Hi everyone!
I've gotten a lot of questions about moving to another country, and I realise that there's more to my relocation journey than I let on. So firstly, let me introduce myself and what I do for a living. I work for Booking.com as a Global Senior Manager Diversity & Inclusion (Head of Identity). In this podcast episode, you can learn about my career transition from my first job to my current job. Booking.com is a travel-tech giant with about 18,000 employees across the globe, and it is one of the brands under Booking Holdings - its parent company. The company is headquartered in Amsterdam, NL, where I am primarily based.
Time for the real tea about getting this job.
I got this job in April 2021, and I remember interviewing for the third stage in the process, a night to my traditional wedding. I had two interviews a day before my traditional wedding - LinkedIn and Booking.com. Both jobs required relocation, the former to London, and the other to Amsterdam. Behind the scenes of rocking these interviews and showing up and correct, it was my fourth year of working towards a relocation job. I will list essential tips below that I paid attention to succeed and meet this goal.
Give yourself time: It will take a while to get the skills you need and build the profile you desire (the one that will get you the global recognition for non-technical roles). As I said, I started my journey in 2017, and it took me this long to finally meet my goal.
Start with remote or regional opportunities: I started working remotely for companies outside the country, which gave me a lot of exposure to a global audience, market, employees, and I started learning a lot of cultural differences. This experience came in very handy while interviewing for relocation roles.
Stand out by honing your strengths and striving to be the best: I stopped thinking small and started asking myself what it would take to compete on a global level with other candidates. This meant that I had to acknowledge my background and story, strengths, and unique value proposition. I also had to determine what I could get better at, what certificates or degrees, and what relevant experiences. A SWOT analysis helped me with this.
Learn the technicalities of work visa sponsorship per region and country: I did my homework by understanding which countries would be easier to move to and which countries had more flexibility for employers to sponsor candidates. It's also important to understand what job levels employers can sponsor relocation for. Not all job levels can come with the relocation package (with the exemption of some technical roles and some country laws). For example, non-technical roles in the US would probably require executive-level positions before considering relocation for the candidate. So if you're in a non-technical role thinking about relocation, consider that you may need to get to manager level before that dream becomes a reality.
Understand the means of entry: I focused on a role that offered relocation support and resident sponsorship. Some graduate trainee roles at large organisations abroad offer work-permit sponsorship but may not provide relocation support. It's important to know where you stand and what your needs are. It might also help to move within the organisation if you already work for a global organisation (create an internal mobility strategy for yourself). If you're thinking about starting from entry-level roles at a global company, then perhaps consider travelling out for your Master's degree.
Decide what your career values are: The most crucial part of making career decisions like this is to figure out what you can give up and what you can't. Relocating comes with a lifestyle change and is a transition for you (and your family). Countries and societies are different, and some of them have a quality of life and cost of living that you need to consider. This knowledge is vital in knowing what to negotiate for (work from home, more salary, more benefits, bonuses, relocation allowance, partner benefits, childcare benefits, visa limitations, etc.). I use a work-values checklist for this.
Okay!! So, in conclusion, I got two offers (from LinkedIn and Booking.com), and I decided to go with the latter because it aligned more with my career values.
If you found this letter helpful in any way, please let me know, and if you have follow-up questions, I'll be happy to engage. Also, feel free to join my career coaching Whatsapp group if you want to be part of a community going through this career thing together.
Talk soon! xoxo
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