Starting Out in an International Office - Part 2

Hi guys: this post is a continuation on my earlier post on starting out in an international office, which was posted here.

After covering the first two points last week, today I will write about 3) exposure/opportunities, and 4) personal compatibility. Those are from my own perspective/experience only, and please feel free to share your views and experience in the comments!

3) Exposure/opportunities

I personally feel like this is where most of the benefits of starting out in an international office can come from. First of all, you are working with smaller teams in most of these locations, so the chance of you working with a senior person (think Director/MD) is much higher. I still maintain the view that on average, training is not as good in international offices; but one valuable learning method is to learn from other people. It doesn't have to be about technical things (which your peers in NY or London probably have better resources for), but just look at how they deal with their business and interact with others.

For example, one of the things I've found interesting was how higher level people interact with each other. You will get some more exposure to office politics (at a higher level) in an international office, simply because there are more things where everyone is involved. I don't enjoy politicking myself, but I think it's an inevitable and important part of working in our industry. From observing how higher level people make connections, build alliances, advance their situations, etc, you can start to build up your knowledge on what kind of styles suit you, and whether the company culture in general is a good fit for you. You get to see what you have to deal with 5-7 years down the road right as you start.

Another commonly discussed advantage of starting in an international office is the amount of work/opportunities that you get to have. From my observation, this is largely true. However, you also have to manage your own learning experience. I think when one is young, one always assumes that one is invincible, and that one can handle all the hard work in the world. However, I think in the more technical lines of business, it can be quite important to have a solid foundation so that you know your work is not BS. In some lines of work, it doesn't matter, but in others where it does, you are the quality control officer of your own experience--while you are handling more workload than your peers, you need to make sure that what you do is solid, and not just some random patched together work to make sure you meet the deadlines.

4) personal compatibility

The last point I'd like to touch upon is personal compatibility. There are many people who have cultural ties to international regions but grew up in the West who simply might not be able to benefit from their cultural ties. Some examples could be if you are a woman from a culture where clients might politely tell your sales people that they'd rather speak with a guy (I've seen this happen....). If you are junior and a female, that can be a double whammy for you, and you might not end up getting much responsibilities/learning opportunities at all. Other scenarios include if your personality is a good fit with the professional style that your region/your team has. Most of my friends who grew up in US/UK had some trouble adapting to the local style at their international office--if you work in certain regions, it is very likely that their professional style is something that you might consider to be "authoritarian"/"top down heavy" etc, and you alone have to be the judge whether that is okay for you in both the short-run and long-run. However, I do think there is value in trying out an international location at the beginning of your career--most people I've met simply assume that they can adjust to it and that their careers can continue to flourish as long as they work hard. That is not true. It affects your happiness more than you might assume, and it's a good thing to have tested out the local professional culture early on in your career, when you are still mobile, and when it's less costly to change your mind.

I've tried to cover what I've seen and thought about in terms of starting out one's career in an international office. I think overall, it requires a much more active process of career management, and much of your training and experience depend on luck. If you know the team relatively well, it's not a bad idea. If you find out that it's different from what you imagined after you land, make sure you hustle and work as hard as you can to make sure you are not trapped--it's not fair, true, but that's the best you can do.