Guest Post by BiCortex Languages Team
Moving to a new country comes with many challenges, and transitioning into a new society is challenging due
to numerous factors. Often, the biggest challenge of moving abroad is that you and your spouse or family do
not understand the local language. Not understanding the local language creates many sub or additional
challenges, which is why learning your new country’s local language is an important part of acclimating,
integrating into society, and acculturation. This article discusses how language lessons can help you navigate
the many challenges that come with moving to a new country. Some of the challenges that will be discussed
include the following:
● how language lessons help you communicate at work in the country you moved to
● how language lessons alleviate the stress associated with daily tasks
● how language lessons lead to socialization, such as making new friends to build up your support
network
● how language lessons help you understand how culture is inherently linked with language
Language lessons are absolutely crucial to adapting to your new home country, getting to know the locals, and
integrating into society successfully. Learning the local language is the key to slowly starting to feel like a local.
Language Lessons Enable You To Work In The Country You Moved To
One of the most important reasons people take language lessons when they move to a new country is, of
course, to be able to communicate effectively at work in their new country. The language ability developed
from language tests before moving abroad is often insufficient to communicate effectively at work. While
learning a new language might not be required to perform daily job functions, it makes it easier to
communicate with colleagues and clients who speak the local language. Additionally, it simplifies
understanding the industry jargon and how business is done. Another benefit of language lessons regarding
the work environment is that many language teachers provide business language courses tailored to your
needs. For example, you can contact seasoned experts like BiCortex Languages, who employ native language
teachers, and ask for business language teachers to focus on specific topics like industry jargon, finances,
negotiations, and presentations. More often than not, especially if you moved abroad specifically for work,
your new employer would be happy to pay for your language lessons, so do not hesitate to ask them if they
would be willing to pay for a business language teacher for you and your family. They could also put you and
some of your colleagues in a group to have language lessons together. Soon enough, your new language ability
will help you start feeling like a local at work.
Language Lessons Help Simplify Daily Tasks: Grocery Shopping, Reading Traffic Signs, Having Your Hair Cut,
Etc.
Besides having to adapt to working in a new country, one also has to adjust to daily life activities. Simple tasks
like grocery shopping, reading traffic signs, or communicating with the person cutting your hair in your new
country might prove challenging and stressful if you don’t speak, read or understand the local language.
Language lessons can effectively help you simplify these tasks by improving your verbal communication skills.
While everyone moving to a new country can appreciate occasional miscommunications and often laugh about
it, developing vocabulary and basic conversational abilities in the local language can make the difference
between ending up with orange hair instead of red when you go to the hairdresser! Being able to read road
signs and street names might be the difference between reaching your destination efficiently and taking a long
detour. Many experienced language teachers adapt their methodology to the student’s needs. For example, if
you want to learn a specific vocabulary, like foods or ingredients, to help you navigate shopping in a grocery
store, a language teacher can help you. Similarly, if you want to focus on common traffic terminology to help
you read road signs and navigate your way around town, then language lessons are your answer. Quite soon,
you will be able to read the food labels in grocery stores, know exactly where you’re traveling to on the road or
in the subway, and tell your hairdresser exactly which haircut you want. You’ll be like a local – someone who
knows their way around town!
Language Enables Socialization – Adapting To A New Environment Requires A New Support Network, And
Making Friends Is A Big Part Of This
Moving to a new country means leaving behind your support network, including family, friends, and work
colleagues. Losing your support network is often the most difficult part of moving to a new country because
you miss your family and friends, and they are no longer just a short drive away. You can’t just quickly make
plans to see each other or meet up at a coffee shop a few minutes from your house. While moving admin,
focusing on work, and trying to navigate daily tasks are extremely important, socialization must not be
neglected. You must develop a new support network for successful integration into the community in your
new country. Making acquaintances and developing relationships to develop friendships is the first step to
building this new support network. However, meeting new people might prove difficult if you speak a different
language than they do. Even introducing yourself might seem daunting because you’re unsure if you’re saying
it right, let alone trying to strike up a conversation and make a new friend! Taking language lessons to improve
your conversational ability will enable you to start building your new support network. Being able to talk to
someone at work, in a store at the mall, as you pass them on the street, or wherever you meet someone in
your daily life will enable you to start making friends and integrate into your new community. After a few
lessons, you will have a few key phrases in your pocket and enough confidence to invite friends to your new
home to share a meal and talk to each other comfortably, just like other locals do!
