Changing careers midstream as an expat needs to be done carefully

Changing careers midstream can be challenging for expats, but step-by-step planning increases the chance of success.

Changing careers can be deliberate or it can be purely accidental, as in a new contact offering you what may seem like the opportunity of a lifetime. Either way, it needs to be done carefully and with a full understanding of the differences it might make to your lifestyle, especially if family is involved. With deliberate changes, reasons might well be a new sense of fulfilment, relocation to another country or even coming back to work after a time as a single parent to younger children.

Career transitioning is scary, especially if you have a family to support at the time. Finding a sponsor is one answer, but planning the changes step by step after research is the best way. Many expats living and working overseas find the experience has changed them in many ways, with the changes precipitating a career flip due to personal growth and development. Your first step should be to examine and accept any limitations you’ve discovered since your initial emigration, with learning yet another new language often the major challenge for even the brightest and best.

Building new, relevant connections is essential, as is adjusting to new customs and cultures, and a new support system will help with job recommendations. Setbacks are par for the course, with certain challenges being harder than you expected, and job meetings or interviews may not result in a firm offer. At this point, a positive attitude and outlook encourages you to keep at it until you succeed. Your strengths are your qualifications and experience, even although you’ve reconsidered your employment sector. Your sense of values and beliefs don’t change either, and can be used to your advantage, with your willingness to relocate a plus point.

Career motivation needs to fit with your personality, your interests and your long-term ambitions before it can kick in at a high level. In addition, your personal needs shouldn’t be ignored, as they’re the key to your success and your feeling of job satisfaction. Defining what makes you happy and what’s missing in your present career gives a sense of perspective with the future in mind, as where you want to be after a few years is dependent on the choices you make when transitioning. Don’t just focus on short-term goals, as your new career may well be the one you wanted all along but weren’t able to recognise as exactly the right thing for your personal development as well as your career success.