if you’re restless in your city and feel your career stagnating.

If you’re the type

who loves new challenges, navigating cross-cultural challenges can be
invigorating. Not to mention, global experience looks lovely on a resume. It’s a
win all around. Now, the only thing standing between you and your international
dream job are three steps. First thing you want to do is do the research. Just like a
regular American job search, you should compile a list of your target companies.
This time around though, you’ll want to check out whether a foreign company will
realistically hire you—or if an American company typically hires people for
international positions.

Start by looking online for companies and organizations that are  likely to send you
abroad . It’s as simple as searching [your desired location] for the terms
“secondment,” “externship,” and “company exchange program.” The larger and
more corporate a company, the more likely you are to find these types of programs
within them. Additionally, under a “Careers” section, you can usually find a
contact email for HR. Feel free to get in touch directly to ask questions about
exchange opportunities and if an open position fits in with your goals. (Bonus: You
now have an in at the company.)

You can also find opportunities by outsourcing the search. Really. Many
recruitment firms will focus on visa-sponsoring processes and jobs. For example,
the company VHS  takes you through the visa process for several different
countries and can offer you advice on international job hunting. Country-specific
tools and agencies, like Hays  in the UK for example, will give you individual
counsel on jobs based on your nationality and desired sector. And then you can
prepare yourself to do virtual interview, Keep in mind the way that you express
your opinions, emotions, and experiences will be subject to interpretation, based
upon the country you’re communicating with. Speaking a different language isn’t
always the only obstacle. Words and intonations that come across as enthusiastic in
a New York office might be construed as overbearingly aggressive in a London
office As this guide to negotiating in different countries explains, “In some cultures
it’s common—and entirely appropriate— to raise your voice when excited, laugh
passionately, touch your counterpart on the arm, or even put a friendly arm around
him. In other cultures such self-expression not only feels intrusive or surprising but
may even demonstrate a lack of professionalism.” So it’s important to make sure
that you’re not only doing the regular prep work, but also researching what could
be interpreted differently in the country you’re interviewing in. And the last steps
is prepare to make a trip. While meeting people via video’s a good way to get
started, there may come a point when it makes sense for you to spend time doing
in-person interviews, setting up coffee dates, and attending any relevant
networking events. For obvious reasons this is expensive; not to mention, it will
require taking time off from your current position.

But, if you’re committed to making this happen, you'll have enough reasons to visit
your country of choice and take your preliminary efforts to the next level.
Optimize your time there by sorting tasks into stuff you can do before going and
stuff that must wait until you arrive. The former category includes setting up
interviews, asking for connections through your network, researching industry
events, and studying corporate culture specifics. The latter includes meeting people
face-to-face, going to more traditional interviews, and attending industry events.

No matter how it goes, make sure to follow up with any individuals you meet and
emphasize your desire to relocate abroad. Most people are willing to help, and
even if they’re not going to hire you directly, they very well may end up
introducing you to the person who will.

So next is the smart career move you haven’t considered about, first you will be
able to adaptable. While it can be frustrating to have to change your working style
this drastically, adapting to new conventions teaches you to be more flexible, agile,
and compassionate. It makes you more sensitive to how other people react to you
in a professional setting and makes you an all-around better communicator. When
you do move back to your home country, you’ll be able to point to this adaptability
during interviews—and it will take you far in any job you have.

You Will Have a Better Chance of Taking on High-Level Positions More Quickly

You are most likely well aware that the job market in the U.S., especially in big
cities, is highly competitive. On the other hand, if you know the field you want to
work in and research which other countries have opportunities in that field, you
will likely open yourself up to a much greater chance of snagging your dream job
and taking on more responsibility more quickly in another country.
For example, Mexico and Chile both have cities with interesting tech and start-up
scenes—but young folks looking for jobs aren’t flocking to these cities like they
are to San Francisco or New York. The relative lack of competition, combined
with the fact that many Latin American start-ups like the idea of having a native
English speaker with international connections on their team, means that prospects
are good for American grads looking for opportunities to grow. The majority of my
expat friends living in Mexico (myself included) were hired into or quickly
advanced to high-level positions in their companies—positions that would have
taken them many years to work up to in their home countries.

