How to become an expat?

“Dear readers,

As promised in our “10 advices to land a job in 2010” article, today I decided to open a space to Jeff Parker, an Infosec Professional and road warrior expat who has experienced dozens of countries throughout his career. Since we share a common opinion about becoming an expatriate, I kindly present you with this inspiring article that might inject some adrenaline into your veins and push you towards your next move. Do not forget to visit his blog at www.expatyourself.com and read about his experiences throughout the globe!

Adriano.”

Hi there,

I’m writing to you as a colleague of Adriano, one of many IT Security professionals working together in the same company.

We all have information security and risk management responsibilities.

We all work together here in a global datacenter, located in Prague, Czech Republic.

But do you know what makes this group of friends unique?  None of us come from the same country.

One of us is from Brazil, one from India and one from the US (me).  Still others we work with are from Poland, Spain and Malaysia.  In fact, across our organization’s 1100 employees, a third of us are foreigners, representing over 50 countries!

What’s my point?  We are all expats.

Have you ever wanted to work overseas?  Ever been a tourist somewhere and thought “I wish I could live here, just a year or two at least.”

Why not?  Why not “expat yourself” and live abroad, at least for a year or two?  It’s the same question I had 4 years ago and it’s the same question Adriano had 5 years ago and several other colleagues since then.

The benefits to living abroad can be huge: exciting experiences, adventure, new romance, tax benefits, the list goes on and on.  And, specifically for IT security professionals, experience abroad may also grow into new respect for your specialty.

Take a close look at the benefits to working abroad: You are considered the authority for not only your specialty, but you also represent your culture.  Having international experience on your resume / CV gives you amazing leverage for the next interview.

And speaking from experience, for us IT security professionals who are also native English speakers, we can offer a lot of value in just language ability alone.

What does this translate to?  Even larger salary.

IT security professionals are in a hot niche already.  Leveraging your skills abroad in countries so desperate for your experience can be doubly rewarding.  If you’re a native English speaker, then triple it.

If you’re interested in new adventure, check out the blog “Expat Yourself” and you’ll get more impressions of expat life.  Who knows, you may even get motivated to become an expat yourself.

Cheers – Jeff