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What’s your biggest obstacle to building a successful career abroad?

Paul Allen — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:05:52 +0000

Millions of people around the world dream of a new, more fulfilling life by moving abroad. Unfortunately, only a small percentage ever makes it happen.

So what is stopping the rest?

For most, I imagine, it is money. After all, if you are rich enough to live where you want, and can come and go at will, then the world is your oyster.

Most of us are not in that liberating position. Instead, we have to find a way to fund this dream life overseas.

Which is where the challenges start. Questions crop up like …

Am I eligible for a working visa?
Will my qualifications be recognised?
What job can I get?
How much will it pay?
Can I get my business idea off the ground?
What hoops will I have to jump through?
Is there local demand?

There can be so much uncertainty about making your relocation financially viable that I think many people just give up on the idea.

Seems a shame, doesn’t it?

If any of this has happened to you then Megan Fitzgerald, an expat career and personal branding coach, would love to hear from you. She is conducting a poll of current and aspiring expats to find the answer to an intriguing question: what is the biggest obstacle to building a successful career abroad?

The poll’s findings will reveal the most common problems people face, and hopefully offer some useful insights into how to overcome them.

To take part in the poll go to http://linkd.in/i9pnWY.

Air Fare Rises Hit Expats

Paul Allen — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 08:12:48 +0000

Living abroad has become so much more viable as the cost of travel plummeted.

The rise of the budget airlines, and the need for other travel operators to slash prices to compete, means moving overseas is no longer the one-way journey of old.

Instead, expats within a short-haul flight of home have suddenly been able to afford to pop back for regular weekends to catch up with family and friends. And those who relocated to another continent can make their annual pilgrimage home without needing an investment banker’s salary or a second mortgage.

For those expats flying to or from the UK though, the November 1 rise in Air Passenger Duty (APD) may shift the balance.

The new rates mean a family of four flying from the UK to Europe will pay £48 in APD when travelling economy class. For journeys to the US the family will be charged £240, to the Caribbean or South Africa £300, and to fly to Australia it will cost them £340 in tax (a rise of 55%).

Add in the actual cost of the ticket, plus the inevitable wad of spending money, and face-to-face contact with old friends and family looks a lot less appealing.

Nadine Coyle and the Secret to Moving Abroad Happiness

Paul Allen — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 17:09:12 +0000

Girls Aloud are hardly my cup of tea, so I’ve never paid them any attention before. Aside from the marital woes of Cheryl Cole, and her subsequent stratospheric rise to ubiquitous media princess, I had never even heard of any of the band, let alone knew anything of their backgrounds.

Today though I saw an article on the BBC News website about band member Nadine Coyle, discussing the release of her first solo album, Insatiable[1].

Not that I’ll be dashing out to buy it. But what did interest me were the references she made in the interview to her family.

A native of Northern Ireland, since finding fame Nadine has moved to Los Angeles. Crucially, her parents and siblings also went with her. Together they now run a bar, Nadine’s Irish Mist, on the Pacific Coast Highway at Sunset Beach.

Her family, she said in the BBC interview, are at the centre of her world, providing her with the foundations she needs to build her career and achieve success.

Yet for many people who move abroad, leaving family behind is the sacrifice they must make to fulfil those dreams of a life overseas.

Which is most important? Is it your family and friends, who will give you the necessary support from which all else becomes possible? Or is relocating abroad the key to achieving your personal and career goals, and finding happiness?

It’s a tough choice … unless, like Nadine, you can get all your nearest and dearest to come with you!

[1] Nadine Coyle: ‘I recorded my album in the bathroom’, By Mark Savage, 12 October 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11494183

Good Housekeeping Article on Moving Abroad

Paul Allen — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:56:41 +0000

A couple of months ago I was interviewed by the features director of the UK’s Good Housekeeping magazine[1].

She was writing an article on the pros and cons of moving abroad, and wanted my “expert opinion” on the topic … which naturally I was more than happy to provide (not least since the magazine has a monthly circulation of half a million readers!).

The article has just come out. And – aside from my own contribution – it makes for fascinating reading.

Expat Challenges

The piece features case studies of people who have moved from the UK to some of the world’s most popular expat destinations: France, Italy, Spain, Australia and the United States. Each highlights the issues they have faced, and offers pointers to anyone following in their footsteps (much of which echoes the topics I address in my book).

Among the biggest challenges the expats encountered were:

Housing problems
Unfamiliarity with local legal processes and requirements
Acclimatising to the local weather
Finding social outlets and integrating into the community
Having a viable way to earn money
Missing family and friends

Hopefully the tips and advice contained in the article will prove a valuable primer for those readers also dreaming of a life overseas!

[1] Good Housekeeping magazine, http://www.allaboutyou.com/home/channel~index?source=1

The Beauty of a Portable Career

Paul Allen — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:37:26 +0000

So, you want to move abroad?

Times were when the best option for many people was to get posted overseas by their employer – you got to experience life in a new country but without the risk of leaving your job. Oftentimes it was a great way to ascend the career ladder too.

However, the global recession has seen many companies cut back on the number and generosity of their international assignment programmes. Moreover, a foreign posting is no longer a surefire career progression path.

