Location Flexibility
Willing to move…a lot? Your Career door may be wide open
By Tamara E Holmes
In the summer Black MBA Magazine: Beyond Borders looks at how opportunities abroad can boost your job cred back home.
Some professionals angling for an international assignment may have a dream location in mind; while some may limit their search to places they perceive to be significant for business. But that could be a mistake, because a willingness to go anywhere and to move anytime can expedite the climb up the corporate ladder.
“A lot of times Black professionals fall in love with a city, but the more open you are, the more options you have to move up faster and get different experiences that will add to your portfolio,” says Kevin M. Warren, Chairman, President and CEO of Xerox Canada, Inc.
Many firms are looking for what’s commonly referred to as ‘career expats,’ those willing to travel to a multitude of locations over a period of time. “A lot of times, we’ll see rotational assignments,” says Crystal Abbey, manager of the consulting group for workforce development firm Cartus. “Companies will send consultants from one project to another.”
Typically, Abbey says, such assignments are short-term – anywhere from three to 12 months, though they could be longer. There is also typically a set period of time that a professional will relocate frequently. “Usually they go out on a rotation for one to three years, and then they’ll get in a location where they will settle into,” Abbey says. “It might not necessarily be their home location.”
Personal Factors Key
While many top international assignments are reserved for senior-level employees, rotational assignments may be best suited for someone who is younger, less experienced and less likely to be tied down by family obligations.
“I think you’ve got more tolerance, and you have more of a sense of adventure the younger you are,” says 38-year-old Andre V. Branch, vice-president of global marketing for UK-based wine and spirits manufacturer Diageo. “As you get older, you’ve got family obligations and people don’t want to move their kids around. Maybe you’ve been in a neighborhood for a long time and you’re just not as open to the idea. It becomes a tougher decision the older you get, because you’re starting to accumulate so much responsibility.”
Indeed a 2009 survey by the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) found that of employees willing to consider relocation, 47 percent cited relocating family as their top area of concern. Because many rotational assignments tend to be so short, a number of companies do not encourage those professionals who do have families to bring them along, Abbey says. On the one hand, the career expat doesn’t have to worry about getting the family acclimated to a new environment, but on the other, he or she won’t have regular personal interaction with their family.
For a professional without a family, or one willing to travel frequently despite having a family, rotational assignments may also be easier to get than some other international positions simply because many professionals will choose to not subject their families to the traveling lifestyle.
Regional Rotations Count
Being willing to relocate frequently to multiple international locations isn’t the only way to jumpstart your career. Many companies place a high value on employees who are willing and successfully able to relocate regularly on a domestic level, where they complete short-term assignments and show they can work with different groups of people.
“One thing companies look for in people to promote is interpersonal skills,” says Dr. Charlotte B. Broaden, associate professor of International Business and Organizational Leadership at Southern New Hampshire University. “How do you work with other people?”
By going to multiple domestic locations and building teams within each, you’re demonstrating to managers that you can work through different types of problems and manage different personalities, she says.
Domestic rotations can also expedite your access to international positions becaue they can give employers some insight into how well you’ll manage different teams. With domestic workplaces becoming increasingly diverse, employees can also gain some insight into cultural nuances that can help them prepare for cultural differences on a larger level.
The bottom line: the more successful assignments you have under your belt, the more evidence a company has that you will perform well in the most prestigious international assignments that come up.
With companies footing the bill for training, housing, travel and a host of cost-of-living expenses, they are highly selective about who they choose to send out. “International assignments are expensive,” Branch says. “They’re only going to spend that money on someone they really believe in.”