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Want to See the World?
Ways to Snag a Foreign Transfer at Work
By SARAH
E.
NEEDLEMAN, CareerJournal.com
For many U.S.
employees, the best ticket to living and working abroad often is
securing a job transfer to an overseas office of a current employer.
Opportunities for
global moves are on the rise. Nearly 40% of more than 200 multinational
firms report an increase in employee transfers from their headquarters
to international locations between 2003 and 2005, according to a survey
from Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
Here are seven
strategies for winning an overseas transfer.
1. Excel in your
job.
Companies typically
offer transfers to employees with a track record of success, not average
performers, says Scott Pharr, a senior manager at Accenture Ltd., a
consulting firm based in Hamilton, Bermuda. "You need to bloom where you
are planted for a while," says Mr. Pharr, who recruits internal
candidates for jobs in the
Middle East. "I'd be hesitant to send anyone to a foreign location who hasn't earned
my trust."
2. Identify a
need.
In January, Joanne
Fensome, then a senior vice president at Ogilvy Public Relations
Worldwide in New York, set her sights on working in Hong Kong. Ms.
Fensome, a native of England, wanted to expand her global job portfolio,
and her boyfriend had landed a banking job there. She pointed out the
growing presence of pharmaceutical companies in Asia and persuaded
executives in Hong Kong to create a position for her as regional
director of Ogilvy's Asia-Pacific health-care practice. "My strategy was
to do some research into why this position was needed and why I was the
person able to do that job," says Ms. Fensome, who is 34.
3. Network with
colleagues overseas.
To land his job in
London, Jason Cowell, a business-development manager for Cisco Systems
Inc., says he volunteered to collaborate on global projects whenever
possible. "I took the lead on working with my European and Asian
colleagues to build up my reputation," he explains. "It wasn't part of
my job description." As a result, he frequently traveled overseas and
participated in videoconference calls with foreign colleagues when home,
he says.
In 2005, a colleague
in London left the company and recommended him as her replacement, he
says. Though the hiring manager was new to the company, Mr. Cowell, an
American, says he landed the job largely due to the reputation he'd
developed with his London counterparts. "It came down, in my case, to
really networking up, down and across," the 33-year-old says.
4. Pursue the
job, not the location.
When making a case
for a transfer, focus on the job and not your dream to see the world,
says Rajesh Subramaniam, president of Federal Express Canada, a unit of
FedEx Corp. "The desire has to be much broader than it being a cool
place," he says. "At the end of day, the decision to work in a foreign
country has got to be based on a solid business reason. You have to be
excited about the reason you're going."
Mr. Subramaniam, who
now works in
Toronto, landed his first overseas role in the 1990s. Then a manager
of international business planning in
Memphis, he'd been
helping the company launch operations in
Asia. He says he showed a keen interest in seeing the project
through by relocating to FedEx's Asian-Pacific headquarters in
Hong Kong. "It was one
thing to see my work on paper and another to experience what it actually
meant in the marketplace," he says.
5. Show
productivity gains.
Margaretta Noonan,
an executive vice president at staffing firm Hudson Highland Group Inc.,
says she once was impressed by an employee who offered reasons why she'd
perform better in overseas office. These included greater access to
decision-makers, clients and resources. "Some of this is about doing
old-fashioned research, and some is talking to people in your network,"
she says. Ms. Noonan, who works in
New York, frequently interviews internal candidates for jobs at the
firm's 20 locations word-wide. "You've got to be tenacious and think
creatively," she says.
6. Make a case
for your employer to invest in you.
Show you have a
commitment to your firm, advises François de Wazieres, vice president of
corporate strategic recruiting at L'Oreal USA Inc., a unit of L'Oreal
SA. "Convince your company that you are a part of its future," he says.
For example, discuss ideas for long-term projects and your desire to see
them through, he says. Then explain how a job transfer would help you
better perform the assignments and others. "You are going to think more
globally and be a stronger global manager," says Mr. de Wazieres, who is
French and works in New York.
7. Flaunt your
fluency.
Even if you don't
know the tongue of the country where you want work, be sure to mention
any language skills you may have, says Mr. de Wazieres. Many employers
may assume that you'll be at ease learning another, he explains.
-- Ms. Needleman is
associate editor of CollegeJournal.com. |
