Whether it is our colonial past or the more recent penchant for gap years,
overseas work experience has long been seen as a handy way to skip a few
rungs on the career ladder. Why toil through the rush hour and rain when a
couple of years in sunnier climes can leave your CV glowing with exotic
promise?
In today’s global economy there is plenty to reward those who demonstrate an
international outlook. But don’t expect a gap year spent grape-picking to
impress prospective employers. Nor will you benefit from a foreign placement
spent pining for home. It takes forethought and application to ensure that
travel broadens your prospects as well as your mind.
Andy Bates was already a seasoned traveller when he joined the professional
services company Ernst & Young (E&Y). With a place secured on the
company’s graduate scheme, he set off for a year’s travelling. He enjoyed it
so much that, with E&Y’s blessing, he extended the one year to two.
Bates was also well aware that his chosen employer would offer plenty of
scope for travel in the future. “We have offices in 140 countries, so there
are a lot of opportunities,” he says.
Sure enough, Bates was granted a secondment to E&Y’s Tanzanian office from
where he served financial services clients throughout East Africa. “The
Tanzanian practice is much smaller than in London, which meant that I had a
very broad range of clients,” he says. “I was dealing with everything from
due diligence to fraud. It was definitely an accelerated learning process
and I gained a lot of experience in a very short space of time.”
On his return to London Bates found that his time away was a career boost. He
has been made an audit partner in banking and capital markets this year. “My
role involves working with global partners, so clearly having worked abroad
has opened up some doors. My ambition was to make partner and I don’t think
that would have happened so quickly if I hadn’t been away.”
For those who do not work for a company with offices in 140 countries, a
time-honoured way of gaining work experience abroad is volunteering.
Veronica Wilson, a trainee lawyer, spent a year in South Africa with VSO, an
international development charity, after graduating from Birmingham
University in African studies and anthropology. Now working in the legal
department of EMI while studying part-time on a law conversion course,
Wilson says her experiences in an HIV/Aids clinic in Durban directly
affected her decision to go into law.
“I think my time abroad has given me the ability to see the broader picture,”
she says. “I’ve chosen to go into commercial law because I think businesses
are leading the way for developing countries.”
She also believes that the experience she gained will impress future
employers. “In terms of confidence I gained a great deal. I was often in
situations where I was given far more responsibility than I would have been
back home. I was fundraising, managing people, directing my own projects, so
I learnt a great deal of adaptability,” she says.
One problem with working abroad can be that life may seem a little drab when
you come home. Naomi Gayler, a freelance TV researcher, spent three months
in India on a placement arranged by I-to-I, a volunteer travel company.
While there she worked in Bangalore for the television company Frame of
Mind, researching the Aids charity Freedom Foundation.
“Some of the situations I was in were quite harrowing so it was a real lesson
in how to be professional and deal with those situations with your TV head
on,” she says. On returning home she couldn’t help feeling that the UK’s
obsession with reality TV is a little superficial. “I am really happy in
London and with the work that I do. But I have a real passion for
documentaries and it's quite difficult to get in with the sort of companies
that do that.”
The key to secondments
Steve Smethurst
Forget expats – international secondments are the new kids in town. It has
been described as the rise of the flexpat and if you are going on
secondment, this is what you need to know:
Do your homework. “If you have to pick a characteristic that makes a
secondment succeed, then it’s someone who plans and prepares well,” says
Pete Freeman, managing director of HRHR, a personnel services firm.
Don’t rush. “There’s a period of getting your feet under the
table, then one of adding value to the company, and at the end people’s
minds turn to their next role. So two to three years is successful from our
point of view,” says Andy Hilton, the head of international secondments at
Aviva, the insurance group.
But don’t waste your time. For shorter assignments, is it
necessary to go for the duration? Would visits at the start, middle and end
plus conference calls do instead?
Be flexible. “You need a strong personality, but you can’t just export
your UK working practices... and expect it to work. You need a much more
flexible attitude,” Freeman says.
Insist on a sponsor. “At Aviva, anyone who goes on secondment has
someone senior who they can agree development objectives with and who acts
as a mentor while they’re away,” Hilton says.
It’s not a jolly. “We’re looking for someone who is serious. He
or she may have to work aggressive hours and be away from family and
friends,” says Warren Gurtman, a senior director of international
secondments at RSM International, a professional services network.
Keep your options open. “Some people extend their secondments. There is
also the odd one who likes it so much that they go on to a local contract
and the same number who take two or three successive secondments,” Hilton
says.
It’s not rocket science. “A good secondment requires unambiguity.
The most successful are project-driven and have attainable objectives,” says
John McKenzie, of secondments.com.
