Finding a Job overseas

[Teleku]

OK, so, I've been back from Japan for about half a year now, and finally graduated (I more or less graduated and walked in June of 2006, but they wouldn't make it official and give me a diploma until I came back from Japan and tested out, so technically its December 2007, even though I haven't attended a class at my school since 2006, heh).  I've been working a tech supportish type job for a small software company to make some cash and set my finances straight, and after working for a few months, I've defiantly decided I want to go live abroad again.  Especially since I'm young and have no house or anything at all really anchoring me here currently.  If I'm going to work an 8-5 job, I'm going to do it somewhere a little more exotic damn it.

However, I would really like to see if I could do it without resorting to teaching English.  If I have to, I'll go get my credentials and do that, but I would sort of like to actually work a normal type of job in a field related to my interests (IE Computer stuff, though History would be great if there was any actual job for me to do with that, heh). 

So, I'm just basically asking for tips from anybody who has any experience working abroad, or just has any good ideas of where I should look in general.  Seems like there would be some sort of demand for English speaking IT type people overseas.  Does anybody know how the US embassy system handles its computer IT stuff for its facilities overseas?  I figured that might be an opening, but I can't seem to find any type of job listing for that on the Foreign Office Website.  Also thinking about trying to get a job doing IT for military installations overseas.

My only foreign language ability is in Japanese, and that's gone straight to hell since I've been back (it was never decent to begin with).  I could learn along the way, but I'd have to be walking into a job that wouldn't require me to know the local language right off.

But yeah, any tips would be appreciated.  My only real preference is Asia, though basically anywhere other than maybe Africa would be fine.  People have suggested the Peace Core to me, but that's kind of 

[Murgos]

Get a list of the Fortune 100.  Go to their websites.  Click on employment.  Select countries that interest you.  Look over jobs available.  Apply.

All the big companies have offices around the world, most of them you will be able to get away with speaking English at.  You probably don't even need any particular skills for most of them, though a college degree would probably help.

Heck, you will probably even get a relocation package if you land a decent one.

My company (Honeywell) shows 419 open positions in Europe and 401 in Asia/Pacific.  Granted, most of those are engineering positions but there is probably something there you would be interested in/can fudge your resume to look like you can do.

[Nebu]

I should start looking at the private sector.  I'd love to live overseas (particularly in Europe), but find the job market pretty tough for an academic. 

[NiX]

F13 can be your reference Nebu. Where do you want to work?

[Bunk]

My company is always hiring IT types. Vancouver isn't quite what most people call overseas, but it is a different Country. Oh, and at least half of our population speaks English, so you are good there.

[IainC]

I went to work abroad and I thoroughly recommend it. I can't give you any real advice beyond the blindingly obvious as I have no real experience in your particular field - I went to work for a games company.

[Teleku]

Thanks for the tip Murogs, I'll look into that.  Makes logical sense now, but when you sit down and try to think, "So, how the fuck do I find a job in another country?" you kind of get overwhelmed at first, heh.

My company is always hiring IT types. Vancouver isn't quite what most people call overseas, but it is a different Country. Oh, and at least half of our population speaks English, so you are good there.

Up the coast doesn't count as overseas 

I went to work abroad and I thoroughly recommend it. I can't give you any real advice beyond the blindingly obvious as I have no real experience in your particular field - I went to work for a games company.

Hey, thats computer related ;).  Unfortunatly I have no real world experience with programming outside of doing C/C++/Java in a university setting on Unix computers.  Which makes it kind of hard to get into a company doing any sort of programming, let alone a game company (which all want experienced people).  However, getting a job overseas at a game company would actually be the best thing I could think of doing, so congrats there.  I'm working on my PHP/Javascript/AJAX knowledge right now.  Maybe that could apply towards something..

[Nebu]

My company is always hiring IT types. Vancouver isn't quite what most people call overseas, but it is a different Country. Oh, and at least half of our population speaks English, so you are good there.

I did apply for a position at UBC.  They gave the job to a Canadian... go figure. 

[Raging Turtle]

Feel free to send me a PM if you decide teaching ESL isn't that terrible.   This job has a hell of a lot more freedom than most 9-5 jobs you'll find abroad. 

Are the Foreign office and the Department of State the same thing?  http://www.state.gov/ Check it out, it's something I consider from time to time when I have a bad day teaching.    There's usually openings somewhere in the world.

My (fairly uninformed) impression of the IT field abroad is that most companies, even U.S. companies with foreign branches, prefer to hire local IT stuff, because a good chunk of their staff is local as well, while embassies, of course, prefer U.S. citizens.  Trust issues and all that.