Language Lessons With A Native Teacher Reveals Culture – How Things Are Said/Things People Say In Their
Language Reveals Traditions, Demeanors, And Cultural Traits
Language, culture, heritage, and traditions are intricately intertwined. You might think that language lessons
will only teach you new vocabulary and grammar and equip you with new sentences. However, this cannot be
further from the truth. Language is much more than that. Because distinct cultures have spoken specific
languages for centuries, language and culture have developed in parallel over time, and both can only be
understood by learning the other. Language lessons are where culture and language meet, local dialects take center stage, and age-old cultural traditions reveal themselves. The relationship between language and culture
can be demonstrated by many examples, such as dialect and local language nuances. Taking language lessons
from a native language teacher in your new home country will enable you to learn words and phrases that
mean something different than their dictionary definition. You will be able to understand the local language
nuances, taking shape in variations of word choice, expressions, and speakers’ demeanor. Language lessons
will also help you understand dialects. The differences between the dialects often stem from history,
traditions, culture, and origin. For example, there is a difference between Egyptian Arabic and Gulf Arabic,
European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese, and between Standard Afrikaans and Cape Afrikaans, and you
can request a language teacher who can speak and teach a specific dialect, which will help you integrate into
society and feel more like a local.
Language Makes You Local
Whether you take language lessons to communicate more effectively at work, to help you navigate tasks in
daily life, to develop a new support network by making new friends, or to help you understand local language
nuances and dialects, the benefits of language lessons are endless. In each of these cases, language lessons will
help you feel more like a local, making the process of moving abroad (and the many difficulties that come with
it) much easier to manage. Your daily life will be much easier, with fewer language-related work challenges,
fewer hair-dressing catastrophe risks, a new group of friends with whom to enjoy your hobbies, and the ability
to communicate like a local! Even so, you do not have to do it alone! There are so many resources for expats
and immigrants that can be life-changing and make a move abroad so much easier. Language schools like the
one mentioned in this article are there to support you and help you find the right language teacher. People like
Angie at Global People Transitions can support you in your journey abroad. The key is to take advantage of
resources and reach out when you need help!
GUEST POST BY NABEHA LATIF
With all the world going digital and businesses indulging more in online servicing, communications, and social interactions have therefore been more of a hot spot, especially with the likes of LinkedIn helping now Freelance and stay-at-home workers connect and grow themselves.
LinkedIn is by no means a new platform or in its early stages, a well-established and maintained social platform for business-minded individuals and professionals. However, does being a professional on LinkedIn or being a veteran on the site mean you have the best profiles out there? Not at all! Much like everything else, each passing moment calls for a new development that brings multiple changes to the platform. So this brings up the question, how do you get the professional and sleek-looking profile to stand out?
As an ever-growing platform, certain aspects call for a sturdy base for an end-user, and such can be obtained by adding on and working around a few LinkedIn Must-Haves to boost your profile out into the digital world. LinkedIn requires each individual to start off by creating their own profile, but that’s where the majority of the users leave it. There are so many options, tips, and tricks to get the most out of your profile and make it attractive.
1 – Use your Real Name
Your name and title should be exactly how it is in your real life. Please refrain from using nicknames or pseudo names, just like you won’t dare on your resume. LinkedIn is a professional site, full of professionals and businesses looking to get the most of out their work. Hence, keeping it professional yourself will help you get on the bandwagon, people are looking for solutions, not gimmicks!
