Take an Overseas Assignment to Take a Step
Up the Corporate Ladder
There is nothing like
an extended stay in a
foreign country to get a different perspective
on world events, and there are
sound career-enhancing reasons to
work abroad. International experience
can give you a competitive edge and
may be vital to career advancement.
Such experience goes far beyond mastering
country-specific tax and accounting
codes.
The demand for employees interested
in an overseas assignment was
on an upward trend from 2005 to
2008. Driven by a booming global
economy, more than two-thirds of multinational
corporations reported an
increase in the number of international
assignments in 2006, according to the
Global Relocation Trends Survey, published
annually by GMAC Global
Relocation Services. A similar percentage
of employers sent even more
employees on overseas assignments in
2007 as compared to 2006.
As a result of the global recession,
a record number of companies cut
overseas assignments of employees in
2009. Forty-six percent of multinational
companies reported a decrease in the
number of international assignments,
but with the economy stabilizing 44
percent of multinational firms expected
the number of international assignments
to increase in 2010.
On arrival in a foreign city, the tendency
for expatriates is to live in a section
of the city favored by other visitors
from home. For security reasons, some
executives also travel everywhere by
chauffeured limo with an Englishspeaking
driver. It is possible for U.S.
executives to live abroad for an extended
period of time without soaking up much
of the local culture. Doing so may
increase one’s comfort level but at the
loss of some of the valuable lessons to
be learned from living abroad.
Oversees assignments do not come
without some sacrifices. Long overseas
postings can put stress on a family. The
most common reason for turning down
an international assignment involved
family concerns such as children’s education,
family adjustment, partner resistance,
and language. The second most
common reason for refusing an assignment
was concern for a spouse’s
career, not unlike the same concern
some employees have about a job that
requires a cross-country transfer.
Yet as globalization has pushed
companies across more borders, CFOs
with international experience have
found themselves in greater demand.
Some chief executives value international
experience in their CFOs more
highly than either mergers and acquisitions
or capital-raising experience.
3 If going abroad for a full-immersion
assignment is not possible, what are
some substitutes for a global assignment
that may provide some—