Looking For A Job Abroad: Find Opportunities Through Your Contacts

Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by Emmanuelle Archer in Blog, Expat Life, Working Abroad
1 comment

Now that you’ve defined your job search strategy, and you’ve put yourself into the right frame of mind, I bet you’re chomping at the bit – when do you get to do the real stuff, such as, you know, actually sending out applications?

All right, all right! Today, you’re going to take some very concrete steps toward gainful employment – only you won’t be applying for jobs. At least, not in the conventional way.

Call on your contacts

This is where all the networking getting to know people you’ve been doing pays off.

You’re going to drop them a line and tell them that you are looking for a job. Be specific about the field and the position that you’re aiming for.

However, you’re not going to ask them for job leads. When was the last time you went out of your way to pass on job offers to people you didn’t know very well? Yes, that’s what I thought.

By contrast, if somebody asked you “do you know someone in this industry who I could talk to?”, wouldn’t you be more likely to try to help? As requests go, this is easier and less time consuming than being asked for job leads. Besides, who doesn’t enjoy feeling helpful and well connected?

Set up informational interviews

Once you’ve collected the names of a few contacts-of-contacts (and ideally, a direct introduction to them), you are going to set up informational interviews.

Informational interviews are fantastic. They’re low-pressure, so you can focus on making a good impression without being all stressed-out; and your new contact gets to seize you up without having to make you an offer or reject you at the end of the interview.

It gets better: Not only will you gain valuable professional insight - guess who will have the edge when a position does become available? Some unknown candidate who will have sent an application through a standard web form, or you with your already existing inside connection?

Oh, and by the way, no, you’re not bothering people, or wasting their time, by requesting informational interviews. Most people enjoy talking about their job and their accomplishments, and once again, everyone likes looking helpful and knowledgeable.

Consider contracting

If you’re going to informational interviews and it becomes clear that your prospects are not too bright right now, it’s time to think laterally again.

Being an employee is not the only way you can work in your chosen field. If there’s no room for you on the payroll but the company could use your skills, why not offer to work for them as an independent contractor instead?

You can parlay a background in marketing, IT or HR into a nice little project or consulting contract that will tide you over until you find a full-time job. It certainly beats sitting at home doing nothing, and it’s a great way to prove yourself for when the company is ready to hire again.

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Emmanuelle

Images by Calliope1 (top), and elycefeliz (bottom), both via Flickr Creative Commons