Not having success finding a job in your home country? Looking for work and applying to jobs abroad can be a good alternative. The benefits are increased work opportunities and higher salaries. In this article I talk about some steps to make your abroad job search a positive experience.

There are two ways you might look for work abroad.

One way is to travel to the country where you want to work and look for jobs from within. However this way may not be practical for everyone.

The second option is to apply for work from your home country. This is usually the more attainable manner. Whether you plan to eventually travel and work a regular job or are planning to work remotely from your home country for a foreign firm, research is important if you want your job search to be successful.

What companies have job vacancies in your area of expertise and where are they posting these jobs? It is important to know this. You don’t want to be applying for work through unreliable websites or recruitment companies that are only interested in selling you their paid services. There have been cases of fake job ads, so do your due diligence before applying.

You might try regional classified ad websites or regional newspapers’ job ad sections. Alternatively you might try to look for vacancies directly on companies websites (career portal). This second method is more fruitful for small/medium businesses than for large corporations, which tend to have more complicated recruitment procedures and thousands of job applicants.

A third way is to connect with the hiring decision makers on professional websites like LinkedIn and apply for jobs there.

Once you have decided where to find and apply for jobs, it’s important to work on your career branding image. Do you have the qualifications and experience needed to get the job? Are you conveying your skills and abilities correctly through your resume / CV, job application letter, and work portfolio?

Applying with a job application letter or CV that doesn’t clearly convey your skills will cause your job search efforts to be wasted. Your CV should, at a glance, tell the recruiter what job you are applying for and how your qualifications match those required for the job. It should highlight your achievements and convince the hiring manager that you have the skills to do the job well.

Along with your CV, you should have a well-written professional cover letter tailored to the job you are applying for. A cover letter is not less important than a CV. Recruiters read the cover letter first and if presented with an unclear or ambiguous cover letter, they won’t proceed to the CV at all! Therefore, both your CV and cover letter need to be the best professional quality if your job search efforts are to be successful. Both these documents should inform the recruiter what makes you the right candidate for the job.

If you are able to create a short video (preferably a 1 minute video) talking about your qualifications, achievements and career goals, and link it with your job application, it can increase your chances of getting a positive response. You can create your introduction video and upload it to YouTube as a private video. Then provide a link to the video in your job application.

In addition, because you are applying from outside the country, your job application letter / introduction video should inform the recruiter of this and tell how you can be contacted, by phone or videoconferencing. It is recommended to have a scheduling system through which someone can easily schedule a call / interview, such as the one provided by Calendly. Utilizing this one element can make you appear more professional and increase your chances of impressing a hiring manager.

Now you have to tools to make your job search a success. Find the job vacancies and apply to them using your optimized CV, cover letter, portfolio, and video intro.

Happy Job Hunting!

Summary:
1. Find reliable sites to look for jobs abroad.
2. Make sure you have the qualifications for the job you are looking for.
3. Have a CV, cover letter, and portfolio that convey your qualifications.
4. Create a video introduction to convince the hiring manager.
5. Inform the hiring manager that you are applying from outside the country.
6. Provide information on how you can be reached through phone, WhatsApp or video conferencing / Zoom.
7. Have a scheduling system through which the hiring manager can easily schedule a call or interview with you.