Hey guys,
Northern European here finishing up my masters at a Target and lucky to go through recruiting with several big tech firms and consultancies (incl. MBB). I did a semester in the US at an MBA last semester (UT) and LOVED my time there. I would love to get a consulting offer and try and lateral to a southern US city (Dallas/Houston/Atlanta) because I loved the people and sports there so much. Additionally, salary and taxes are way better. Basically, I would way prefer to be in Dallas as a young guy (with an accent) than in Amsterdam/Stockholm/Berlin/London.
However, one piece of advice I have received repeatedly is that I will always remain an outsider in the US, esp. in the South. How true is this advice? If I would be able to lateral to the South of the US will I ever be able to integrate fully, or will I always have a disadvantage?
Every region in the world has a specific language/accent, rituals, hobbies; and at times people can have a fascinating way of separating themselves from other groups. I have worked and lived in multiple countries and, while I was initially "foreign" to most habits the locals had formed over decades, I never felt as an "outsider". It is mostly up to the expat to be flexible, open and curious to speed up the learning process.
One special aspect are languages, accents and dialects - while most adults can get fluent in a foreign language, it is considerably more difficult to sound exactly like a local person. Professionals like actors, singers, and others who rely on their language or how they are perceived have had extensive voice and language coaching to sound a specific (mostly neutral) way.
I'd say you can learn a lot while working abroad, how locals act/behave, what food they cook or how social life is different. In my experience being different doesn't have to be a bad thing because (most) humans are naturally curious about things they don't know about.
It's all about the company you keep. If you go to work at a place like MBB in the US, I don't think you'll be thought of as an outsider. A fair number of the people you'd work with at the firm will have studied abroad, maybe even in your home country. You'll be working with the future 1% and the global elite have far more in common with each other than they do lower income citizens from their own countries. I think you'd fit in without much of an issue.
Conversely, if you choose spend all your time hanging out at Applebees in the suburbs of large southern cities, you will probably not meet a lot of folks who can relate to you.
Awesome, thank you. That is the impression I got when I was abroad as well.
If you ain't kin, an' a fan of Dale #3(RIP), you're an outsider. (edit: Dale Sr. was #3, Jr. originally #8)
OP the above poster is trying to get you killed. The Intimidator was number 3, his son drove the 8 and is now the 88. That should be enough buy you a few seconds to plan your next move, before they realize you ain't from 'round these parts.
Yes i do hate myself for knowing that.
Lucky for you I can tell you all about houston since I'm from there. It's super diverse dude, you will not feel like an outsider. I can walk into work and here Vietnamese, Chinese, Spanish and Swahili every day. It's a great place to work and live it's super cheap here. You're only downfall is that you're almost forced to work in energy if you're going IB, although we do have an incredible med center energy is still king
lol, I'd expect a thread like this would come from an Asian.
White 6'4 athlete, so hardly the awkward Asian stereotype.
You are totally insane for wanting to move to the current US instead of any of those other fantastic cities you listed off. All of those cities are beautiful, culturally vibrant with great infrastructure and economies. London is a bit uncertain given Brexit. Also, I'm not sure how much news makes it over there but the US is currently being run by a drunk orangutan that surrounds himself with incompetent, disingenuous sycophants who at best are probably decent, smart people in over their heads and at worst are terrible, POS human beings.
Responds to genuine questions about the United States condescendingly. Then spreads rumors and false information about the President without supporting evidence . Are you still with her?
Get back to work if you want that full-time offer.
Not my president and I was never "with her" but the fact that the 4 "best" candidates to run the "greatest country in the world" came down to Trump, Hillary, Bernie and Ted mother-fucking Cruise speaks volumes on the current state of affairs in the US. Hope you're learning Mandarin right now.
Texas isn't really "the South." The 4 major cities are all major metropolitan areas with diverse populations (SA not as much as the others). There are parts of every city where you wouldn't feel welcome but there are parts of every city where you would feel completely happy. There is a very small chance that someone will come up to you and go "hey stranger, why you talk funny?" and even less so if you live and work closer to downtown or in a nicer part of town.
The dirty little secret is that especially in Dallas and Houston, most of those who have high paying jobs identify with NYC/LA/London/Paris than KC/Nashville/Atlanta.
Was it a Master in Management? You seem quite satisfied by your graduate business school student experience. :)
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