Edit: Ridiculous grammatical error.  I blame too many conversations with pre-intermediates. 
Edit the second: spelling error in the edit.  One of those days.

[Teleku]

We'll, the freedom aspect of the teaching job is a deffinate draw, but I just really don't think I'll enjoy teaching English a whole lot (could be wrong).  I'll still do it if need be, but I'd like to see if there are alternatives.

Actually, looking through the Department of State website again, I finally found all the tech job stuff.  I seem to fit the requirements knowledge wise, but all the tech jobs say you need A+ and Network+ certification.  Hmmm.  Even though I knew I could have gotten it in the past, I never bothered with getting my A+ certification because I didn't feel like wasting the money.  Guess that bites me in the ass now..

[Baldrake]

I did a lot of traveling when I was younger, and lived (and worked) in France and Germany for a while. It was really enjoyable (and ultimately hard to come back).

For non-citizens, looking for work in Europe is not unlike looking for work in the US without a green card. You need to ask the hard question of why a prospective employer would go to all the trouble to get a work visa for some complete stranger who can't even fill in their application form in the local language. Unless you have a special skill or address a particular shortage, it ain't likely to happen.

It's not impossible, of course. You've already discovered that being a native English speaker counts as a special skill in Japan.

One approach that I've seen people use is to get a job at a multi-national in the US, and then apply for a transfer to one of their other operations. Once you're already employed with the company and they have seen your worth, they will be more likely to go through the work visa hassles. As an example, our partner in Japan always likes to have a North American on staff that we've trained and vouched for.

[sidereal]

Ireland is a nice IT hub.  Australia is desperate for IT types to the extent that they're fast-tracking visa applications for IT employees.  New Zealand to a less desperate extent.

[IainC]

Ireland is a nice IT hub.  Australia is desperate for IT types to the extent that they're fast-tracking visa applications for IT employees.  New Zealand to a less desperate extent.

There are loads of big IT and tech companies here in Dublin - Xerox, Paypal, Google, Yahoo, Sony-Ericsson, Verizon and so on. If you can get your foot in the door locally I'd be surprised if international opportunities weren't available internally.

[Rasix]

I may find myself in this position soon. My wife is considering a job in northern Italy.  I'm not sure how keen my current employer would be on me telecommuting with an 8 hour timezone difference.  I do, however, already have the advantage of my current employer having a presence all over the world. 

[Viin]

You might try Salesforce, I know they were hiring like crazy in Japan and China and western Europe:

http://www.salesforce.com/company/careers/

[Sky]

I'd love to work in Ireland.

Do they use macs?

 

[Yegolev]

We're a global company.  Go to www.coca-cola.com and track down wherever the Careers page is this week.  Last time I looked, a few weeks back, there were a couple of openings in Ewa Beach.

[IainC]

I'd love to work in Ireland.

Do they use macs?

Yeah, in fact they're obligatory, it rains all the time here.

[WayAbvPar]

I'd love to work in Ireland.

Do they use macs?

Yeah, in fact they're obligatory, it rains all the time here.

Heh. Your British is showing.

[Azazel]

If I were younger and sans wife/house/full of stuff/cat/etc I'd definately go abroad to teach for a year or two. I know several others who have done it and it's always gotten good reports.

[Signe]

You can take your wife and cat with you.  If it's small enough, you can even stuff it under the seat.  (the cat) 

[Bungee]

Can't comment much on getting work in the EU as a US citizen, except I'd recommend starting to look in the UK first.
Oh, and our Swiss friends seem to be keen on hiring people coming from the new world, at least from what I heard.

Anyway, I'd guess it's heck of a lot easier than getting a decent summer job in the communications Branch or any Branch at least linked with what I'm studying and interested in 

[Murgos]

Aside:  If you can ski you can always start by taking a winter job at a ski slope.  My personal experience has been that usually no one that works at a ski slope is actually from the country they are in, or if they are, then they are from the complete other side of the country.  ;-)

Also, remember, that the first thing you have to get past when submitting a resume to a large company is the automated resume sorting program and the second thing is an HR rep that knows absolutely NOTHING about the position other than what is in the req.

I've found that repeating the bullet points from the ad, in bold in the cover letter works well for getting call backs.  Even more so if you can slant your resume to look like you actually might have those skills/experience.  Usually, the person who actually requested the position and is doing the hiring is so frustrated by the system that he/she will jump at anything that comes out of it that is even marginally close.

[Signe]

I worked at Taos Ski Valley for two years, starting when I was 18.  It paid shit but I got room, board and I got to ski free, at the very least half a day.  Every day!  Who needs money? 

Well, I do now.  I'm old and everything is different.  I need room, board AND money.  I  money.  Lots.