How Living Abroad Can Help Your Career Development
A few years ago, the Harvard Business Review released a super interesting article about how living abroad changes one’s self-awareness and how it could lead to better career outcomes. These are my key takeaways after reading the paper while living abroad for 1.5 years:
What?
Exposure to different perspectives: Living in our home country makes it easy to be surrounded by people who look and behave just like us. Living abroad exposes us to different values and cultural norms, causing us to repeatedly challenge our values and beliefs and see the world through different lenses.
Time and not the number of countries: The longer we live abroad, the more contrasting situations we are exposed to, and the more opportunities for self-reflection we have. So it’s more important to be deeply involved in such experiences for longer rather than living in 1, 5, or 10 different countries.
So What?
Self-awareness leads to more congruent feedback: When we have a clear understanding of ourselves, we are more likely to have a better alignment between how we see ourselves and how others see us. With that, it is easier to absorb feedback and continuously improve.
Better Career Choices: A better self-awareness helps us identify which career options leverage our strengths and fulfill our values and purpose, enabling us to be clearer and more confident about what we want to work on.
Now What?
Embrace self-reflection exercises, understand your personality traits, and know what excites you.
Seek different perspectives, and get out of your bubble. Talk with people that lived in different places, studied in different schools, or worked with different things.
And if you could do so, live abroad and get the most out of it.
A Watch Out
Moving to a new country often means losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social relationships, potentially leading to anxiety or “culture shock.” Overcoming this anxiety naturally comes with time as we get used to the new surroundings and are forced into direct experiences which make us aware of who we are.
What do you think? Have you lived abroad? Are you planning to do so? I’d love to hear your personal experiences and perceptions in the comments section.