The ideal method of insertion is to convince a company in the target country to hire you or obtain a job in your home country, and then apply for a transfer to offices in your target country because in both of these options the company will handle all of the necessary costs to set you up in the country, making your insertion relatively stress-free.
However, even after crafting your CV , if it doesn’t yet adequately demonstrate the qualifications to convince the company to come to you, then you will have to go to the company.
There are several ways to do this, however the cheapest and most productive way is to become a student.
Be it continuing your higher education or just to study a foreign language, becoming a student simultaneously accomplishes multiple objectives:
- Universities are happy to enroll you if you are willing to pay, making it among the easiest and simplest way to obtain a visa and a right to work.
- A semester or two at a foreign university adds depth to your CV, making you more attractive to employers.
- Total immersion is the best and quickest way to learn a foreign language, and speaking more than one language will make you more attractive to employers.
- Potential employers will be more open to your candidature because you are already living in the country.
- Potential employers will be more open to your candidature because you will have at least some education in the target company, which was one of the advantages that nationals had over you.
- Upgrading from a student visa with part-time working papers to a full-time visa with working papers is significantly easier than going from no visa without right to work to a full-time visa with working papers.
Worst-case-scenario: Even if you reach your pre-established cutoff date, your round trip plane ticket is about to expire, and haven’t found a job or have another justifiable reason to remain in the country, upon returning to your home company, your acquired foreign education and experience you will give you the upper hand over 90% of your competitors, and companies will be fighting each other to meet you.
Organize your plans
Before you just jump on a plane, you have to have a plan. Where there is no vision, you will perish. Improper planning reduces your chances of survival and success drastically.
Establish a goal and timeframe
You have to decide why you are going over to the target country, and what you expect to accomplish there.
Likewise you have to decide how long you are going to allow yourself to become financially independent. If you do not, then you risk:
- Losing focus of your goals
- Running out of financial resources
- Becoming trapped, stagnate, and/or depressed
Once you have decided how long you are going to stay, purchase a round trip plane ticket to correspond with your timeframe. Round trip tickets can be valid for 6 months to a year, and provide you with an ejection plan if your money runs out before you have found a means of supporting yourself, or as a worst-case scenario.
Buy a round trip ticket:
- Is generally cheaper than buying two one-way tickets.
- Will take the stress off of you while you are living in the target country because you won’t have to maintain a budget for a return ticket.
- The date of return will be a deadline that continually keeps you motivated to find a job and keep sending out CVs.
- If at your cutoff point you have not accomplished your goals, then you already have your return ticket home, so you won’t have imprudently put yourself in a position where you don’t have the money to leave or the means to remain.
- If you do reach the cutoff date and are in a position where you are financially independent, then the return flight home is a sunken cost. Or, more prudently, you coordinate your work vacation with the return ticket home and revel in your achievement.
- Typically, return trip tickets have an expiration date of six months to one year. This is a sufficient amount of time to live in your target country and look for work.
Important: While enterprises accept CVs and hire year round, there are peak and low seasons. In France, for example, peak seasons for recruitment are August-November and February-March. The lowest time is during the summer months when everybody is on vacation. Maximize your efforts by entering your target country just before peak recruitment seasons, that way when recruitment gets into full swing, you will fully ready for it and not have any unnecessary hindrances.
Take a leave of absence
Many companies offer a “leave of absence.” If you are employed by a company who offers this, then instead of quitting, consider taking a 6 month to year long leave of absence. If you achieve your goals in your target country and decide not to return, then simply contact your previous employer. If worst case scenario, you return, you have a job waiting for you.
Organize your assets
Before moving internationally, ensure you have enough money to support yourself in a worst-case scenario. To have an idea of how much you should save before you leave, consider the expenses for installing in your target country below:
Upfront expenses:
- Administrative costs to obtain visa
- Minimum monthly stipend - before a country will grant you a visa, they require proof that you have the resources to support yourself while you are living there and will not become a burden on their system
- Tuition at school which provides working papers - before a country will grant you a visa, you must have a school/company/family apply for your visa
- Round trip plane ticket - generally round trip tickets cost much cheaper than two single trip tickets
- Apartment - before a country will grant you a visa, you must show that you already have a place to live. This may be a receipt for several weeks at a hotel, letter from a host family, contract from a landlord, etc. Landlords generally require 2-3 months down payment up front
- Other
Monthly expenses once installed in the target country:
- Administrative visa upkeep
- Doctor’s appointments
- Birth certificate and other important document translation
- Cost of living
- Rent
- Utilities
- Food
- Social life
- Laundry
- Public transportation
- Job hunting expenses
- Internet
- Printing
- Mailing supplies
- Cell phone so that employers can contact you
- Student loan and debt payments
- Other
Establish a foothold
After arriving in your target country, your #1 objective is to find a temporary job that will cover your cost of living and expenses. Considering your student status, the quickest and easiest employment will be as a bartender, hotel security guard, English teacher, nanny, etc. This part-time job will probably not cover all of your expenses, but it will lessen the blow to your savings, allowing your to spend your money where it where be the most productive, and it can be put on your Curriculum Vitae showing employment in your target country.
When choosing a part-time job, look for a job that will meet both your financial and your business networking needs.
A job as overnight hotel receptionist will meet your financial needs and you can probably use your time to send CVs and do job searching, but you will not be able to meet people and begin networking. Also, if the employer notices you sent the email at 4:00am on Sunday morning, this may be either used for or against you.
A job as a barman at a club will meet both your financial and networking needs, but the people who frequent clubs may not provide you with the contacts you need to find a corporate job, nor will you have adequate time to socialize the customers either, as people often to go clubs to forget about their job.
A job as a waiter at a café in the center of the business district will meet both your financial and networking needs; however the businessmen you are serving may heuristically label you as a waiter, and not as their next Marketing Assistant.
By far, the most strategic job you can obtain is be as an English teacher in the private sector:
- English teaching companies are always hiring
- Competition is limited because nationals do not apply in this market
- Qualification/skill/etc. are negligible
- Interviews are (almost always) in English
- Working with businessmen will familiarize you with the mentalities, ideologies, and customs of the enterprises you want to work for.
- Clients will take you more seriously than they would if you were a bartender.
- Clients you take on will range from lawyers to accountants to marketers to financial analysts.
- It gives you an inside view into the mind of the corporation and the employee mentality. This information will prove invaluable during the psychometric testing.
- Clients are typically established businessmen/women, or people who can be socially engineered to help you with your CV, give you job search advice, or introduce you to your desired network.
Most private English teaching companies ask for some form of certification (TEFL, EFL, etc), however they will not turn down a candidate who has a Bachelors, a minor in English, or with some form of teaching experience as long as you are competent and have a visa.
When making your move into your target country, act swiftly, disciplined, and immediately begin sending out CVs. Set a goal for yourself that you will apply for a certain amount of job offers per day, and make a certain amount of new friends per week. Once you have reached your goal, reward yourself. Even if your hard work does not bear the immediate fruit of job interviews, the small rewards will keep your mind focused and motivated. After couple weeks you will become tired and complacent, you will develop a social life, and visa and school requirements will begin slowing down your job hunting, so be prepared for it.
Advancement
Objectively, once you are able to at least make ends meet, then you can continue in this position indefinitely, and then can distribute your CV using the controversial job search method until you have achieved your ultimate goal, or until your cut-off date arrives and you have to make a choice.
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