Working In A Different Country. Part 2

Hello World! We are back again with our second article that goes over travel tips for young business people. Just to recap my expertise on this issue, I have been around the world the past six years. I started out as a call center agent in Oklahoma, moved up to the equivalent of an office Manager in Washington DC, a Regional Client Services Manager in Seattle, a Director of Marketing in the Philippines, and have hit certain countries like Vietnam, Taiwan, China and Japan along the way.

Just 6 short years have passed and I now am the head of marketing for an international firm in California. I feel that my travels around the globe have given me the knowledge necessary to give you very useful tips and insights as you get ready to head off into the wild blue yonder.

For the most part, the tips and pieces of advice in this write up are primarily for the type of business individual that is getting ready to move to a country that they have never been to before. Quite a few of my pieces of advice might sound downright immature, but i have seen so many "fresh out of college" business people fall for these easily avoidable pitfalls on many occasions.

1.) ALWAYS do the correct conversion math and don't forget to calculate local taxes into your foreign based paycheck. Obviously, most people tend to giggle and roll their eyes when I make the following suggestions, with that said, I have witnessed quite a few co-workers break down in tears because they thought they had taken a high paying job only to realize the local tax was triple on worker/foreign workers, so make sure to do the proper conversion math. I once witnessed a colleague leave an 80K a year job only to make a monthly salary that was less than 700 US dollars.

2.) Do not assume anything about working privileges on different types of Visas. No matter what your are told over the phone, make sure that you see the Visa stamp in your passport before you head off to a foreign country, in fact, double checking with a consulate is the safest route to take.

3.) Figure out your transportation mode and route before you arrive in a foreign country. Don't end up being that guy who gets lost in the wrong part of town only to get mugged by a taxi driver and then thrown in jail for not paying a bribe when you report it to the police, and than getting fired because you didn't show up for three days because you were in jail. Don't wing it when it comes to transportation. The single most important thing you should do is to do a thorough amount of research. In a large number of metropolitan areas overseas, it really doesn't make financial sense to even own a vehicle.

If you are that one guy that ends up trying to figure out transportation on your first day, trust me, you are on a one way train to getting lost, being late, and probably getting fired. Unless you speak the local language, odds are, you will end up lost a ton unless you have done due diligence.

Parking in Asia will make parking in New York seem like the ballet. Take into consideration that with the exception of the occasional airport limo, using a taxi cab or a limo service will drain whatever paycheck you are being paid.

Obviously, city trains are not always safe, but they are usually the most affordable and reliable, so make sure to do a ton of research on google and look up a few maps of the metro area so you know where to rent an apartment so you can minimize the commute if transportation gets too complicated, et cetera.

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