2 – Use A Professional Headshot
At a glance, your name and photo are the most commonly viewed piece of information regarding yourself. Adding a professional headshot provides the first visual representation of you – do your best!. Remember, it will make your profile seven times more likely to be viewed by others.
3 – Optimize Location
Setting your location as accurately as possible helps businesses and other people look for the ones around them, so optimize yours to the best it can be. It’ll help you network where you will work geographically. It doesn’t apply to Freelancers/Digital Nomads yet I would recommend you to stay honest regarding your location as preferred by the clients/companies.
4 – Profile Headline
We often wish to see a trailer of an individual before we get to know them for a better understanding, your LinkedIn Profile Headline is just that! You’ve got 110 characters to aptly describe yourself professionally.
5 – Industry Alignment
Looking for a business to match your skill set? You’ll need to be more visible, to make that happen. With the right words and by being specific about your industry, you’re paving a way for potential employers and connections.
6 – Get Connected
At its core, LinkedIn is still a social platform and what do we do on social platforms? Get social! Getting “LinkedIn” the site is part of the name. If you don’t have enough LinkedIn connections, you simply might not show up on as many LinkedIn searches as a 2nd-degree connection as you should.
7 – Be Reachable
It should be easy to find you on other social networks. This is crucial in checking your credibility as a person. Provide your email address and do add links to Twitter/Facebook even if you don’t use them in a professional capacity.
Flex a little: Add items to your profile, such as projects, test scores, courses, patents, certifications, and volunteering/causes. Looking for work? 42% of hiring managers surveyed say they view volunteer experience as equivalent to formal work experience.
Make it Easy to Get Hired on LinkedIn
Now that you’ve got your head above the crowd, how about we get yourself on stage? With the basics covered and brimmed with your details, let’s get into the nooks and crannies to make it a tight seal.
- Stacking up on Experience: Work on adding more experience and skills. Being a Swiss army knife in this regard with tons of skills and expertise in your repertoire will help you stand out as well as be a prominent prospect for anyone looking to hire Here are a few suggestions: Social Media, Newsletters, Copy Editing, Web Content, News Writing, Speech Writing, SEO, Email Marketing, Creative Writing, Online Journalism, etc. You can further add Knowledge Management, Learning Management Systems, Talent Management to represent your teaching skills.
- Tell Us About You: The basics will help lay the foundation, but you’ll need to ice the cake to make it look pretty! Show examples of your work, i.e. Youtube or Vimeo videos, presentations from Slideshare/Prezi/PowerPoint, documents from the scribe, word.
- Vanity URLs: Create a vanity URL to make your look sleek and extra presentable. Use a customized URL like linkedin.com/in/JohnWick rather than linkedin.com/pub/john-wick/4a/z89/145/
- Consistent Posting: Make it a weekly habit to post, comment, and endorse your connections on LinkedIn. Update your status on a regular basis. Share thoughtful/insightful news within your industry.
- Endorsements: Endorsements may likewise influence how you show up in LinkedIn searches made by users looking for similar people or results. Multiple billion endorsements are given out since LinkedIn’s initiation (10 million on a daily basis)! A normal number of endorsements per LinkedIn client is five. It is a simple method for being better in search results than expected!
- Polish Your Achievements: Add accomplishments, publications, blogs, certifications, and licenses. Bring out those tidbits of information and experience you have under your belt, even a little goes a long way!
- Recommendations: Get recommendations and endorsements on the skills from colleagues/friends on LinkedIn. That’ll help people trust your skill set more once it’s endorsed by other individuals. On LinkedIn you’ve got to establish your credibility, so get on the grind and ask for them!
Request
If you have worked with Angie Weinberger in the past or you enjoy her regular Club Sandwich kindly endorse her on LinkedIn or write a review for her. We also would love to see you follow us on LinkedIn.
