International assignment - worth pausing your game? (Part II)

In the last entry I covered how to approach an international assignment depending on whether it is a promotion or a lateral move and how to position yourself depending on the context. 

Did not read part 1? Stop right now and go back here.

What position are you offered after the assignment? Usually, international missions take between 6 months to a couple of years. If rightly handled, the experience should be life changing and a huge boost to your career. Companies see candidates who have been sent by their employers on these types of assignments as valuable (generally they imply a lot of costs).

In preparation for the move, it’s useful to know that as per the majority countries’ legislation, the employer is required to offer you a similar position upon your return[1]. Discussing with HR and senior management what opportunities you will have returning, shows your commitment to the company and at the same time gives you a good indicator of what you can expect. Keep in mind that you will bring back valuable experience, which needs to be put to the best possible use. It is normal if, in the beginning, they don’t have a clear plan what to offer you, but you should follow up once every 6 months on this topic. Ideally the agreement on the new role is to be reached 6 months prior to repatriation.

Mission accomplished or a losing ticket? This is a hard one. It’s similar when you go to buy a used car. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There are some assignments which are, from the start, a losing ticket. Be it because you are not empowered by the project sponsors, there is a high reluctance to change, or simply the fact that the project does not make any sense. Whatever it might be, you need to be cautious and not associate yourself with initiatives which are doomed to fail.

Put your brain and imagination to work. Play out all the scenarios you can think of in your head and put all the questions on paper. Once done so, ask for a meeting with the new stakeholders (future managers) and cover all of them. This approach has two obvious benefits: a. It shows all the involved stakeholders how you think and that you already started to work for that role on a mental level and b. depending on their answers, it gives you a good indicator if there is a logical strategy behind it. You don’t want to be led by headless chickens who play house and want to delay any outcome[2] as to ensure they stay two years in a high-power role, before moving on to the next one.

How open are you to new cultures and experiences? Is a new experience worth stepping out of your comfort zone? So, now that you covered some technical parts, let’s look at the soft ones. Depending on the location, this aspect is more or less relevant.

If you are moving within Europe and for a shorter period (below two years), a couple of business trips to that location might be sufficient. All European locations can be reached easily and cheap, so if you like the city, can find suitable accommodation and find your new colleagues interesting[3], you should be good to go. Nevertheless, it’s recommended to read about the other culture, especially if you are not familiar with it. An online cultural course will cover most aspects. Future Learn, but also other online course platforms offer excellent selection of courses, from leading universities and cultural institutions.

Are you looking to go intercontinental? Then you need to dig deeper within the host culture, but also yourself.

Yes, yes, yes…all those meditation courses come in handy now. It’s time to be honest and admit to yourself if you are usually open to different lifestyles or if you prefer to keep it local. Good indicators are: your vacations (do you like to travel to exotic new places, or go to the same place every year), your friends (do you have friends of different ages, ethnical and religions background), your hobbies (anything which might expose you to new cultures – multiplayer video games, cooking international food, etc.). Based on the above, you have your first indicator for personal preferences related to interactions with different cultures. If after this introspection, you conclude that you are not someone who is interested in this kind of experiences or are now not in the right place to go outside of your comfort zone, this is perfectly fine. Contrary to popular belief, it’s ok to say “no” to certain experience which would not benefit your mental health. This life is short and one year of it which is spent somewhere you are miserable, is just not worth it.

If, on the other hand, you are ready to take the leap, then you need to look into the host culture. Do the online course, talk to colleague who has been there, go on familiarization trips (should be paid by the company), talk to colleagues who grew up in that country. All this will minimize the initial shock(?). In addition to this, most companies also offer cultural trainings for intercontinental transfers. Make the best use of all the available tools.

Now we reach the part where I just refer you to a specialized person. The question “How will this affect your personal life?”. I encourage you to talk to the persons who are close to you and see what they say. You might have a spouse and children, whose life will be heavily impacted by the move. Approach the discussions in a structured way, do a pros and cons list, put everything on paper and let it sink in for a couple of days. After that forget about it and listen to your gut feeling.

If you feel that someone close to you is afraid to speak up because they don’t want to “ruin this opportunity for you”, seek external council. One or two joint sessions with a therapist, which you both can connect to, can do wonders. But most important is to trust your gut feeling. You are the one who is going to live with this decision, so you better be the one making it.

And one final word of wisdom[4], after you have taken the decision, don’t keep second guessing it. Just go for a run, watch a good movie, read a good book, do whatever helps you to disconnect and just enjoy the ride to come. You are one of the 1% of this planet who are given this extraordinary opportunity. Remember, you will be telling stories in years to follow and who does not want to start a good story with: “When I was living in Hong Kong…” 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[1] If the home country contract is kept active 

[2] Actual meaningful work which has a value added for the company 

[3] Because who wants to be around boring people, duh! 

[4] Because we millennials are soooo wise and like to give our opinions to everyone

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About the author:

Raluca Bulduș is a selective extrovert, founder of  moosa Art Gallery and a Global Mobility professional. She usually has an opinion about everything and loves if someone manages to change it. 

Her super power? An endless supply of curiosity.