What are the soft skills required to make it anywhere in the world? And how do you utilise these skills in a globalised job market? Here are three simple and easy to apply success factors from my personal experience.
Observe as much as possible, evaluate and compare as little as possible
In addition to your technical expertise your intercultural competence is crucial to the success of an overseas experience. Train your ability to understand underlying beliefs and values. Learn about the driving forces of your colleagues’, partners’ and customers’ behaviour. Put your own culturally determined view repeatedly to the test.
Explore different ways to connect to the locals
Make friends with different nationalities and with people from all walks of live. Don’t go to the expatriate hotspots alone and don’t just stick with like-minded people to avoid challenging situations. In a new environment there are so many wonderful opportunities to expand your cultural knowledge.
Discover the food and the creative scene
When eating out don’t limit yourself to what you already know. Go to markets to discover new products and ingredients. Find simple, locally owned restaurants. Watch films that were made by local directors. Read poetry by local writers. It will help you to understand the people and their values better.
The global job market offers tremendous opportunities and therefore requires a holistic way of looking at international assignments. In order to take charge of your career path you need to be fully aware of your personal strengths and abilities.
And if it gets tough in your new destination take a step back, take a deep breath and accept that there are many truths and different ways to solve problems.
If you speak German feel free to take a look at my video training »Die erfolgreiche Auslandsentsendung – Eine Anleitung für Expatriates«.
It has been released exclusively by video2brain – a LinkedIn company.
What do you do to make your international job assignment a success?
Feel free to comment…