About the Author
Nabeha Latif is a Digital Media and Branding Consultant who specializes in leveraging online marketing channels to achieve desired goals. Since after her majors in digital marketing, she has collaborated with names like UN, Ali Baba Inc, Uber, UNESCO, UNDP to name a few. She is also actively involved in providing business development services related to marketing.
Additional Resources
How many times do you open your inbox and find over a hundred unread emails? And how often do you “clean your inbox” just to find it overflowing with emails again the day after? One of the reasons why I get stressed around emails is that I spend a whole day in a workshop and I cannot check my emails because it would distract my mind too much. Then I check my emails after the workshop when I am already exhausted and know that I have a lot of tasks and queries to handle.
When I worked in the corporate world, I would often have a day full of meetings and calls and come back to my desk at 5 or 6 PM and “started to work productively”. Or, you probably know this: it’s Friday, 4.30 PM, and you are just about to start your weekend and then you see this one email and it keeps you at your desk for another hour. Your partner in the meantime is waiting for you to help with the groceries or wants you to be home early so that you can greet your friends that are coming by for dinner. There are different reasons why our body shows stress reactions and I thought it would help to break this phenomenon down to help you deal with it.
If you experience high levels of stress when you find too many unread emails in your inbox, you should know that you’re not alone. In fact, the phenomenon is so widespread that it became known as inbox anxiety
Inbox Anxiety Came with Emails
When emails were invented in the 1970s, nobody had a clue how they were going to change the way we work. In time, they have become such a ubiquitous tool that, depending on your seniority, there’s a chance that you haven’t even experienced work without emails. I personally remember the days when we did not have emails at work yet and I went through several tech upgrades since then (desktop, laptop, blackberry, smartphone). Despite more than 25 years of experience with the technology I still don’t know exactly what to do when I get certain emails. One ground rule I established early in my career was: when I am angry I don’t send a response. I wait until I feel calm again. In fact, when I then go through the same email with a fresher approach, I sometimes even notice a certain positivity that I had overlooked earlier.
You might be surprised that our generation still relies so much on email, but inbox anxiety doesn’t only refer to email now.
I have several other professional inboxes to manage as well (Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, XING, four email accounts, professional messages on FB pages, Instagram, and Twitter direct messages). Sometimes, I feel like I should change my job description to “emailer”.
With the Corona-crisis and the need to work from home, most of us probably worked even more with emails and messages than usual and despite the general reply-to-all rule in some organizations this is still not done so you are falling off a thread and then you have to follow up or update your colleagues in a different way.
In our team at GPT, we introduced Slack during the crisis. We had already failed at it in 2016 largely due to my inability to focus on too many channels so now I’m making a more concerted effort to use Slack instead of WhatsApp. I don’t really use it to replace emails but I notice it helps me write less follow up emails and also I can ask the Slack bot to remind me instead of asking our intern.
I’m trying to find out where MY own inbox anxiety stems from and I hope to share this with you so you find ways to overcome this as well.
Switching Off and FOMO
One issue that creates inbox anxiety for me is the need to switch off completely for short and extended periods of time. Last year, I took the liberty not to be available for four weeks over the summer. Some of my email accounts were not checked while I was offline. That created stress when coming back. Same happened when I was out sick for three weeks with COVID19 this year.
There is enough research to show that you should completely switch off from work for at least two consecutive weeks each year. However, in most of your jobs it is still expected that you are available during vacation and weekends, especially during launches, emergencies, crisis and personnel related decisions.
As a matter of fact, according to a YouGov survey 60% of people check their work inboxes also during holidays. We don’t do it necessarily because we want to, but because we feel some sort of obligation to do it. The same research found that 80% of the respondents would actually prefer to “switch off completely”.
