If I were to be offered an opportunity to work internationally, there are a few factors that I would take into consideration when deciding whether or not I would take the job. First and foremost, I would need to do research on the country itself, such as the culture, cost of living, and quality of life in the area. If it was a country that I had no interest in living in, that would make my decision pretty easy. However, there are some other things that I would consider.
Countries have different ways of setting base pay and distributing compensation. Expatriates needs to consider these when making a decision to move to another country for a job opportunity. When setting base pay, there are the categories of home country, host country, and headquarters. Home country is when the company compensates expatriates based on what they would earn if they were performing similar work in the United States. Host country is when the company compensates the expatriate based on the host country’s base scales. Finally, headquarters is when the company compensates all employees according to the pay scales of headquarters. When reviewing these, I would say depending on the pay scales, I would look for a company who sets their base pay based on the headquarters. I think that if employees are doing the same job, then they should not be compensated more or less if they are from a different country. Although, I could see some being paid more than others if there were employees who had more experience or education related to the field.
Another thing to take into consideration is the elements of expatriate compensation. This includes base salary plus incentives, benefits, expat incentives, and allowances. Allowances include housing and utilities, goods and services, and discretionary income.
I would absolutely love the opportunity to live and work in another country, as it has been one of my goals for a long time. However, it would depend on how the company makes their base pay decisions, and how well they satisfy the elements of expatriate compensation.
