International Dream Job: Reality Check

I sent out an email blast to my executive HR contacts last week. The position was a top rate, top level Ex-Pat job on an island in the Mediterranean. Great pay, benefits and a company paid villa on the sea. Response was overwhelming. The vast majority of respondents asked to set up a meeting.

Fully 95% called the next day to say their spouse’s response were to either ‘grow up’ or ‘get real’.  Like Scrooge’s Christmas Eve journey, they were faced with personal and career timeline obstacles:

Past: Will your experience really help you do the job? Foreign employment laws, cultures, labor problems…? Do you have a support network of friends and family to rely on now?

Present: Where can you best utilize and grow your skills and become more valuable?  Will your personal life suffer and is this best for your family? Will your personal and professional network crumble if you move to another continent?

Future: What happens when you look for your next job? Logistics and cost to move back? Will you now be considered an international player or simply the adult version of a recent grad who decided to bum around Europe before looking for a real job?

Your career aspirations and personal life goals need to have some level of balance. Only you can determine what that looks like to enjoy a truly happy life.