Being Responsive versus Productive
Another issue is that I would like to be responsive. It’s one of my trademarks. And there are certain limitations between being responsive and being productive. However, in order to be able to do “deep work” and to focus on quality time online with my clients I sometimes have to wait for a response until my work day is over or until I get a break. This might be only an issue when you are a small company and nobody else can cover for you. Most companies now don’t expect a response on weekends and responding within 24 hours still seems to be acceptable.
Underlying Relationship and Trust Issues
The third theme I notice has to do with email anxiety when you receive emails from certain persons. I assume that there is an underlying relationship or trust issue with this person. Maybe this person has treated you unfairly in the past or they have turned around something you wrote in an unacceptable way. Maybe they belittle you in their emails with their manager in cc or they criticize you publicly. A good manager would give their feedback in more appropriate ways than emails but we know that there are a number of mediocre managers out there as well.
What is Inbox Anxiety and Where Does it Come from?
According to Ron Friedman, author and psychologist, the reason why we feel overwhelmed when we find a lot of emails in our inbox is that each message is a new demand of our time and it triggers one more decision to make. This leaves most of us with less energy for the work that matters. Another reason that could make you anxious might be the lack of clear expectations and etiquette especially in the intercultural context you live in as an expat.
Also not having anybody to delegate emails to and feeling responsible for client service even when it’s not in your direct area of control could considerably make your stress level rise. In fact, studies have shown that checking email frequently leads to higher levels of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress.
We feel stressed also because we don’t feel productive. As we are constantly interrupted by a “PLING” our cognitive performance is reduced resulting in an attention deficit. According to research done on the negative effects of email on productivity, it takes us an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the taks after we’ve been interrupted. Now, think of how many times they interrupt you at work and make an average calculation. It’s scary.
There is one more issue related to inbox anxiety and this is known as “email apnea.” In fact, 80% of people tend to hold their breath unnaturally when going through their emails causing a change in their normal breathing patterns. Holding your breath can contribute to stress-related diseases because it throws off the body’s balance of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitric oxide.
Seven Tips to Help you Take Back Control
Here are seven tips that will help you take back control of your inbox, time and productivity.
1 – Clarify the Purpose of Your Conversations
Make sure you know the communication policy and etiquette of the company where you work. This will also make clearer why and how you’re using emails and not other tools.
2 – Build Better Relationships to the Senders and Receivers
If you don’t know the other person well, try to reciprocate their tone. You don’t want to come across as too friendly or too formal if the relationship is just at the beginning. When I communicate in German I struggle because the connotations between how you address a person are quite different depending on the cultural context. In English you can easily be far too informal and hurt somebody’s feelings. As a general rule, avoid emotions and emotional topics.
When you aren’t familiar with the sender, another good alternative is picking up the phone. If you are a Millenial calling someone you don’t know might not be your preference, but I still think it’s the best way to establish first contact with someone.
3 – Stop Escalations and Solve the Real Issue
I love to watch escalation bingo on email only when I’m not in the firing line and cc-ed but not cause of anger. I personally read too many emails that are escalated to the appropriate management level too late. We are then often reading a lot of blame-storms and cover-your-back when the real underlying relationship issue is not addressed. I’m pretty good at NOT responding and I’m often slow when it’s heated or emotional. The reason is that I often need a break from the emotions that are triggered.
I can leave emails drafted for days only to discard them. It’s a skill I learned. Sometimes I might come across rude or negligent…It even happens that I forget an email. However, it’s often not that important or the person can find another route to talk to me. If the person knows me, they will reach out by phone, text message or just resend.
4 – Stop Flagging, Sorting, Deleting and Trust Your Inner Priority Manager
I hear people are still flagging, filing in folders, reading and answering emails all the time although I notice that response time has become from 1 minute to 1 week to ghosting. Frankly speaking, I sometimes don’t respond to an email because I don’t feel that I have anything to say. In some cultural contexts this is a perfectly acceptable behavior, however, in some others this could come across as rude.
