Top Ten Reasons Why Expats Are Better Employees (& Human Beings)

As I continue on my job search, I've noticed different qualifications employers ask for that apply to people who have lived abroad, like the ability to work with diverse groups of people and language skills. But I've been frustrated that other qualifications seem to outweigh these skills, like having a Master's or working three years for a similar organization.

So I came up with a Top Ten list to show that people with international experience--namely, expat experience, living in a foreign country--make better employees, and perhaps, better people too.

10. Language skills: With some exceptions, many expats come home speaking a new language proficiently, if not fluently, giving them the ability to communicate, translate, and interpret. Even the exceptions--those who live in a country with the same native language--come back with an appreciation and knowledge of the local dialect and a better ability to communicate with people from that country.

9. Manners: Being polite is of the utmost importance when living abroad, especially since learning local customs is one of the most vital parts of adapting to another country. Plus, basic manners are some of the first words you tend to learn when beginning a new language: please, thank you, you're welcome, etc. Expats get into the habit of having better manners, a useful tool in being successful abroad, which carries over when they return to their home country. Having extra polite manners makes an enormous difference in how people are perceived and received, and is useful in any profession when dealing with co-workers and clients.

8. Maturity: Former expat twenty-somethings, especially those entering entry and mid-level jobs, are more likely to have a higher maturity level than those who have not lived abroad. Being obligated to deal with new, difficult situations and to get through them gracefully and successfully, as well as being exposed to totally different realities, is better than any boot camp money could buy. Those young people who have lived abroad are more likely to understand the importance of respect, obedience, and propriety than those who have not.

7. Diplomacy: After living in another country and becoming an "honorary" local, it is easy to become an ambassador to that country when returning home, be it for a group of friends, a company, or a community group. Since you know the country's customs and language well, people look to you to interact with foreigners from your former home. After living in Argentina, who would be best suited to meet with and coordinate first meetings with new clients from Buenos Aires? After living in Mozambique, who would be best prepared to handle grant recipients there? After living in the DR, who would be most appropriate to work with Dominican patients at the local clinic?

6. Flexibility: Part of the adaptation process is becoming more flexible, learning to decide the best process based on prior experience but keeping an open mind that local solutions can work, too. You learn to pick from a variety of ways to handle challenges, and to be calmer and more understanding of things that might normally bother or upset you. An American expat in Rio once told me the most important thing he'd learned in Brazil was flexibility; the example he gave was that a man was shot at point-blank range just steps from his infant son at a local park, and that he'd learned to expect challenges like this one without losing his mind.

5. Compassion: Since moving abroad and adapting is a very difficult process, expats develop a greater capacity for compassion for people going through similar situations. Also, and perhaps more importantly, expats who live in less developed countries than their home country get a much better perspective on "how the other half lives" and a much deeper appreciation for where they come from, be it Americans living in Guatemala or Brazilians living in Angola. They also develop a greater sensitivity to the poor and marginalized, a special sense of compassion for those who have less.

4. Patience: Living in another country and adapting to a new place requires a great deal of patience, even more so when living in a developing country. Even after you've adapted, some countries can be endlessly frustrating, which requires expats to work at elevating their patience levels and learning to pick their battles more carefully. 

3. Fast learners: People who lived abroad are forced to adapt to a different culture, language, and way of living, usually in a relatively short period of time in order to really integrate into the new country. They learn to get used to constant, new challenges and to be able to deal with them accordingly. Figuring out how to fix a jammed printer will seem like a breeze after having had to learn how to flush a toilet without running water. Plus, former expats are more willing to learn new skills, since they are used to a constant learning process and different learning curves.

2. Tolerance: Living abroad means having to learn to work with and get along with not only people from the new country, but quite often other foreigners, too. Learning to work with diverse groups of people in an international setting is one of the greatest opportunities expats have while living abroad, since it's an invaluable skill wherever you end up. Also, expats frequently interact with people they might never have interacted with before it home, be it people of different religions, ethnic groups, or socioeconomic groups.

