Relocating/working abroad for a length of time

[PanchoVilla]

Has anyone from the US ever done this? I have a college degree in Engineering and about 7 years exp. I was wondering how hard it is to get authorization to work in another country and live there for like a year or so. Somewhere like the UK, Germany, France, Italy, etc. If anyone has done this or has any suggestions for the practicality of it can you share it. Thanks.

Pancho

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

Sorry I don't have much of anything useful to add except to say that I do have a good friend from France who went to grad school with me at Michigan and now has a job in Japan. One thing you might consider is that foreign companies generally don't pay as well as American ones do. I think the general concensus is that it's best if you can get a job with an American company that'll send you abroad if that's what you want to do. This way, you tend to get the American pay scale.

[Boris]

Join the Peace Corps hombre.

[KJS]

I lived and worked in Thailand for 1.5 years recently. Didn't have a job when I left, just a backpack. Finding a job was not too difficult. But I worked for a magazine that could not supply with me a proper visa, so I was a little at risk renewing my tourist visa every month or so. I would recommend looking at multinationals that might have offices in the countries you are interested in. The immigration web sites for the countries will also provide you with information on who is eligible for what types of visa. I am sure you could find a headhunter in the EU somewhere if you look online. A good one could give you all the info you need. There may even be one just for engineers. Good luck. I'm sure you can do it.

KJS

[stabn]

He has 0 chance of landing in one of the countries he wants to go to if he goes the peace corpse route. He'll also leave the peace corpse broke (you get [censored] while working for them and ~3k if you finish two years with them). There are much better ways to work overseas for a couple of years unless your whole goal is to be altruistic.

Edit:

Oh, and they are also run like a government organization. So you have to put up with that kind of bullshit bureaucratic management style.

[PanchoVilla]

Yeah the Peace Corp route is out. I am talking about going to London, or Munich, or something like that. I am also 30 and married so I would need to be taking the route that allows for things like continuing to save for retirement, etc. Honestly the biggest hurdle is the resigning myself to renting for a year or two. /images/graemlins/frown.gif I am guessing it is darn near impossible to own property in another country with a work permit. /images/graemlins/smile.gif I hadn't thought of the headhunter angle, that is a great idea. Thanks for that one.

Pancho

[Boris]

I've heard that peace corpse chicks are easy, and lonely. That's gotta count for something.

[InchoateHand]

Get a job with a US multinational if you want to live it up as an Expat--they do all the work, and it is easier than getting permits on your own to look for a job in a place where you may-or-may not speak the language and are not necessarily welcomed if your skill-set is locally repeatable.

[stabn]

[ QUOTE ]
I've heard that peace corpse chicks are easy, and lonely. That's gotta count for something.

[/ QUOTE ]

My sister disagrees.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I've heard that peace corpse chicks are easy, and lonely. That's gotta count for something.

[/ QUOTE ]

My sister disagrees.

[/ QUOTE ]
She's not lonely?

[stabn]

She has a ton of friends she's made while working for them. She's is probably a bit cold, but so is everyone else in kyrgyzstan.

[youtalkfunny]

[ QUOTE ]
I am also 30 and married...

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh, well then, that makes all this very easy:

DON'T GO!

I got an unbelievable job offer overseas, and took my wife and three kids to tropical paradise--and they HATED it. They were much happier with 150 channels of English-speaking tv, and WalMart. They all missed Grandma. I also missed bringing home more than 50% of my paycheck. It was actually a relief when the company went belly-up before my contract was up. I came home broke, but it was so nice to hear Journey on the radio, and find a six-pack of Diet Coke bottles for $2.

If you were single, I'd say go out and see the world.

But now, it's too late. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[daryn]

i'm interested in this too. what do you do, go to an embassy or something to get a visa? i have no idea how any of that works.

[nongice626]

[ QUOTE ]
i'm interested in this too. what do you do, go to an embassy or something to get a visa? i have no idea how any of that works.

[/ QUOTE ]

you should stick to an 'easy' city where they speak english.

[nicky g]

On working for a US company abroad, you should be careful as with the current exchange rate you may end up considerably worse off. A fair few US firms pay their workers abroad in US$, meaning their real salaries have gone through the floor with the falling dollar. My uncle's effective take home pay has nearly halved over the past few years as he is paid in dollars but spends in Euros, and he is effectively being paid a lot less than he should be fo that kind of work at the moment.

It is not that easy to get a job in the EU as an American. In the UK you need to be applying for jobs in an area that is suffering a skills shortage. Similar things apply in other EU countries. Don;t think that just because you're wealthy, white and speak English they'll be happy to give you a visa. Your best bet is working for an American firm and then gettting them to transfer you to one of their offices abroad; that's a lot easier. But you may run into the problem above.

[daveymck]

Two Sites that might help for the UK

Independant UK Immigration advice (http://www.workpermit.com/uk/uk.htm)

Official Home Office website (http://www.workingintheuk.gov.uk/content/working_in_the_uk/en/homepage.html)

[daveymck]

It looks as well as if the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme is only open to those under the age of 28 so that line of getting in seems to be closed.