How did YOU wind up getting a job overseas?
Posted by SheinSter721@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 34 comments
I've looked at overseas jobs, but it just seems so impossible to get a visa. I have a friend who works in the UK and he just seems to be having a blast. Somehow has friends all over Europe, and every weekend seems to be doing something cool. I know he got HIS job by getting a post-grad degree overseas.... which maybe is the best approach?
WoolCutter@reddit
I saw an ad in the local paper for a job overseas. Job covered visa and looked after me when I got there.
Royal-Compote-8212@reddit
Did the job require higher education?
WoolCutter@reddit
No. My current job is working in a Japanese Zoo, I have no formal qualifications, but I have a lot of farming work experience. I've previously worked in the UK on a working holiday Visa and in the USA on a H2A seasonal agriculture Visa. I'm from New Zealand. For England a workmate knew a guy who needed a guy, for the states the job was advertised in NZ.
deVliegendeTexan@reddit
Basically a bunch of interviewing, but the job that I landed, found me on hired.com. I had a couple of other offers as well, but I took that one because it had a really nice relocation package.
adrimichopan@reddit
What do you do?
deVliegendeTexan@reddit
Software Engineering Manager.
Most_Feeling213@reddit
so is hire.com is good for atleast finding jobs abroad
alloutofbees@reddit
Started a business in the US, got it to the point that everyone works remotely, built a European customer base, opened a branch in the EU country of my choice, sponsored my own work permit.
Mental-throway000000@reddit
Hi, can you talk about this a bit more? Would love to hear how you successfully got your business from the US to the EU!
Creepy_Huckleberry31@reddit
Looking to hire? I work remotely already and would like an opportunity to move to the EU
outtahere416@reddit
got one position abroad after applying on the careers site of a company, went through multiple interviews and got an offer with visa sponsorship and a small relocation package.
For my current position, a recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn, I went through the interview process and got a relocation allowance and visa sponsorship to relocate my family to Europe for this opportunity.
It’s never preferable for employers to hire people from abroad as that usually incurs time, money and a lot of uncertainty. They’d much rather hire locals or others who already have rights to the local labor market.
However, it’s not completely impossible. But you really need to be a good candidate with a skill set that cannot be easily filled in the local market.
wakasagihime_@reddit
Whenever you guys say stuff like this, specifying your field would tremendously help, even if you're being vague out of concern for your privacy. While it's not completely impossible, it varies a lot by situation.
Dojyorafish@reddit
JET Programme. Get a degree, pass the written application, pass the interview, tadah work visa.
oldboi@reddit
Recruiter headhunted me at a time I was open to doing it, both good timing and good luck
Duochan_Maxwell@reddit
Same
martin_italia@reddit
I applied via LinkedIn. Interviewed and got it. At the time the UK was still in the EU so I did not need a visa.
amoryblainev@reddit
Applied to be an ESL teacher
ConsiderationSad6271@reddit
Just finished a top 3 European MBA. No job yet, but many interviews and I expect things to start moving better once vacation season is over. There’s a lot more action going on versus pre mba and just being in the states.
Look_Specific@reddit
3 basic ways in order of success, all as an expert or senior manager
Bad ways to get an expat job...
A. Just go on a tourist visa and hope for the best B. Teach English as a foreign language and hope you will find another job (TEFL is ok as a travel jolly for a year or 2) C. Be a fresh graduate/ work in a non-graduate role eg admin - basically have no expertise. D. Ask people on Facebook to help get a job E. Use local job sites
Basically plan ahead to be a valuable expert. Become a leading AI programmer, oil and gas engineer (although might have a short shelf life now) or teacher or aircraft technician etc.
wookieejesus05@reddit
I migrated first (applied for a skilled migration visa). Once landed and with a full working permit I started looking, but it took me months to find something in my industry because I had no contacts or connections, so I had to take my chances and wrote to some people via LinkedIn
kisscardano@reddit
I got hired in asia after sending them my resume, they called me and asked me to come asap and they got visa for me when i was waiting in a hotel as a tourist. they took care of me and even paid me from day 1.
Fear_and_confusion@reddit
Transferred
Additional-Panda-703@reddit
Remote freelancer.
I couldn’t get hired without a visa, and I needed a visa to get a job, so after trying unsuccessfully for a decade or two, I switched strategies.
Keats852@reddit
I'm not having any luck getting a visa... anywhere
ok_rubysun@reddit
I started as a remote freelancer, and after some months they called me with the offer to come work for them full time.
HarvestWinter@reddit
Just applying. Most countries have big lists of job types that they'll give visas to, or how much you'd have to earn to qualify, or whatever the qualification is for that country's system. If you don't qualify for that, then yeah, studying something in your target country that would let you find a qualifying job is a pretty good place to start.
ledger_man@reddit
Secondment with my job, then ended up not going back to the US. Still with the same company though, 3 years in the US and 4 years and counting abroad (Netherlands).
DariusBodarius@reddit
Applied to an EU research consortium that was part of a PhD program. Basically I worked for a private engineering company for 3 years, and the work that I did for them was what I wrote my PhD thesis on and submitted to the local university. The company was reimbursed by the European Union for the salary they paid me as part of this research consortium.
When I first stumbled upon the job posting for this consortium I thought it was going to be supper competitive because it seemed like a dream opportunity that everyone would be clamoring for. But during the first meeting of the consortium participants I was talking to the consortium director and found out that was literally the only American who applied.
After those 3 years I kept working for the same company as a normal employee for a couple years thereafter. I ended up moving back to the US earlier this year for a better career opportunity though. Maybe I’ll move back to Europe in the future (my now wife and daughter are French, so I’ll always be able to get a family visa). But for now we’re happy where we are in the US.
kimberlite1223@reddit
Is it the Marie Curie scholarship? I did the same (in Germany) and also worked with other EU partners, lived in both Denmark and Spain for some months for the collaborations. But eventually I quit my PhD (job) because I was feeling miserable. But without it, I wouldn’t have met my now husband! (Met him in Denmark when I worked on the project for this company).
DariusBodarius@reddit
There’s a bunch of different kinds of EU research programs that exist for some reason, but they’re all more or less the same thing. So yeah, it was very similar to a Marie Curie scholarship.
Flimsy_Tooth_4443@reddit
Same as your friend. Got a degree in another country.
I also explored the option of swapping to a foreign office for the company I previously worked for but that proved very difficult.
It's hard to get a job in another country if you're not already in that country
MildlySelassie@reddit
I applied
bigbaddeal@reddit
Expat assignment.
Work for a large global company within a global team, and eventually the opportunity will present itself.
Catcher_Thelonious@reddit
I was driving to work one morning and heard a radio announcement about the JET Programme. Got to work and called the embassy for an application package. A few months later I had an interview, a couple of months later still an offer, and a couple of months after that I was on a plane bound for Tokyo. I did my first graduate degree in Osaka, second in Dubai. I've been an expat since 1988 and am preparing to move to another country next month. 🛫