who here's working abroad?

[winterinmoscow]

I love my life here in Leeds but the voices of emigrating do speak loudly sometimes. Ideally I'd love to work somewhere in the developing world (preferably the far east) and do similar work to what I do now - charity, NGO, refugee work or possibly- but not ideally - TEFL. I totally understand I would probab ly have to compromise on my ideals for the sake of being practical!

What would worry me most about moving abroad is not being able to find a job. I do look for vacancies but can find very little suitable. So, for thos who live abroad, how did you get yourself sorted abroad?

Disclaimer - i am not planning an imminent move as I do like my life hre but it is something I've always been interested in

 

[rennie]

I live and work in London but that's abroad for me.

 

[felixthecat]

I love my life here in Leeds but the voices of emigrating do speak loudly sometimes. Ideally I'd love to work somewhere in the developing world (preferably the far east) and do similar work to what I do now - charity, NGO, refugee work or possibly- but not ideally - TEFL. I totally understand I would probab ly have to compromise on my ideals for the sake of being practical!

What would worry me most about moving abroad is not being able to find a job. I do look for vacancies but can find very little suitable. So, for thos who live abroad, how did you get yourself sorted abroad?

Disclaimer - i am not planning an imminent move as I do like my life hre but it is something I've always been interested in

I worked abroad with VSO, initially a 2 year contract.

However, I didn't quite make it home for 18 yrs instead......

 

[selamlar]

Yup. Strictly commercial stuff tho, no public/voluntary work, more's the pity

 

[Melinda]

Ive done it on and off for the last 10 years- private sector companies, volunteering, NGO programmes, rapid onset disaster response and much larger longer term development stuff.

As you would expect, it can be the best/ worst of times.

As to how Ive got myself sorted- having a specific skillset helps- sometimes people come looking for you.
Ive also been proactive and offered skills/ ideas to various projects/programmes.

Depends on what you what to do? That should define your approach.

 

[Zorra]

Ive done it on and off for the last 10 years- volunteering, NGO programmes, and much larger longer term development stuff.

As you would expect, it can be the best/ worst of times.

As to how Ive got myself sorted- having a specific skillset helps- sometimes people come looking for you. Ive also been proactive and offered skills/ ideas to various projects/programmes.

Depends on what you what to do? That should define your approach.

Ditto (to the slightly snipped version above ) It's definitely not all sunshine and roses - I've worked in a load of places where I never saw anything other than the inside of offices and slums. But it's the same as anything, work out what you like, what you want, and what you're able to do, then something should fall into place G'luck kidda x

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

I've been abroad a couple of times with a European funded programme, where you go to a European country for three months, you have a short language course and then a work placement. I've been to France twice doing that. The company sets up the work placements, they vary wildly, depending on your background and your language skills. Some people end up working in hotels and restaurants or shops. Some people end up doing similar jobs to what they've done before, some people do admin stuff for random companies. Try Googling ETS +Lichfield for more information...

And I went travelling and wound up spending 18 months in China. Loved it. But living and working in China is like marmite - people either love it or hate it. I didn't have a job when I went there, just asked around and got fixed up.

And now I'm working in Middle East, applied and was interviewed in UK, so I got sorted before I left... I think some people go out there and end up working in other companies after being recruited locally, as partners (you're not officially allowed to relocate unless you're married), so unmarried partners tend to go out there, look around, have interviews out there...

 

[fela fan]

Well, you may remember or not winter that i live in thailand, came here travelling in 1991 and never actually made it back to england. I know you said tefl work was not ideal, but that's what not only kept me out here, but was the great surprise in life. It turned out to be a vocation in life, rather than a job. Many other people discover this surprising piece of good fortune.

That said, there is a lot of charity and ngo work and so on here on the border with burma. I think that is also the case in laos and cambodia and vietnam, probably the whole of south-east asia.

I really think that regarding vacancies you're better off picking your country and going there with a month or three's worth of travel in mind. That way you can relax into the new culture and way of life, enjoy learning new things in an unrushed manner, and importantly, you start to find these vacancies that are otherwise unpublished anywhere. You will meet other emigrants who will happily give you the lowdown and people/websites to contact. I would expect that everything will simply fall into place. It just seems to do that over here.