As a 2009 report by the IESE Business School at the University of Navarra[i] noted: “Expatriates have extremely high expectations, largely due to the considerable demands required of them. However, companies cannot guarantee that there will be a vacancy to match these expectations upon their return, say in three to five years’ time.” The report added, “In general, repatriated employees hold positions similar to what they held prior to leaving.”

With the advent of the Internet, mobile communications, videoconferencing and the like though, a myriad of income-earning possibilities have opened up for the budding expatriate.

For such technologies are giving people the freedom to become independent freelancers/contractors or small-scale entrepreneurs, selling their products and services from wherever they happen to be, to customers across the world. Better still, such work opportunities are portable. And that makes moving abroad – and even multiple relocations – a whole lot easier.

For more on portable career possibilities take a look at Megan Fitzgerald’s excellent article on the topic, at http://jobsearch.about.com/od/careerdevelopment/a/portablecareers.htm. For more information on how to start a portable career or business you can also check out her website at www.careerbychoice.com.

In addition, I recommend reading Jo Parfitt’s seminal book, A Career in Your Suitcase, which includes a wealth of advice on creating a portable career.

It could offer you a whole new gateway to the world.

[i] Expatriation: More Than Just Knowing Languages, José R. Pin Arboledas, P. García-Lombardía, IESE Business School – University of Navarra, http://insight.iese.edu/doc.aspx?id=1006&ar=20&idioma=2

Are You Prioritising YOUR Life?

Paul Allen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:35:24 +0000

Priorities are powerful forces … assuming you’ve got them in the right order. And keeping them there requires continual monitoring.

So what are your priorities?

Most of us – myself included – get batted around like a pinball from one activity to the next. Our days are spent finishing up that urgent project at work for which the boss is breathing down our necks … seeing to the needs of our kids … phoning parents to check how they are … dashing to the shops to pick up a last-minute birthday present.

We go to bed exhausted, only to get up tomorrow and do it all over again. Lives spent scuttling from one weekend to the next, firefighting whatever today’s most pressing need happens to be.

But what about that life you’d really like to be leading? The one you keep nestled somewhere close to your heart?

We all have one, don’t we? That ‘if I won the Lottery …’ vision of how things would be in a perfect world. Where you’d like to live. How you’d like to spend your time. And with whom. The long-term dream.

Making that vision reality though takes consistent action, and time. Progressive, daily steps. And to do anything on a daily basis means prioritising.

It’s something with which I still struggle. But by persevering it’s starting to pay off. In fact I’m feeling pretty good, for I’ve finally finished revising and proofing the print version of my book on the pros and cons of moving abroad. It is now with the printer, the last step before public release next week!

It’s not been easy mind.

As with so many other people around the world, it’s been a tough 18 months.

The financial crisis has forced me to scramble for work like never before. And outside of the long work hours are my commitments as a husband and father.

As a result, it’s not always easy to find time to do the ‘non-urgent’ writing I really want, the books and screenplays that one day I hope will be my full-time occupation.

I realised though that unless I made the time, prioritised the writing in my day, it would never get done. And my dreams of being an author would go the same way.

It’s the same in all aspects of life. We all have to find time to pursue our dreams, whatever they are.

If you want to learn the piano it’s never going to happen unless you sit at the keyboard on a regular basis – preferably every day – and hammer out the notes.

How are you ever going to get your golf handicap down if you don’t go to the driving range, or get out on the course?

Ditto moving abroad. There may never be a great time to up-sticks. There are always other financial pressures, kids about to change schools, new job promotions in the offing. Valid obstacles that keep you from taking action, from grabbing that life you want.

But that’s the choice you must make. You have to seize the moment – take the requisite steps, however small, and make progress. Without it, your life will never become what you want it to be.

Expat Living By the Book

Paul Allen — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:02:34 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve done any blogging for Expat Living 101. In truth, like so many other expatriates I’ve been hit hard by the financial crisis over the last year – a double whammy of soaring interest payments on our mortgage, and plummeting currency rates when converting my foreign earnings into euros. As a result I’ve had to work twice as hard just to standstill. Not what you want at the best of times, but especially when the sun is beckoning outside!

But now I’m starting up again with a new zeal … for I have just signed a contract with Lean Marketing Press to publish a print version of my book on the pros and cons of living overseas: “Should I Stay Or Should I Go? The Truth About Moving Abroad And Whether It’s Right For You.”

The publishing contract may not come with a $1 million advance and movie tie-in rights as per my J.K. Rowling aspirations, but it’s an exciting prospect nonetheless – one that, hopefully, will help a lot more people get a better handle on the real benefits and costs of moving to a foreign country, and give them a much clearer view on the right path to take. And if it can help readers towards living the lives they truly desire then I will be well satisfied.

This blog then will record the book’s journey to fruition and beyond, as well as being an opportunity to record some of my thoughts and observations on the expatriate life as they crop up.

I hope it proves interesting – and if you have any comments or questions on the way please feel free to add them.

And don’t forget to check out my website, www.expatliving101.com, where you can sign up for my free weekly newsletter. I’ll also be updating and retooling the site with the help of the nice people at Lean Marketing Press for when the book comes out. So please keep checking in.

Hasta luego …