Get A Job Abroad | Best Countries For Job Seekers | Moving Abroad When You Need a Work Visa

If you have ever said, as soon as I find a job, I'm out of the U.S., I just need to figure out how to make money. The only thing keeping me in the U.S. is finding a J-O-B. This video is for you. Over the last few weeks, I've shared how to start planning a move abroad, as well as the things you need to stop doing right now if you plan to leave the U.S. Today's video is for the folks who are not retired, are not digital nomads, do not work remote. Today's video is for the folk who can't take their job with them and aren't interested in being entrepreneurs. If you're new here and you are new to the Picky Girl Nation, welcome. So glad you joined me today. My name is Adelia Bourchardet, but most of the internet knows me as Picky Girl Travels the World. I am a financial educator and relocation specialist. I help black women gain financial confidence so they can live the life that they want and include it moving abroad or traveling the world. So if those topics are of interest to you, be sure to subscribe and turn on notifications. All right. Now, I've already told you, this video is specifically for the folks who need to find a job in another country, and that is part of their move abroad plan. But before we jump into where are the jobs, how to find the jobs, we've got to get in the right mindset. We have to approach this differently. We've got to get in the right mindset. So the first mindset change you need to make is you need to start thinking like an immigrant. You've got to understand the bigger picture, the pushes and pull factors that impact where you can migrate to and which countries are going to be looking for immigrants and which countries are not. You really need to think about what does the immigrant experience look like in the United States, because that's who you're about to become. So you need to really shift the way that you're thinking about things. That also means you need to get real about salary expectations. It is highly unlikely that you will make a similar salary or higher in another country. I experienced this firsthand. In order to leave the United States, I needed a job. I took a job at a small international school in Honduras, and I took a 60% pay cut. Think about that. I was already an underpaid public school teacher. 60% less of that is what I was earning in Honduras. However, and this is the part I want you to pay attention to, just because your salary is lower, that's not the end of the world. Despite that huge pay cut, I was still able to save 50% of my salary living outside the U.S. Okay? So we've got to open our minds, think about things in a different way. This is one of the reasons that in my videos where I talk about how to prepare for a move abroad, I'm always on y'all about eliminating consumer debt and having lots of debt back home. The reason that I was still able to live my life, travel, and save 50% of such a small salary is because I didn't need to send any of that money back to the state. I could just use it for what I wanted to. The next thing that you need to do is stop focusing so much on your job title. I understand that you have worked long and hard to reach this place in your career and maybe that title is very important to you, but that looking and focusing your job search solely on another position with the exact same title, that is going to be fruitless for you. It's really about the skills you possess and understanding what your skill set is and how that fits in the variety of positions that exist globally. And thirdly, the other mindset change that you're going to need to make is don't think about this pursuit of employment overseas like you've got to find the right job with the right country. You've got to get it all right on the first move. This can be a multi-step process. I'll use myself as an example. I did not intend to live in Honduras for the rest of my life, yet I took a job there with a 60% pay cut because it was going to get me in the door. It was going to get me experience in international education, which I then parlayed into positions in three other countries. So keep in mind that this first job that you find abroad can be the first step, the first phase in a bigger plan to get you the life that you want. All right, so let's get down to it. Where do you find jobs in other countries? How do you find jobs in other countries? Okay, so there are the usual suspects. If you can work for the federal government in the state department or any federal agency, that is an easy way to get abroad. And before you start in my comments about, well, I don't want to be a diplomat. Well, they hire for a lot of other things. Think about embassies need to be constructed. They need maintenance teams. They need IT support. Any business that the U.S. government has oversees, they need all kinds of support. They need clerical assistance. There are a plethora of positions. A lot of people don't even realize this, that the federal government even hires nurses and social workers and station them abroad. Think about military bases, let's say in Japan. I spoke to a woman on this channel who got her job in Japan because she was working in a civilian job on a military base. Think about all of the functions that need to be filled there. So there's a ton of opportunities. Okay, and kind of connected to that is working for government contractors. Again, there are some positions, some jobs that the U.S. government doesn't fill itself. They hire contractors to handle a project. And then within that project, the contractor needs to hire all kinds of people. Okay. So below in the description of this video, I will link to a list of government contractors. I will link to where you can find jobs with the federal government. And I will also put that special link in there for the nurses and the social workers who I've piqued your interest. Okay. So that's one usual suspect. You can work for the U.S. federal government across the world. The other very, very obvious place to find jobs internationally is LinkedIn. You've got to really kind of maybe rethink how you've thought about using LinkedIn in