5 – Limit the Times You Check Inboxes and Respond
Role model the change you would like to see in this world. If you don’t want to be bothered by emails after 7 pm, either you are powerful enough not to respond anymore or you also stop sending emails after “normal office hours”.
6 – Apply a Filter, Deactivate Notifications and Practice Writing Better Headers for Receivers
Have a policy for all your media who you accept and what kind of messages you will respond to. Instead of responding to every tweet I have now connected Twitter to Slack. I can check first if I want to respond or if it is a random tag.
I get a lot of system notifications, newsletters and promotions that I just scan but usually I only need to read the header or key words to know if it’s worth going deeper.
7 – Track How Much Time You Spend Emailing, Messaging and with Whom
Try using RescueTime to track how much time you spend emailing. By doing this, you can realistically plan how you can gradually reduce the time you spend emailing. You might try to reduce by 5 to 10 percent weekly the time you spend on your inbox. One way to do this is to practice writing shorter emails.
If you notice that you are so busy because you spend an hour sending cat videos to friends and family you might want to change that. And you might not know right away what you want to change and how. I recommend you call me for a 15-minute chat. Maybe I can give you guidance on how to reduce your inbox anxiety.
Kind regards
Angie
Resources
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/in-practice/201805/3-types-email-anxiety-and-solutions
https://www.businessinsider.fr/us/heres-why-email-makes-us-so-stressed-out-2015-2
https://happiful.com/how-to-deal-with-inbox-anxiety/
https://www.businessinsider.fr/us/email-apnea-how-email-change-breathing-2012-12
https://blog.trello.com/work-life-boundaries-as-a-remote-worker
References
Mark, G., Gudit, D. and Klocke, U. (2008). The cost of interrupted work: more speed and less stress. Conference Paper, DOI: 10.1145/1357054.1357072, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221518077_The_cost_of_interrupted_work_More_speed_and_stress
Mark, G., Voida, S. & Cardello, A. (2012). A pace not dictated by electrons: An empirical study of work without email. Conference Paper, https://sites.oxy.edu/clint/physio/article/APaceNotDictatedbyElectronsAnEmpiricalStudyofWorkWithoutEmail.pdf
Waldersee, V. (2018). The majority of employees check work emails while on holiday. YouGov, https://yougov.co.uk/topics/economy/articles-reports/2018/08/15/majority-employees-check-work-emails-while-holiday
Guest post by Oyindamola Adedokun
It is no gainsaying that globalization has truly changed the modalities of doing business in the 21st century. The increased rate of interconnectedness and global interdependence has generated the need for many companies to spread their tentacles abroad if they must have a competitive advantage and wield global relevance in today’s fast-changing global economy. The development and geographical expansion of international corporations are however not usually a walk in the park.
There’s a wide array of expatriation processes that must be networked in order to manage a subsidiary or branch in a geographical territory or culture that is different from the headquarters.
Before we explore the factors that determine whether or not an international assignment is successful, it is only relevant to examine some of the other reasons why international corporations send assignees abroad.
The first reason is position filling (SHRM, 2017). Expats are sent on international assignment mostly if there is a position that no local could fill. This is mostly due to a lack of sufficient skills and expertise that allows one to function optimally in a given role. At this juncture, suitable expats are sent from the headquarters or sourced externally to fill an existing gap. This is mostly a common occurrence in the construction sector.
The second reason expatriates are sent on international assignments is to have them develop their managerial skills by gaining access to an international context of doing business, thereby fostering career growth (UKEssays, 2018). Many multinational companies (MNCs) use expatriate assignments as a leadership development tool. These MNCs often send their managers and executives internationally in an attempt to develop their knowledge of the international economic environment and their ability to work and manage effectively across national borders (Tung, 1998).
Repatriates, who have completed a global assignment, can help establish and expand an MNC’s international business because they possess first-hand knowledge of particular cultural contexts, including information about specific markets and customers. Repatriates understand how the company is perceived in another country and are part of a global social network that can advance the company’s business.