At the worst you can simply get an english teaching job (usually this is adults) and enjoy this while biding your time waiting for something more suitable to come up. And it will, for sure. You won't need any qualification necessarily to get such a job. Just enthusiasm. It is one brilliant way of getting to meet lots of locals and for integrating into a new way of life.

Incidentally, i'm getting report after report of how amazing life is in laos. If i was as single as i was when i came to thailand i think i would already be there.

Feel free to ask any kinds of questions!

 

[Boris Sprinkler]

I am, have lived and worked here for 20 months. Just bought aflat over here too. Have no intention of going back to the Uk. If it goes tits up in Denmark, I plan to go to Iceland.
I work in a specialised area so at the moment my skills are in demand in alot of places so I am very lucky in that respect. I wasn't employed as an ex pat (the company i work for is global) but on Danish terms and conditions, so no tax breaks or any help finding a place to live which was quite difficult. The language is tricky but the business language is English and most Danes can speak excellent English.
THe worst part for me was the interviews, there were 5 in total and 4 of them I paid for the flights myself. I didn't want to move out here until I had solid confirmation I had the job. Particuarly since I hardly knew anybody.

If you can I would defintely recommend working abroad. You might go back to England but once you get the taste of elsewhere you'll realise where the grass is greener.

 

[Stanley Edwards]

Abroad and sort of working

Today my work will be completing a 5 Meter x 1 Meter panoramic sketch of a wide public space here in Granada where 8 Rodin bronze sculptures have just gone on display (how cool is that for a city of just 250,000 population? Millions of pounds worth of Rodin sculptures literally in the street for all to enjoy). I'll sell the final sketch whilst selling postcard sketches and hopefully picking up a couple of commissions. I'll also be meeting lots of people and telling them about my plans to live in South America for a few years, so building up contacts as I go. I've already lined up some photography work documenting charity/NGO water projects in Columbia.

I also caught the crest of the dot.com wave and lived in New York for 18 months. Early days of internet also gave me the opportunity to work in Madrid and Berlin for a couple of months.

Ideally, I'd like to line up more photography work in South America with time and enough money to do my own thing, although I've also met a bunch of people who make US TV programmes who are interested in one of my planned photo/art projects. Books and stuff in the pipeline also. I'll just go with the flow and see where it takes me. You never know. Life is just about numbers really. The more people you meet - the more opportunities arise.

I'm not really a language person and have found learning Spanish much more difficult and slower than I was expecting.

 

[wrysmile]

I live and work in London but that is abroad for me. Very easy in terms of a relocation - I have a UK passport so no problems working here. I do kind of hanker sometimes to perhaps do a more exciting working abroad location, like Asia or Sth America, however, my profession would mean I'd have to have a perfect written/spoken 2nd language to get a decent job. I'd happily learn but it would take some years to get writing perfect enough to work in communications. So instead, I content myself with having travelled lots, planning more travel still and relocating back home to the sunshine in 3-4 yrs time. Then again, there'll be another gap for living abroad after we've had kids etc, so wouldn't rule out a stint later on in life which would be

 

[Fuchs66]

Lived and worked in Germany since 92, its ok has positive and negative sides, hopefully (fingers crossed and all that) moving to the Netherlands soon for a different mix of positive and negative.

 

[fogbat]

Does England count as abroad?

 

[Lea]

I worked in Paris from 2002 to 2006 as a secretary but now back in the UK.

 

[wrysmile]

Does England count as abroad?

Depends. If you are from the Isle of Wight, that's going to be a stretch. Any further and that's a yes.

 

[fogbat]

Depends. If you are from the Isle of Wight, that's going to be a stretch. Any further and that's a yes.

Wales?

 

[gnoriac]

In addition to what fela says about Thailand, for English teaching in the big cities you'll probably need a relevant qualification whereas out in the provinces they're desperate for English teachers. They have the same curriculum requirements, but away from touristy areas it's very difficult to find native english speakers. Maybe it's been tightened up but before an unqualified mate was offered all sorts by a school principal, like getting his work permit sorted for him.

 

[winterinmoscow]

Well, you may remember or not winter that i live in thailand, came here travelling in 1991 and never actually made it back to england. I know you said tefl work was not ideal, but that's what not only kept me out here, but was the great surprise in life. It turned out to be a vocation in life, rather than a job. Many other people discover this surprising piece of good fortune.

