Working for a large company can be a daunting experience, but imagine if you were an employee for that same company, but in a foreign country, where you know no one, language barriers are common and finding your way around proves to be a daily challenge. A former student of Clemson University, Katie Benjamin, who works for Sandvik, a Swedish engineering company,gave a webinar about working for large corporations abroad and things to do to prepare for such an intimidating transition.
Katie covers the initial process that precedes setting foot in a new country, including applying for U.S. passports, work permits and visas, getting immunizations (if needed), and researching all potential expenses for living in that country. She also covers the stages of looking for work abroad and how she herself took a while to land the right job that she was looking for, as she took time to get acquainted to her new surroundings and the culture she was immersed in. The webinar not only covers ways to approach the situation of working in a foreign country but also working for any type of corporation, domestic or otherwise. Some of her tips include finding someone in the company that can act as your mentor, having a plan for how you want to progress within your company, becoming very acquainted with the internal workings of your company, and developing an honest relationship with your boss.
If you would like to check out more of Katie’s webinar and the topics that she covered, check it out here.
Do you have plans to work abroad professionally? If so, what are some things that you plan to do to prepare yourself for that leap? What are some similarities or differences do you think are present with working domestically vs. abroad?
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