Another reason why multinationals send expats on international assignments is to enter a new market. Expats are sent on assignment to a new territory to analyze the market to see whether the company’s products or services will attract clients and users.
The last reason is to control and coordinate the global activities of a company (Bonache et al., 2001; Harvey and Novicevic, 2001) as it is in the company’s interest to integrate its transnational activities. Through their expatriates, the companies seek to replicate the values and objectives of their home offices in the culture of the branch where the international assignment is taking place.
Having discussed some of the reasons why companies send expats on international assignments, I will now examine five important factors that determine success in international assignments for expats.
The factors that contribute to the success of expats on international assignment can be classified into 5 categories: job knowledge and motivation; relational skills; flexibility and adaptability; extra-cultural openness; family situation (Arthur, Bennet; 1995, cited by Weber; 2004).
-
- Job knowledge and expertise. The importance of possessing the technical skills relevant to a role cannot be overemphasized. This is one of the major factors that guarantee optimal work delivery in an international assignment. As already mentioned, one of the reasons multinational enterprises send expats on a foreign assignment is to transfer skills and knowledge to a branch. Suffice it to say that one can only transfer the skills and expertise one possesses.
- Relational skills. Accepting to go on an international assignment is invariably accepting to leave the people you are already familiar with to interact with a new set of unfamiliar people and colleagues. Relational skills go beyond the knowledge of the business model and professional experience to include personal traits such as patience, trustworthiness and honesty, empathy and understanding, reliability and dependability, influence, and persuasiveness.
- Flexibility and adaptability. These refer to one’s ability and willingness to respond and adjust to changes by balancing your core beliefs to accommodate the norms in one’s current environment. An expat would only be successful to the degree he or she is able to adapt to new processes, methodology, and procedures.
- Extra-cultural openness. The concept of cultural intelligence captures an individual’s capacity for successful adaptation to new and unfamiliar cultural settings and ability to function easily and effectively in cultural environments worldwide including situations characterized by cultural diversity (Earley & Ang, 2003; Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). It is an individual’s capability to deal effectively with people from a different cultural background and understanding (Earley & Ang, 2003). International assignments involve going to a country with an array of different cultural preferences. In order to avoid stress and frustration, an expatriate must possess some level of global competency.
- Family situation. The family situation is a key factor that determines whether or not an assignment is successful. Organizations have the responsibility to cater to their employees during an international assignment. However, does this care and concern extend to the expat family? After all, the success of an international assignment cannot be taken into account separately from family support. As a matter of fact, people would choose to leave their international assignments in order to save their marriages (Weinberger; 2020).
Getting a coaching session with Angie Weinberger could already be a step in the right direction of making an international assignment successful. You can so sign up here to receive offers for free online workshops and updates on the upcoming HireMeExpress program.
About the Author
Oyindamola Adedokun is an experienced Mobility Professional with expertise in talent mobility across Africa. He is experienced in engaging proven measures to provide both SME (Small and Mid-size enterprises) and Large-size multinationals end-to-end support in on-boarding expatriates in Nigeria.
With his practical experience, Oyindamola manages a broad range of Immigration facilities such as STR visa, Temporary Working Permit, CERPAC, Quota Approval from the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Interior. He also consults potential foreign investors who are trying to explore the many untapped opportunities present in the Nigerian market on the legalities of establishing a foreign enterprise in Nigeria.
With a demonstrated history in the oil and energy sector, Oyin currently manages the immigration facilities of well over 100 expats in one of the leading oil servicing companies in West Africa.
References
Earley, P.C., & Ang, S. (2003). Cultural intelligence: Individual interactions across cultures. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Earley, P.C., & Mosakowski, E. (2004). Cultural intelligence. Harvard Business Review, 82, 139-153.
