I’m thinking about working outside of my home country (the US), but everyone I know who has done so did it a long time ago, so i suspect their information is badly out of date. There have been quite a few threads about working in specific countries and the peculiarities thereof, but I have some more general questions. I’m a geologist, for what it’s worth. Please fight my ignorance. Thanks.
Considering tax breaks vs cost of living vs higher salary, how much more money can one make for the same work? I realize nobody is going to talk to a bunch of strangers about their personal finances, I’m thinking more about ballpark percentages.
Is it true that Americans are relegated to jobs in the developing world ie. sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East. I’ve been told that jobs in industrialized nations generally go to Europeans as a matter of company policy due to various political/cultural reasons.
Are there any good web resources for job/ salary information.
Again, I really don’t know anything about this, so I hope I don’t come off as an idiot, because I’m trying not to.
If you want to live and work outside of your home country you need to look into which countries will allow you to move there in the first place, without being invited by the host country.
If you do it properly (i.e., completely by the book), generally what needs to happen is you need to locate either a) a US company that has postings overseas or b) a foreign company that will sponsor you, handle your paperwork and invitiation, work permit, etc.
I worked abroad following option B in Hungary. To answer your questions, I made much less money than equivalent work at home, but the cost of living was much, much lower at the time (not true so much any more) than here.
As to point two, I’ve known plenty of Americans who have worked in Western Europe. I’m not sure what options are available to geologists–the people I know mainly are business folk, NGO workers, journalists, and, of course, English teachers.
Others just go to the foreign country, hit the pavement, make connections with the local expat community, and try to parlay that knowledge into some sort of work and worry about legal working status later. I wouldn’t recommend this to any but the adventurous, determined, and those who don’t really care about getting by on barely a living wage, but just want the experience of living and working abroad.
Do you mean that you need to negotiate permission to move to a specific country first, then once they agree to let you in, you find an employer? I had thought that you need to apply for a job first, then your employer negotiates to get you in. This could be considerably more difficult than I thought.
No, you got it right. Part of the process is the employer petitioning for your work visa, and this generally requires the employer to explain why a foreigner, rather than a local, is necessary for the job, and that all reasonable efforts have been made in trying to find a local for the job, etc, etc… Of course, it depends on the locality, but this seems to be how most of the countries I know do this.
Are you a geologist working in the oil and gas industry? There are several rock spotters and other oilfield assorted people who might be able to gve you some more directed advice and if so I offer the following
Considering tax breaks vs cost of living vs higher salary, how much more money can one make for the same work? I realize nobody is going to talk to a bunch of strangers about their personal finances, I’m thinking more about ballpark percentages.* Depends on your lifestye and how ell you can negotiate. Are you going to go expat for cash or for the experience. Your honesty with taxes can have a bg bearing here.
Is it true that Americans are relegated to jobs in the developing world ie. sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East. I’ve been told that jobs in industrialized nations generally go to Europeans as a matter of company policy due to various political/cultural reasons.
In the O&G industry it tends to go with the culture of the oil and gas company. (Broad brushes ahead) If it is a US company, expect a lot of US guys with regular rotations. Europen companies tend to have more europeans with more of a live in country attitude. If the company is a National importing expats, all bets are off, there are a butt load of US guys in Saudi Aramco , and you will find very few Dutch guys in Petronas. As to bingin teh arse end of teh worls, in more developed countries they tend to pull locals rather than expats and Eurpean expats tend to be a bit cheaper then US expats.
Are there any good web resources for job/ salary information.
In general, yes, you find an employer and they sponsor your visa application. As pulykamell notes, they generally have to explain why they need a foreigner as opposed to a local, and that they have tried to fill the vacancy with a local but have been unsuccessful. In the European Union, they generally also have to show that they have been unable to find a suitably qualified person in any other EU states before they can offer the job to a citizen of a non-EU state like the USA.
There’s a couple of possible exceptions. One is marrying a citizen of your preferred foreign state, which often allows you the right to work in that country. However, marrying a foreigner may not be in your immediate plans.
Some states also offer visas to highly skilled workers even if they don’t have jobs lined up. Usually this would be in fields where the state has a shortage of qualified workers such that employment for the visa applicant would be a foregone conclusion. Not all states have such a program.
Best thing to do would be to choose the countries that interest you most and check out the website for their consulate in the USA - most countries have English versions of these sites. As an example, here’s the website of the British Consulate in the US. Available visa types and requirements are often listed on these sites.
OK, this makes a lot more sense now, thanks. No, marrying in would not be an option, I think the Mrs. would object. Yes, I do exploration and development drilling yes, I only work for money and no, I’m way too scared of any government to be anything less than completely honest when giving Caesar his due.