage your online reputation to attract employers and clients worldwide ~ leverage your expert status to become highly visible, recognized and well compensated for the value you create ~ leverage social media to build your global online network ~ develop a global mindset ~ manage transitions and overcome challenges during international assignments ~ provide an international career coach and experienced guide to help you think.live.work.global ~ optimize your career choices and discover success abroad on your terms by being your best self ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why You Shouldn't Use Job Titles to Drive Your Expat Career Choices or International Job Search

If you have a 40 hour work week, you are spending about a third of your waking hours in your job.

It would follow that job fit and satisfaction have an incredible impact on your quality of life. And if you are moving country to pursue work abroad, the impact your career choices can have on your and your family's quality of life is even more significant. 

The Impact of Poor International Job Search Targets

Despite these facts many people seem to place little importance and/or spend little time identifying best fit roles, environments, cultures and organizations to guide their international job search. The search can often start with identifying a two to three word target job title based on past work experiences, skills and interests. Then a set of possible target countries based on their lifestyle appeal or current reputation for available job opportunities. With possible industries or sectors selected, many feel equipped to start applying for jobs once their CV, resume or bio is updated.

But given the variety of job descriptions that can be associated with a single job title - especially when looking across industries, cultures and organizations - job titles can have limited value when it comes to defining international job search goals that will take someone where they could truly thrive professionally. And yet they still seem to be the first step and play a leading role in many people's pursuit of jobs overseas.