the past. It's not just about finding the job, but it's about making the connections and socializing with people, doing the kinds of things that you want to do internationally. You really have to get social on LinkedIn. And I know for some of you, this is going to be a huge mindset shift because you probably use LinkedIn more as like an online version of your resume or CV. It is so much more than that. It is truly the last real social network, whatever kind of activity and interactions that you do on LinkedIn, anyone in your network can see that. So that means other people can see who you're connected to. So you may like someone's post or make a comment and someone in a position or someone at a company that you might be interested in can also see it. That means if you're in special interest groups, networking groups, industry specific groups on the LinkedIn platform, people in your network can see when you interact with that content. And again, this is really about growing your network and people in your network being able to see what it is you do and what it is you want to do. You have to be intentional about the connections you make. You're not going to get on LinkedIn and connect with everybody and their mamas so that you have 20,000 connections. That's not what this is about. This is about being intentional, connecting with your ideal client, connecting with HR professionals in the industry that you want to work in, in the country that you might want to work in. Like I said, this is about quality over quantity, being very strategic about who you are connecting with. You want to make sure that you are growing your network with people who have extensive networks. Y'all have heard the saying before, it's not what you know, it's who you know. LinkedIn is your opportunity to connect to some people who know some people, participate in discussions on the platform, interact with content. You want to demonstrate that you know your stuff because this is, think about it from a hiring manager's perspective. If they are like digging into your LinkedIn, they're trying to get a sense of who you are. Do you know your stuff? So this is your opportunity to present the best version of yourself to the people who could give you opportunities. Something else you can do is you can on LinkedIn, you can track specific international companies that you are interested in so that you can see, because a lot of companies now post positions on LinkedIn. So connect with those companies, follow their posts, see how, when they post openings. You've got to get really strategic about, there are some profile features built into the LinkedIn platform that can also get you on people's radar. First of all, on your profile, you can, there's a feature called open to, and you can say that you're open to new opportunities. You're open to being contacted by head hunters. There's even a feature. You can go to a company's page and you can click interested in, and you can let them know you're interested. And then it forwards your profile to them. You can also set up job alerts. If there are, if you, if there's a very specific skillset or job title that you are interested in, you can set up alerts so that when those things are posted, LinkedIn sends you a message. So you don't have to spend all day on the site, scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. You can be, you know, we want to work smarter, not harder. Working for the U S federal government abroad, getting on LinkedIn, getting your profile together, getting active. Okay. And the third usual suspect, which sometimes I feel like people sleep on this is getting a student visa. Now I know you're thinking, hold up. I thought you were going to tell me how I could find a job. Sometimes a student visa is a good backdoor way into finding a job, especially if you can play the long game. If there is a specific country that you are interested in, and maybe you can't, you can't crack into the job market. Maybe you should consider a student visa. Now, why do I say that? Well, first of all, as far as I know, there are no countries who have age limits on student visas. So this is not just a tip for younger folks. This can be experienced seasoned folks who've been in the game a long time. Okay. So you can get into the country, studying the language, studying something in the field that you're in an advanced degree, or if you're looking to change and transition into a new field, this is the perfect opportunity to do so to study and learn for that new, that new field, but at the same time, doing it in your target country. There are some countries that even if you're on a student visa, allow you to work. So already you're there, you're, you're learning, and you can work a part-time jobs. It's usually about 20 to 30 hours a week, but that gets your foot in the door, right? Okay. Like Germany does that. Spain does that. I'm sure there are others. Many countries are giving more and more time that once you complete your program, once you've graduated, they give you an extended amount of time to stay in the country so that you can find employment. This gives you a leg up on people who are outside of the country trying to get in, because you've got to think about it from the employer's point of view. Are you going to want, because sponsoring an employee with a work visa is a very expensive thing. So the, the hand in the book, what is it? A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. You're there, you're in the country. I bet they're more likely to want to work with you versus somebody who's all the way back in the US trying to get in. Okay. So don't sleep on student visas. Another way that you can actual find employment overseas is by targeting countries who have critical shortage areas, where whether these are jobs that there are not qualified applicants for, or these are jobs that people in that country have no interest in doing. As I said, it is expensive to sponsor a work visa. I actually had a work visa in Mexico a few years ago. And in order to do, in order for the company to sponsor me, they had to demonstrate that I was skilled in some way that they could not, you know, find a local with the