Explorer une nouvelle culture est l’un des aspects les plus enrichissants, bien que challengeant, de la vie à l’étranger. Peu importe à quel point une nouvelle destination peut sembler attrayante, il faut parfois du temps pour se sentir chez soi après avoir quitté son nid douillet et familier. Surtout lorsque l’on est en quête d’un emploi ! C’est une expérience que chaque visiteur à long terme traverse d’une manière ou d’une autre, même les expatriés chevronnés et les cadres d’entreprise avisés !
Mais alors, qu’est-ce que le choc culturel ? Et comment les gens y font face ? Voici un résumé de la discussion que nous avons récemment eue. Plongeons dans la perspective de ces globe-trotters qui nous emmènent des rives australiennes au Royaume-Uni, en passant par l’Inde et la Lettonie pour arriver en France, avant de s’envoler de l’Ukraine vers le Canada. Ils partagent avec vous leurs conseils les plus sages et honnêtes. In English :
Carlie Bonavia from Australia to the U.K. “Looking back, I should have been more prepared. An Aussie journalist, I moved to the UK expecting to easily land a job in PR based on my experience and transferable skills. However, I didn’t consider the much larger applicant pool. I was competing for jobs against candidates with local experience and a much better understanding of the UK media landscape. I’d never worked with recruiters before either, so I missed some opportunities to stand out. My advice? Really do your homework, be ready to adapt and be humble. You may need to take a career step back in order to move forward.”
Sai Tejaswi Karri from India to France « Simple Words…Outside Home Country, Outside Comfort Zone. I come from India. When I started job hunting in France, I realized I was doing it all wrong in the beginning: résumé format, the language, phone etiquette in English and sending LinkedIn messages in English. Even though English is internationally recognized, I realized it is always the local language, in French, that helps me connect! So, over the next few months, I had started to train myself in these areas and getting the calls which converted into interviews. My advice: Train yourself! Repetition is the mother of all skills. The whole experience pushed me outside my boundaries, and it was completely worth it. Afterall, it led me to the job I wanted. »
Anna Zolotarjova from Latvia to France “I have decided to move to a different country from Riga. I had to be ready to recognize, accept, and play by the new rules of the game! In France, the first investment was to learn French. It not only opened the doors to the job market, it significantly increased my comfort and facilitated relationships. In order to understand what the employers were looking for; I contacted a professional employment organization. Advice: For me, job market data and workshops on how to present yourself in a résumé or during the interview by APEC (French Employment Professional Agency) have been extremely helpful.
Iryna Petrovska from Ukraine to Canada “When I arrived in Canada, I was impressed by the harsh weather winter conditions and the immensity of nature. Canada is a vast country, mostly inhabited, and I felt a little bit isolated from the rest of the world. Regardless of your level of education, it’s worth obtaining a local degree or to complete studies (e.g., a language class) which helped me to understand the culture, meet people and ultimately integrate more easily. In turn, it also opened many opportunities and facilitated finding a job. What also helped me is the understanding that I could overcome the cultural differences. Most people are nice, kind and that it doesn’t really differ that much from other countries than what I imagined. Advice: Some of us just need more time to open up than others. So, take your time.”
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