Is expatriation for me? This is an interesting question and one that I’ve actually thought quite a bit about. I am not well-traveled and there are parts of the world that I would love to be able to visit and explore throughout my life, but timing is always a huge factor. The idea of relocating to another country for work would certainly allow for that opportunity to come to fruition, but there would be steep challenges to overcome in the process. In Jay Hardy’s Human Resource Management class I took last year, we spent a great deal of time discussing the challenges associated with expatriation and repatriation; this class left me with the impression that expatriation was overall not a positive experience for most people and that many choose to go overseas believing that when they return home they will have a promotion or big career opportunity awaiting them when they get back — and that oftentimes is not the case at all. We discussed the dissatisfaction that many employees have in their new positions due to less desirable living and working conditions, as well as the culture shock and challenging adjustment period. If I was presented with an overseas opportunity that would be a positive short-term career move, and potentially long-term positive one, I would likely not take the opportunity. When employees go overseas, they end up missing a lot of opportunities back home as well, and re-assimilating back into an organization upon return can be very difficult. For me to go overseas, I would have to be very interested in living in the country of relocation, not just the compensation associated with the job opportunity. Personally, I would be more interested in a short-term job assignment overseas than a long-term assignment because this would allow me to stay more connected to my home country and not have to fully adjust to living and working abroad. I also think it would be extremely difficult to relocate my family (especially kids!) to another country, so I would likely only consider opportunities for overseas relocation during my early career. If I was in a position where I was considering relocating abroad, enhanced expatriate benefits such as PTO, relocation assistance, and educational and travel reimbursement would certainly make the opportunity more appealing — and they could ultimately be the deciding factor in me accepting the offer if they were in addition to the country being one I could see myself being successful in.