same skillset that that's why they have to justify being able to hire me. They also had limits on how many foreigners they could have employed at their company. Okay. So this is why it's often so difficult to get work visas as a part of, you know, moving abroad. This is why you want to be smart and strategic and focus on the countries that have these shortages because they are desperate. So they will incur the cost of the visa process, moving you there, getting you settled, paying your rent. They oftentimes, they will take on those costs for you and you don't have to. The number one country in the world that has the most shortages, who is really looking for immigrants to come work there, Canada. As an American, I know you're thinking, I don't want to move next door. But what did I say about thinking about the bigger plan? This could be the first step to getting where you really want to be. And you've already got an advantage. If you're coming from the US, you speak one of Canada's official languages. There is an entire list, areas, job titles that are shortages and that they are looking to recruit people for. So hopefully if I do this correctly, I will show you a list of what that looks like. Now, keep in mind for Canada, this is the federal shortage list and the federal immigration website. Each province in Canada may run its own program trying to recruit people to move there. So there will be a link to that below in the description of this video. Any guesses as to the number two country looking to get more foreign workers there? It's another English speaking country, Australia. Again, similarly to Canada, you can see there is a long list of professions that they have shortages are. And there are some, wait, Australia states. Okay. There are some state based or regional based programs like they will sponsor you and you have to commit to working in this region for two years. And then you can move and work wherever you want in the country of Australia. Again, a link to this website is in the description below. Neighboring country to Australia, also English speaking New Zealand has some shortages as well. Both Australia and New Zealand. I hear lots of wonderful things from us citizens who have moved there. And so here is, you can take a look at some of the openings, the areas of shortage that New Zealand has. And again, the link will be in the description. This wasn't my intention for the top four countries that I mentioned to be English speaking, but they are, um, believe it or not, uh, the UK is also, they also have quite a few areas of shortage. Here are some of the openings, the, here are some of the areas of shortage in the UK link to this site will be in the description below. South Africa is another country. Again, English is one of the official languages. Um, they have critical shortages in these areas. Okay. Um, Denmark. Now some of you who are regulars on this channel know that I was considering was, is considering Denmark as a possible location for second residency for me. Um, if I can get past the cold weather and if I am willing to like work, uh, there's definitely an opportunity for me to get a work visa in Denmark, which I did not expect. I was very surprised because often it's difficult to get into a European country, but not impossible. Um, and so the links, South Africa, Denmark, and here we have Ireland links to all of these, um, areas of shortage will be listed below. If there are some other European countries that you are particularly interested in that I have not mentioned because, um, there are some countries like Finland, uh, Sweden, Portugal, Italy, who have done things or are doing things to, in, to encourage foreign workers to come there, but they don't have like a website specifically set up for that. Um, if you go here to the C E D E F O P, which stands for the European Center for Development of Vocational Training, that's what those letters stand for. Okay. So if you go to their website, which I will link below, this one is specifically for Italy, but, um, they will give you mismatch priority occupations. So although this is not, let's say an official government program, but this, what this gives you is, um, an idea of which industries in that particular country have a shortage. So I'm thinking that you probably have a better chance if you target companies in those industries, when looking for a job, they may be more inclined to sponsor a foreigner. Okay. So here we looked at the one for Italy. If you go up to the top and you just search mismatch priority occupations, the search results will bring back one of these pages for pretty much every country in the EU. Okay. So what if you're not interested in EU country, there are some other countries and you're trying to figure out, are there critical shortages there? Um, then it's time to do your Googles, go to Google, put in the country's name, um, and then put in shortage occupation list. Okay. So that's going to give you a whole lot of results. What you want to do is be very specific and intentional and look for government websites. You'll find lots of like immigration lawyer websites that have that. I prefer to begin my research with the government site first. Okay. So I have just, I've given y'all everything you need to know. I don't know if it's everything you need to know, but I've given you a lot so that if you need a job abroad, you have some places to start. Now, if you, what should you watch next? Um, there are several videos I did that I think should be like mandatory viewing for anybody considering a move out of the U S the first one is one of my more recent videos. Stop doing this. If you want to move abroad where I go through things you need to stop doing right now so that you can get your plan in action. Um, this one, 10 money moves to make before leaving the United States. And then if you need some more ideas, you need on like things you could do to earn money outside the U S you want to check out this one called afford to move abroad. Thank you so much for watching. If you enjoyed this, please hit the like button. If there's someone in your life who you think could benefit from this, please share this video with them.