SHRM. ( May 2017). Managing International Assignment https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/cms_010358.aspx
UKEssays. (November 2018). Motive For Sending Managers Abroad As Expatriates. Retrieved from
Weber, T. (2004). What Are The Critical Success Factors In Expatriate Assignments?, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/34588
Weinberger, A. (2020). Assignment Failure on the Rise? The Solution is to Prevent Family Separation – Part 1 https://globalpeopletransitions.com/avoiding-assignment-failure-through-family-issues-seven-key-provisions-for-your-global-mobility-guidelines-part-2/
You are Jason Bourne, you wake up in a hotel room in a Middle Eastern country. It’s too hot in your room. You sweat and you just woke up from a nightmare. You are not sure if this nightmare is a memory because you cannot remember who you are.
How will it be possible for you to connect with anyone? How will you trust others if you do not even know who you are? What if you have changed your identity so often that you cannot even clearly pronounce your name?
This is a challenge and you are probably shaking your head. “This is a movie, it’s not real.”.
Yes, but there is a truth in this movie that is relevant to your job search in a new country. It might even be true if you are looking for a new job in your own country.
In professional life, we want to hire people we can trust. We want to hire a competent professional who can show us that they managed a similar challenge before. We want to work with people who will be self-starters and won’t need a year to be up to speed in the role.
You need a professional identity before you can enter the circle of trust. Trust starts with you trusting yourself, your knowledge, attitudes, skills, and experiences, and how you acquire and store them in your brain. You need to be aware of how you relax, how focus, and center yourself when you are in a critical and stressful complex matrix environment.
I often notice when you come to see me, that you are not aware of most of your competencies. You take them for granted and assume that a recruiter, computer, or line manager will already know everything about you when they scan your resume because they are mind-readers and miracle workers.
For them, it is as obvious as all the three-letter acronyms you have been using on your résumé because English is their native language and they are working in a similar field, profession, and industry.
What your personal brand should say about you
When we speak about the personal brand it is something unique to you, something that makes people remember your name, that sticks with people and that keeps you top-of-mind when they are looking for someone with your profile. This brand is not just a marketing factor. Putting three labels (professional designations) on your résumé will help a reader to categorize you and put you in the right mental box.
Ideally, you keep reminding this reader of you so that the box is not closed but open, and so that the avatar in the box shines like a Swarovski crystal. Oh, look, here’s Jason Bourne again. Matt Damon is associated with this movie role. He will never be able to play any other role without us thinking: “Oh, that’s Jason Bourne!”.
When I saw “Hidden Figures” and when Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory appeared, I had to laugh. Then, I always waited for him to act like the Sheldon that he is BUT he was playing another role and did that really well. It was hard for me to accept though, because for me Jim Parsons is not an identity. For me this guy IS Sheldon.
Imagine you are trying to re-brand yourself. It’s very difficult. Your former career image sticks to your face and to your online trail. I can tell a few CEOs who won’t find a job anymore because they are burnt.
What is your personal brand?
Your personal brand is not only your name, headshot, Insta handle, trademark, signature product, or the funny pink hat. It’s also how you make others feel. It’s what you express with your seven work principles. People should identify you with how you work and how you relate to others.
They should be happy to refer you to others by saying:
“She is really competent and helped me on several occasions when I was stuck. She has been my greatest cheerleader.”
“He is true to his values and always seems to follow the correct move. He has never let me down.”
How to connect your personal brand with your seven work principles?
We recommend that you develop your seven work principles in alignment with your personal values. An example would be: “I prioritize my clients over my prospects.”. If your personal brand is aligned with your work principles, then your clients would say about you that you always take their concerns seriously and that you get back to them in an appropriate timeframe.
If you want this behavior to show, you could ask previous clients to endorse you for this behavior in their personal references and on LinkedIn. You could also try to write a special reference or recommendation about a person in your professional network, without expecting them to endorse you back.
Please tell me how you will review your work principles this week and how you will align them to your personal brand. Then take a break and watch a movie. It’s inspiring.
