Working abroad is working away from your homeland. Nowadays it has become a fashion to move abroad and work in order to earn money. People move from one country to another in search of the job or to settle. Now at least one member from the family is surely seen either preparing to move abroad or has already settled there.
Earning in dollars, euro, yen etc. that is in foreign currency and their lifestyle most probably attracts the people and this is the ultimate reason for people going abroad. Some of the working abroad pros and cons are given below:
Benefits of Working In a Foreign Country:
When you are asked, “Would you consider working in a foreign country? ”
Most of our answer would be “YES” and it is not at all surprising.
There are plenty of reasons for it and every individual will have their own reasons to justify their decision.
Though there would be few difficulties initially when you are working in a foreign country, the benefits which you get will help you cover up all of them.
Some of the reasons why people want to work abroad are,
- Learn another language, or put their knowledge of foreign language skills to use
- Cultural exploration
- The excitement of living in a different country
- Challenge of building character abroad
- Not enough demand for your skills at your place
- Opportunity to earn good money
- Searching for a place where the cost of living is lower
Reasons why you want to work abroad:
Here are a few top things that you will be able to gain if you are working abroad
- Gaining knowledge of other local customs and ways of doing things
- Awareness of workplace dynamics of a different country
- Foreign language skills
- Independence in planning living style and work habits
- Awareness of the world and its variety of people and cultures
Taking the challenge of living abroad:
Many people dream of moving abroad and it is quite obvious. If you are getting good employment opportunities, better salaries, perks, and a good work culture that can help you get an improved lifestyle, then working abroad can surely be tried.
But before taking any decision, you need to think of a few points which are listed below.
The upsides:
- Moving abroad is very exciting
- Great chance to network and meet new people and make new friends.
- Opportunity to travel to many fabulous places
- Good employment choices, you can change your job or learn something new
- Bright future of your children
- You become a world citizen.
The downside:
- Not everyone will be comfortable while moving abroad
- Will be away from friends and family
- You will go through a lot of relationship pressure
- You may lose your sense of home
12 Things You Need to Know About Working Abroad:
Moving to a new country for working is no doubt a great opportunity. Now before moving out, there are a few things that you need to know.
- Choose the Employer who Will Help You manage all the Changes
- Understand the Company’s Culture
- Have a clear idea about it
- Understanding your Visa Conditions
- Taxes filing with the U.S. IRS
- Might be very hard Getting Credit
- Chances of complicated Banking
- Look for Fellow Expats
- Gain some basic knowledge of the language
- Use Your Extended Network
- Visa Process must be done in Advance
- Find out a source to Get Around
How to Apply for Jobs Abroad:
Some of the best sources for applying and getting a job abroad are
- Networking
- Job fairs
- Top companies
- Job Search engines
- Government employment websites
- In-person
- Try an internship
- Meet recruiters
How to Find Work Overseas:
Here are some of the ways to earn money when you travel around the world.
- By teaching any language you know
- Getting seasonal work
- Online freelance work
- Working on a cruise ship
- If you are under 30, then you can get a holiday visa
- Work in a hostel
- Scuba diving instructor
- Make use of your talents to get work
- The job of a bartender
- Restaurant job
- Volunteer work
- Tour guide
Working Abroad Pros and Cons Comparison Table:
Living and working abroad nowadays has become a great trend, but as every coin has two sides it also has a few pros and cons which are mentioned below.
| Advantages of Working Abroad | Disadvantages of working abroad |
|---|---|
| Good standard of living | Lot of money is required |
| Experience different cultures | International business does not stick with a person for long |
| Travel whole world | Feeling of loneliness and no stability |
| Learning languages | Different cultures |
| Learning team work | Learning new languages in short span |
| Earning in foreign currency | Not able to enjoy the traditional holidays at homeland |
| Meeting and tackling people of heterogeneous nature | Living conditions |
| Gives weightage to resume | People may or may not be rude |
| More chances of promotion | No guarantee of getting a good position in another country |
| Improves communication skills | Safety issues |
Advantages of Working Abroad:
The following mentioned are a few benefits of living in a foreign country and working in foreign countries.
1. Good standard of living:
People who work abroad live with high standard and their lifestyle changes to a greater extent. Life in other countries is altogether different than the home country. If we move from one place to another, we experience the difference in all the things, be it culture, style of living, food habits, language, atmosphere, ambience, likes, dislikes and many other things that at times remain unnoticed. This is one of the first advantages of working in a developed country.
2. Experience different cultures:
The people who choose to work abroad experience different religious as well as working cultures. They get to learn a lot about different cultures. It enhances their knowledge and also makes them aware of their surroundings and the whole world.
3. Travel whole world:
Working abroad also helps a person to travel. One gets to see the whole world along with doing work. It can also act as refreshments from work for a few days and can make a person more excited about moving to another country for work.
4. Learning languages:
Moving from one country to another helps a person to know diverse languages. Apart from the mother tongue, one learns German, French, American English and many others according to the country one lives for the work.
