Most people are perfectly happy living their life in the country where they were born, but others long for something more: the expat life.
Living and working abroad can be great for personal development and for your career. You experience new cultures, discover new food and create a worldwide personal and professional network.
It can be a bit daunting to search for a job abroad, so here is a list of work abroad job ideas you want to know.
Ask for a relocation, if your company is global
One of the easiest ways of working abroad is through your current company.
Of course, this only works if the company you work for is global and has offices and projects around the world, or at least in the countries you would like to relocate to. Simply ask your company if it would be possible for them to transfer you to an office in another country. Depending on your line of work, this might also include a transfer to another team or branch.
There are plenty of countries that are always looking for foreign workers to fill positions that can’t be filled by their permanent residents. Canada is a good option in this context, as the number of Canadian companies hiring foreign workers (Entreprises canadiennes embauchant des travailleurs étrangers) is a lot.
Moreover, there are other benefits to working in Canada, like universal healthcare, language options, and a high standard of living. So if you’re considering making a career move abroad, don’t forget to look into all of your options.
Since moving to another country is costly, you can ask your employer if they provide moving assistance by partnering with a firm specializing in global mobility services, such as VISA processing, transportation costs, long or short-term housing, and others.
A relocation can be short-term or long-term, depending on what kind of projects your company is involved with.
The advantage of working abroad through your current company is that they will most likely help you with all the necessary paperwork and arrange your work visa for you.
You also have the benefit of staying in a more or less similar working environment. You already know the company and the work culture.
In this way, you have something familiar when you move abroad. The disadvantage of working abroad through your current company is that you are not free to switch countries or even places within the same country as you like.
Your location depends on where your office is located, and that limits the amount of travel freedom you have. Of course, you can still enjoy your vacation time wherever you want, and you probably don’t have to take a long flight to get there if you are already living abroad.
What do you do if your company doesn’t want to relocate you or if your company does not have an office in the country you desire, but you want to stay in the same field?
In that case, there is no other choice than to look for a new company. How smooth that journey goes depends on your skillset and level of experience.
The easiest way of securing a job abroad is by applying to companies who already have several expats in their employment so they are familiar with the whole visa and relocation process.
Get a working holiday visa
When you don’t have a job with an international company or if you are just looking for something new but you don’t know what yet, you can apply for a working holiday visa.
Working holiday visas are programs that allow young people (18 – 35 years old) to work and travel abroad. Traveling, especially for a longer period, can become quite expensive, but if you combine work and travel like with a working holiday visa, you can make your savings last a lot longer and travel more.
Not every country has a working holiday visa program and not all citizenships are accepted. Most famous for its working holiday visa is probably Australia, but there are several other countries like Argentina, Japan, Canada, Italy, South Korea, and Ireland also have a working holiday visa program.
The advantage of a working holiday visa is the accessibility of the programs. You don’t need a degree or a job offer to qualify for the program. Also, it’s a great way of meeting new people with the same objective and making new travel friends. The disadvantage is that most jobs that fall under the holiday visa program don’t have the highest salary and include hard physical labor.
If you don’t mind the physical labor and you are careful with your travel budget, these programs are a great way to travel and work abroad.
Work abroad as a teacher
Another popular way of working abroad is teaching. There are schools all over the world and they all need teachers for all kinds of subjects. Teaching abroad is also a great way to gain professional experience and experience new cultures.
A popular destination for English teachers is Thailand because of its lower living costs.
Living like a local in Thailand can save you some money while also getting the full Thailand experience with local cuisine, night markets, and new friends. The most popular areas to work as an English teacher in Thailand are Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Korat.
The advantage of working as a teacher abroad is that you can immerse yourself fully in the country that you are staying in. You work directly with your students, their parents, and your co-workers, so you can gain a unique perspective of what life abroad is really about. The disadvantage of working abroad as a teacher is that you will most likely need a degree and/or a certification to teach.
Freelance and digital nomads
While freelancing and digital nomads are not new things, they have become increasingly popular these last few years.
When you are a freelancer and work online, you are location-independent. You can work from wherever you want, as long as there is a decent internet connection.
The advantage of working as a digital nomad is that you can choose wherever you go whenever you want. You are not bound to a specific company, job, or country. The disadvantage of working as a digital nomad is that you don’t have any of the financial or other benefits of a “normal job”.
Most digital nomads enter a country on a tourist visa. This means they don’t have the right to work in that country. This is not a problem because they work online, either as a freelancer or for a company back home.
While this is a great way to avoid visa paperwork, it does limit the amount of time you can stay in one country since most tourist visas are limited to a certain amount of days per year.
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