You Will Become Bilingual (As Long As You Don't Only Hang Out With Expats)

There are numerous personal and professional benefits of being bilingual. For one,
people who speak more than one language tend to get paid more (as much as
20%!). Also, being bilingual can allow you to form a vital part of a company's
growth strategy, whether it is trying to enter new markets on a national level or
expand to other countries. Overall, being bilingual is a skill associated with top
performers and earners: 31% of executives speak two languages. And being
bilingual is actually proven to make you smarter, as it makes you better at solving
complex problems.

This is, of course, assuming you don’t only hang out with expats! Enroll in
intensive language classes, insist on speaking the native language even when
people speak to you in English, and don't give up. I'm pretty bad at languages, and
I learned fluent Spanish in nine months—I bet you could do it in six!

You Will Foster a Global Network of Contacts

We've all heard numerous times that the world is becoming increasingly
interconnected, and many of us experience this on a daily basis through social
media, conference calls with international colleagues, and increased business
travel. Working abroad gives you the chance to build relationships with people in
your field on an international level, so even when you decide to move back to your
home country, you can continue to nurture these relationships from afar and
incorporate them into your new job.

For example, if I were to move back to the U.S., I could position myself as
someone who can bring valuable business contacts and high-level knowledge of
the region to a company looking to expand into the Latin American market. I could
even start a company with a business model based on connecting the Mexican and
American markets, using my contacts in both regions as a starting point.

So the is seven simple steps to finding a job abroad. First step is don’t stress If you
are interested in living abroad, commit fully to the idea. Don’t worry about
opportunities you might be missing at home. Everyone I spoke to who moved
abroad after college said that they would do it again in a heartbeat. Even if they did
not find their ideal career, they valued the experiences they acquired and insight
they gained. And then you spread the word. Do your research, both online and ‘in
real life.’ When you decide on a place, tell friends, family, co-workers, neighbors –
everyone in your network. Chances are they will know someone who knows
someone. Take that person out to coffee and find out the nitty-gritty, go beyond the
guidebooks. Ask for names of people who are still living in the region who might
be accessible when you arrive, using email to connect with them. And the next step
is build language skill. If you are interested in working in emerging markets, Fein
emphasizes the importance of studying language while at university. Then when
you are living in the region, you can take the opportunity to learn specialized or
local vocabulary and move your language skills to the next level.

The Immersion Experience, Provided that you have the financial resources, taking
a few months to study a language intensively can help you land a better job down
the line. Next is Chutzpah,depending on your financial resources, where you are in
your career path and where you want to go, it might make sense to just pick up and
try to find a job when you arrive. It is more daring, but some people have found it
easier to find jobs once they are physically in the country. The sixth step is to pick
a company you want to build your career, if you interested in a business hub like
London, Shanghai or Singapore? It might be easier to try to get transferred there
through your work. If you are a recent college graduate and want to work in a field
like marketing, advertising or finance, look for employment opportunities with
international companies that have programs that send employees to other
countries. Companies like Deloitte, Edelman and UBS  all have exchange
programs that send employees to their international offices.  However, the
opportunity to move abroad usually takes a few years to work up to, so be prepared
to be patient. And last but no least is the actual experience of living abroad is
invaluable in terms of self-reliance, exposure to different cultures and general
‘lifehacking’. Jonathan Fein credits his time in Asia, particularly in Indonesia and
China, as the reason why he was able to found his formerstartup, Rickshaw.
“I was working with employees or partners in China, Malaysia, India, Australia,
New Zealand, the US, Canada, Finland and elsewhere,” says Fein.  “For me, this is
already natural, but for others, it may be a bit much.”

While these career trajectories might not be considered normal, in the end all of the
interviewees found something more fulfilling than an uninteresting desk job. It
might not seem easy right now but after a few more Google searches, a language
class or two under your belt and some good old fashioned networking, you too
could be sipping Mai Tais in Singapore after a day at the office.