Two huge life changes that can be stressful and difficult are relocating and starting a new career. What if you had to do both at the same time?
In today’s global economy, we’re seeing more and more people head abroad to pursue careers all around the world in places such as The U.K, China, and Japan. Making that transition can be extremely difficult to handle, especially if it’s something you’ve never done before. You have to deal with culture shock, get acclimated into a new work environment, and essentially completely alter the lifestyle you’re accustomed to. In order to help make that move easier for you, here are some great tips to help you sort things out when you get a job offer abroad.
How will it affect your family?
Making the decision to accept a job overseas is difficult enough if you’re a single person living alone. However, if you have a family, that decision becomes even more complicated. Before making the final decision, make sure you talk it over with your family. Some things to consider are:
- Does your significant other have a stable job?
- How will your kids handle the move?
- Do you feel comfortable moving away from your immediate family and friends?
These are all things you need to consider before making the big decision. Remember, this decision will affect more than just you, so make sure everyone has some input.
Handling your affairs
When you make the decision to work in another country, you have to make sure that all of your affairs are in order. Everything from your bank accounts to any commitments that you have at home should be taken care of before you leave. All too often, people make the mistake of thinking “I’ll handle it when I get situated in Europe” only to find out that they left an “i” un-dotted or a “t” uncrossed and there’s nothing they can do about it from abroad.
A great tip to make sure everything is well taken care of is to make a “moving checklist” of things you need to do before you leave. Also, make sure that everything with your old employer is situated. You don’t want to leave on a sour note. If there were any special projects you were working on, make sure that everything is either complete or that one of your co-workers is informed about what’s going on.
The Move
One of the most difficult parts of relocating for a new job is making the actual move. Moving from New York to Europe is an entirely different beast than doing a move from New York to Virginia. You won’t be able to take all of your belongings with you on the airplane so you will more than likely have to do some international shipping if you want to get all of your belongings to your new home. Shipping from New York to another country will mean dealing with Customs as well, so be sure that you are within the international shipping guidelines when packaging everything up.
If you’re confused about the international moving process, check out our moving tips for everything you need to know about relocating to another country.
Getting a new job in another country can be fun and exciting. Hopefully the tips above will help minimize the amount of stress involved so that you’re able to smoothly transition into your new job and new home!