1. Creativity: Research shows that people who have lived abroad are actually more creative than those who haven't. History also shows that some of the world's most accomplished artists and writers were those who spent time living abroad. Expats develop a greater capacity to think creatively and to try different ways of approaching difficult issues. Having to confront constant challenges helps expats find newer, better ways to deal with problems and makes them better, more efficient problem solvers.

Comments

[Ernest Barteldes]

What I struggled mostly after I returned were the long commutes and the crazy hours in NY. It took me a while, but I got used to it. What else was I to do?

[Germano]

Great Job! Very good and insightful post. These one will make you famous.

[BZgirl]

I totally agree with everything you’ve outlined in this post. Besides the potential for mutually beneficial economic growth between countries, this is one of the main reasons I advocate more open labor markets internationally as seen in the European Union: expatriates bring a wealth of new knowledge, experience, and a fresh perspective to the country they go to work in as well as to their home country once they return. An American who has worked abroad has a colossal leg up on one who has decided to stay here working the typical nine to five corporate job with the biweekly paycheck.

I can really relate to your points about maturity, being a “fast learner,” and your frustration with the fact that other qualifications outweigh having lived abroad. I live in a very insular part of the country (for only a little while longer thank God) and was forced to return here after I attempted to move to Rio looking for a job in my field. The down-home, frat-pack, consumerist culture and the cutesy, unsophisticated, pea-sized worldview my coworkers have disgusts me. Their “personalities” entail striving to be regional versions of Brody Jenner or Spencer Pratt (the condescending prick voice, the feigned nonchalance, etc.) and they are obsessed with consumerism. They can’t ever stop and just “be.” They always have to “be” buying, constantly spending money on the next superfluous thing they’ve convinced themselves they need. I believe it stems from their immaturity and lack of perspective. There’s definitely a perspective gap between those that have spent time abroad and those that haven’t and is usually frustrating being surrounded by these people in the workplace.

As far as being a “fast learner” goes, I really appreciate how living in Brazil has helped me put the “problems” we have here in perspective and has made me more resourceful and crafty. Working up against a 5pm deadline seems like nothing compared to accidentally stumbling into an apartment full of prostitutes during my hunt for housing in Rio, or having a landlord assure me that despite an apartment’s proximity to a favela, the drug lords “kept their territory safe” to ensure that business ran smoothly.

Finally, I share your frustration about what I would call more “on paper” qualifications outweighing having been an expatriate in the job market, except I feel it in reverse. I have had good jobs here in the U.S., but I find it frustrating that because of all the red tape and protectionist bureaucracy I can’t work in Rio (or at least São Paulo) in corporate finance in my early twenties. Instead I’ll have to resign myself to teaching English (or some equally flaky, financially unsustainable pursuit), Then I’ll have to jump through the hoop of getting at least an MBA, with the hope that my company might throw me a bone and transfer me to their São Paulo office, since, as we all know, that is where most of the big American companies are.

Either way, I hope expatriates are more appreciated and accepted in the job markets the world over!

[Priyanka]

I think tenacity is another thing that could be added to this list. Expats face many setbacks both in planning to go abroad and once they have arrived. In Sao Paulo I faced a robbery, two stomach infections and the company I worked for almsot went under while I worked there! I'm sill here though and I lived to tell about it. After that I definitely felt like I could face anyhting the world threw my way.

[Jeanne]

Why don't you add that 10 reasons to your cover letter? It would be fun.
:)

[Vince]

Hey Rachel, this is an excellent top ten list. I think a big reason is that Expats just have so much more world experience and have developed a different perspective and way to look at things by being exposed to other cultures. It helps them think creatively and outside the box, something that every organization is looking for. You can cross-post this to our site http://www.toptentopten.com/ and link back to your site. We are trying to create a directory for top ten lists where people can find your site. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list.

[sara]

I live in Ecuador and it is a wonderful country. Its people are so nice and kind, they will give you the most warming welcome. I have put together a helpful fact sheet, and also an article on Ecuadorian manners and customs.