5. Learning teamwork:
It is heard that the people in abroad has the best quality of working in a team. A person learns how to work in a team and also gets to know the criteria and methods by which they work. One gets to learn a lot by visualizing as well as working among them in an office.
6. Earning in foreign currency:
One gets to earn a lot, thus building a strong bank balance. A person if moves from India to America, will earn in dollars and as the value of their currency is more, a person will earn more, this will help in the near future.
7. Meeting and tackling people of heterogeneous nature:
As we move away from our homeland, we come across people with different cultures, languages, ideas, beliefs, methods of working, nature and so on. This way meeting different people from different countries, one gets to learn how to tackle people of heterogeneous nature. This adds to the skill of handling a large scale company with many employees.
8. Gives weight to resume:
Working abroad gives weight to the resume. It helps you to stand out of the crowd. Wherever a person goes, he or she is given the preference as he or she gets an international experience.
So, in this way such a resume is given more preference than any other. International work experience is the first and foremost choice for competitors.
9. More chances of promotion:
A person with international experience has more chances of promotion and success. A person gets success and promoted in the early stage just due to the stamp of international experience in a particular field. It helps you to develop at a faster rate and helps further your career at a quicker rate.
10. Improves communication skills:
A person is able to improve his communicative skills as he or she comes across language barriers and many cultural differences. By dealing with all such barriers one learns the skill of communicating effectively with people of different cultures and languages.
Disadvantages of working abroad:
1. A lot of money is required:
In order to move abroad and work there, the first and foremost thing required is a hefty amount of money. If you cannot spend a lot of money, you cannot think of working abroad and settling there. So, this becomes an initial hindrance to work overseas. This is the first disadvantage of going abroad.
2. International business does not stick with a person for long:
A person if works overseas have to move from one country to another and this way a person is not able to stick to one thing. Such type of fluctuation in work is a great barrier and diverts one’s mind, affecting the work to a larger extent.
3. The feeling of loneliness and no stability:
As one has to move frequently from one place to another, one may feel lonely as the friend circle and social life is affected on the whole. Missing the old friends and family i.e. feeling homesick badly is the common thing. One has to fight all such emotions to move ahead. This is one of the biggest disadvantages of going abroad.
4. Different cultures:
As every country has it’s own culture, beliefs, and values, understanding all those immediately is very difficult. So suffering from cultural shock, the difference in the behaviour pattern of people from different countries is a great disadvantage of working abroad.
5. Learning new languages in short span:
A person has to learn a number of languages that too in a short span of time. Learning languages is also a herculean task and if not learned by a person then it can lead to the communication barrier. A person will not be able to understand what other says, neither will be able to communicate well.
6. Not able to enjoy the traditional holidays at homeland:
The person remains void of enjoying all the traditional festivals like Diwali, Lohri, and Christmas and so on. One has to work incessantly without any occasional holiday. This also sometimes frustrates a person and thus affects the work quality.
7. Living conditions:
It’s not sure that you will get the best condition to live in as every country does not provide an employee with a good working condition. It will depend highly on where you choose to live for your work.
8. People may or may not be rude:
You never know what kind of people you will come across. Rude or polite, whatever natured a person is, one has to tackle in a smart way as you are working overseas. One must learn the custom and habit of people in the country you are moving to. “When in Rome, do as Romans do” is a great tip for people working overseas.
9. No guarantee of getting a good position in another country:
It is not necessary always that you will be relocated to the same post in the next country. For those who think of leaving a country and current post for the purpose of settling abroad should not expect for a guaranteed same post. One may even get less salary than the present. So, one has to be prepared with all such risks one may go through.
10. Safety issues:
One may either do not feel safe overseas. No friends, no family, no social life and all such things should be taken into notice beforehand and should be prepared emotionally before leaving for abroad.
11. Learning new norms and laws:
Every country has it’s own rules and norms of working. Adapting those norms within a blink of an eye is difficult but if the norms are strict and a person fails to attempt according to those rules, one may fall into greater trouble, which may further become a never-ending process.
12. Lower level jobs:
One may get a lower-level job or can even get menial work to do in the initial stages in case the experience in the homeland is not good enough. So, for such circumstances, one has to be prepared and be strong enough to handle a difficult situation in case a person comes through.
Conclusion:
So, above are the various advantages of working abroad and living in a foreign country along with the disadvantages of working abroad. No matter how many disadvantages it has, one must look forward with a positive attitude towards the advantages and move ahead in life. Everything in life has pros and cons, leaving aside the cons, one must look ahead and choose what one feels to be right.
Every person aspires to go abroad, work and finally settle there. In order to go abroad, one has to start from scratch and work accordingly. It is not impossible but yes difficult enough.
Moreover, the grass is always green on the other side and before getting attracted to the greener portion of the grass, one must get through the darker side too. As knowing both comforts and difficulties are must before starting any new work.