That said, there is a lot of charity and ngo work and so on here on the border with burma. I think that is also the case in laos and cambodia and vietnam, probably the whole of south-east asia.

I really think that regarding vacancies you're better off picking your country and going there with a month or three's worth of travel in mind. That way you can relax into the new culture and way of life, enjoy learning new things in an unrushed manner, and importantly, you start to find these vacancies that are otherwise unpublished anywhere. You will meet other emigrants who will happily give you the lowdown and people/websites to contact. I would expect that everything will simply fall into place. It just seems to do that over here.

At the worst you can simply get an english teaching job (usually this is adults) and enjoy this while biding your time waiting for something more suitable to come up. And it will, for sure. You won't need any qualification necessarily to get such a job. Just enthusiasm. It is one brilliant way of getting to meet lots of locals and for integrating into a new way of life.

Incidentally, i'm getting report after report of how amazing life is in laos. If i was as single as i was when i came to thailand i think i would already be there.

Feel free to ask any kinds of questions!

sawasdee fela! Nail on head about Laos. I was there over xmas. To be honest I think I might be in holiday come down. I have a great job in england which makes me feel like I'ma ctually doing something worthwhile but if all things were equal, I'd love to be doing something equally worthwhile abroad, particularly in Laos. Thing is, I haven't a clue what to do about it

 

[fela fan]

sawasdee fela! Nail on head about Laos. I was there over xmas. To be honest I think I might be in holiday come down. I have a great job in england which makes me feel like I'ma ctually doing something worthwhile but if all things were equal, I'd love to be doing something equally worthwhile abroad, particularly in Laos. Thing is, I haven't a clue what to do about it

I can't believe i've not been yet. Perhaps i'll sort out that problem this year. It's only down the road for me!

It sounds like your 'problem' is a nice one, so have fun trying to solve it!

If it's worth hearing, what i've found since living in this neck of the woods is that there is absolutely so much to life outside of one's job. I don't say that isn't the case in britain, but when i worked in britain money was a huge issue. Whereas i'm never short over here so i can get up to all sorts of creative things once i've finished my work for the day. I love my work, but i love the rest of the life i have outside of it.

As for not knowing what to do about it, that, depending on your love or otherwise of risk, could be just the way to go about it! You could do a bit of reseach on ngos in this area, i also know there's various charity organisations around. If i see an ex-student of mine next week i'll ask her. She's from england and probably knows quite a lot about all of this.

I'd be tempted to find out a bit about what you might be able to do, then get over here (assuming you choose se asia) and sort it out while here. I know it's tempting for people to try and ensure they have a job to go to when emigrating or leaving their home country for a while, but sometimes in life chucking 'security' into the bin unleashes a heady freedom...!

And yeah, you will be on laos hangover. Do the research, but wait until the winter's over in britain and then see if you still want to try things out. A lovely spring and summer in england might see you thinking differently?!

 

[dessiato]

Currently living and working in Portugal. Been here two years and it has its up and downs. At the moment, the weather is good and it is Carnaval weekend so it is going to be fun. The downside at the moment is that I am so far away from my family at a time when I need to be with them. Home sickness comes and goes though.

Next year I am thinking of moving to Spain for a while, or maybe Brazil.

 

[snadge]

Currently working in Iran 4 weeks on 2 weeks off, it has it's disadvantages like absolutely nothing to do in the evening except watch TV or surf the net but the cash outweighs that.

 

[Zorra]

Currently working in Iran 4 weeks on 2 weeks off, it has it's disadvantages like absolutely nothing to do in the evening except watch TV or surf the net but the cash outweighs that.

I seem to have drawn the short straw with this one - am in South Sudan, eight weeks on (working 7 days a week) one week off, earning less money than I have for a long time, and living in a sodding tent... And there is nothing, nothing to do here in the evening either, not even TV

 

[Fidel]

I live on the coast in Northern Brasil in a surf village and run a small hotel. We are into our 3rd year out here now, over all its worked out very well.

An old friend has come over and is renting a restaurant on the beach and there are a few other Brits tucked about, which is great for when you need a break from speaking Portuguese.

 

[snadge]

I seem to have drawn the short straw with this one - am in South Sudan, eight weeks on (working 7 days a week) one week off, earning less money than I have for a long time, and living in a sodding tent... And there is nothing, nothing to do here in the evening either, not even TV

I feel for you, that's shit.

what are you doing?

