Job Tuition

Working Abroad - Check Out These Jobs

March 7th, 2007 by Andrew

This is Part 2 in a series on “Working Abroad.” In this series, we’ll examine the possibility of jobs abroad and highlight some practical steps to aid an overseas career. Be sure to check out Part 1.

In the first part of this series, we discussed why you might consider an overseas job. Now, we’re going to talk about several interesting avenues you might pursue.

Telecommute around the world

Telecommuting is definitely not new to today’s society. Many employees work remotely with companies all around the world. With technology continually advancing, employees can commute from virtually anywhere.

If you’re lucky enough to be a telecommuter, you already have a global job in your hands. That’s right, you can take your job on the road.

Perhaps you’ve already done some work while on vacation. Why not pick up and work across the globe for six months?

Here are a couple of many things to consider:

• Permission - Be sure to clear the arrangement with your supervisor. You don’t want her to find out when you’re already in another country.
• Connectivity - You’ll need to work and communicate. A good solution might be wireless internet access (hotspots, net cafes, etc) and VoIP (like Skype).
• Backups - These are important at home, but essential on the road. Your equipment is at risk every day, so protect it with backups.

For more thoughts, check out this article at World Hum.

Be a freelance journalist

News happens all around the world. There’s work for journalists in many places. That’s a prime benefit to a journalism career.

Being a freelance journalist is similar to telecommuting in many ways. You’ll be working on the road and communicating remotely. Thus, many of the previous considerations apply.

However, freelance journalists also frequently end up in harm’s way. This especially applies to journalists seeking to cover war, disasters, and other turmoil.

For this reason, it’s important for journalists to have an extra eye on security and safety. This means knowing the region you’re in, planning ahead, and letting friends know these plans.

There are definitely other considerations for freelance journalists, so do your homework. Poynter Online has a great article to get you started.

Be sure to check back for Part 3, where we’ll cover a huge list of job boards with opportunities abroad. To easily read future updates in this series, subscribe to Job Tuition by email or RSS.