 

[winterinmoscow]

thanks for the responses. snadge, zorra, fidel - how did you get into doing this? it's this age old issue of how miuch to try and sort things out before leaving

 

[winterinmoscow]

I can't believe i've not been yet. Perhaps i'll sort out that problem this year. It's only down the road for me!

It sounds like your 'problem' is a nice one, so have fun trying to solve it!

If it's worth hearing, what i've found since living in this neck of the woods is that there is absolutely so much to life outside of one's job. I don't say that isn't the case in britain, but when i worked in britain money was a huge issue. Whereas i'm never short over here so i can get up to all sorts of creative things once i've finished my work for the day. I love my work, but i love the rest of the life i have outside of it.

As for not knowing what to do about it, that, depending on your love or otherwise of risk, could be just the way to go about it! You could do a bit of reseach on ngos in this area, i also know there's various charity organisations around. If i see an ex-student of mine next week i'll ask her. She's from england and probably knows quite a lot about all of this.

I'd be tempted to find out a bit about what you might be able to do, then get over here (assuming you choose se asia) and sort it out while here. I know it's tempting for people to try and ensure they have a job to go to when emigrating or leaving their home country for a while, but sometimes in life chucking 'security' into the bin unleashes a heady freedom...!

And yeah, you will be on laos hangover. Do the research, but wait until the winter's over in britain and then see if you still want to try things out. A lovely spring and summer in england might see you thinking differently?!

thanks I may just be being very silly. I like what i do but am fairly sure the same opportunities abroad don't exist there as I work in British law. I guess my worry is that I would probably end up doing TEFL as I don't have much experience for aid work/NGO stuff - altho would like to. perhaps you're right, it's better to just come and see what happens. I would definitely give a lot to work in Laos.

 

[Zorra]

I feel for you, that's shit.

what are you doing?

Thanks, I need the sypmathy! I'm Deputy Chief of Party for an NGO that supports community media. Really interesting job but I can't decide if it's worth making all the sacrfices to be here on such shit pay, and when they really want their pound of flesh... Can't remember entirely why I agreed to it but we shall see what the future holds...

WiM, I used to work for an NGO that I travelled with (worked in 35 countries but I wasn't expecting to when I got the job!) and continued travelling as a journalist. I speak other languages which helps, but my job is really niche so I have a specific skill set and tend to get headhunted. I really enjoy it but moving around can be tough, and it makes it *really* difficult to have a decent relationship because I go where the work is. It's also because I have two bases, one in the UK for family blah blah and one in Nairobi which is home, plus wherever I'm working. I'm not sure I'd want to live in the UK again to be honest, but you never know.

<goes to whinge in a corner>

 

[debsinleeds]

I've been abroad a couple of times with a European funded programme, where you go to a European country for three months, you have a short language course and then a work placement. I've been to France twice doing that. The company sets up the work placements, they vary wildly, depending on your background and your language skills. Some people end up working in hotels and restaurants or shops. Some people end up doing similar jobs to what they've done before, some people do admin stuff for random companies. Try Googling ETS +Lichfield for more information...

And I went travelling and wound up spending 18 months in China. Loved it. But living and working in China is like marmite - people either love it or hate it. I didn't have a job when I went there, just asked around and got fixed up.

And now I'm working in Middle East, applied and was interviewed in UK, so I got sorted before I left... I think some people go out there and end up working in other companies after being recruited locally, as partners (you're not officially allowed to relocate unless you're married), so unmarried partners tend to go out there, look around, have interviews out there...

i did the leonardo thingy too, it was great and id recommend it to anyone

 

[stretchy18]

My Face book map says I've worked in 16% of the worlds countries (Yet to count them up properly)

I don't think I could come back and work in the UK full time, I get equal time on and off what ever job I'm on so have six months off a year

Weather in UK is dog toffee, its better hotter or colder as opposed to wetter and colder

love the life, even if a job is shit there is still plenty of time off to balance it out

working in a country with the people exposes you to the culture more than just travelling (good and bad) and certainly makes you appreciate some aspects of the the UK when you return

just read this back apologies for sounding like a right smug c+nt

 

[winterinmoscow]

no worries. can I ask what you're doing stretchy?