Working Abroad: A Year in Reflection

Last Friday was my last day at Meltwater, as well as roughly a year since I moved to Shanghai.

I will be moving onto a new role, here in Shanghai, at a company that I’ve admired for some time.

The last year has been one of great personal and professional development. I’ve been keen to write about my experience living and working in Shanghai for some time, but found it difficult to pick a key takeaway to focus on.

During this period, I did many things for the first time.

I hired my first employee, I managed my first team, I missed my first KPI (but hit my second, third..), I led my first workshop, I received my first Z visa.

While these events were time markers in my experience, it was the time in between these and other firsts that led to my greatest growth.

Smaller preceding and consequent moments had the greatest impact: the pool-like humidity on my walk to my first day in the Shanghai office, the drinks and dumpling outings with my manager, the anxiety around my underwhelming Chinese, the problem solving calls with HR, the missed opportunities to connect with some of my colleagues, the unexpected pep talks from senior managers offering support, the language barriers that at times kept me out of the loop, the opportunity to watch my team blossom in front of the rest of the office.

During this time, I began to learn how to manage a team (and myself) remotely, how to take feedback from my team, how to motivate people, how to cascade goals, how to talk to clients and high level internal stakeholders, I also learned the impact of emotions at the workplace and the value of feeling valued.

I watched the power of a culture of radical empowerment to motivate people to go above and beyond, and the ability of a performance-driven KPI culture to allow people a vast amount of freedom to work independently. I saw great managers who are able to be both leaders and friends, and unite those underneath them around a common goal.

I now understand the true importance of HR and all HR related functions, which I could not always see when I worked in HR. The difficulties to recruit people who can be future leaders in the organization, the challenges to create and maintain competitive and localized benefit packages, the complexities around organizing people globally in an increasingly globalized world, and the importance of the interpersonal guidance from HR business partners. I see this as the most important department for ushering in a time of greater globalization in business.

Because of globalization, we need fewer and fewer people to move to other countries in expatriate roles, however, paradoxically the (business) world needs more and more people who can transition smoothly from culture to culture.

It is well-documented the opportunities for growth and the challenges for individuals working abroad, or “expats,” however, less documented the challenges for those who do it very early in their career.

I’ve never referred to myself as an “expat” for a variety of reasons, one being the level of privilege implied by the title, as well as obvious questions around why people from some countries are “expats,” while others seemingly are not. Both reasons make me feel compelled to correct those who call me one.

To me, “expat,” implies that an individual has moved abroad to work in a position with a wealth of experience and seniority in their organization.

Perhaps “hustler” is a better work for the young and ambitious professionals who move abroad for the opportunity presented to differentiate themselves if they are willing to constantly adapt and redefine, and are not afraid to shuffle their game plans.

The handful of individuals I see doing it well are a motivation to me, however, they undoubtedly all have a story to tell about financial, housing, job, visa, etc, insecurity that would be hard for their friends at home, or true “expats” to understand.

As without the protection of a position of status, you are often confronted with issues and challenges in the workplace that an “expat” might not encounter. Fewer tactical answers are expected and less understanding of the local market and local standards is needed to prove your salt.

Without fluency in the local language and a storied background in your field, you have no choice but to differentiate yourself. While ten, or even just five years ago, native English speaking ability might have differentiated you, in today’s international business environment, this holds little value amongst the impressive polyglots that you work with.

For those willing to lean into the uncomfortable and able to question, doubt, and rally themselves, I highly recommend using your early 20s as an opportunity to open your eyes and expand your world if you have the fortune of being offered the opportunity.

This year has been indispensable in my own career journey and it is hard to imagine where I would have been if I had not boarded my first plane to Melbourne, Australia.

I am so thankful for the opportunity that I had to work at Meltwater and to the individuals who took a chance on a young woman without much experience but whose potential they believed in. 

I’m thankful for my Australian and Chinese colleagues who welcomed me when I arrived at their offices.

I am thankful to the APAC management team and most importantly my Insights team.

Thank you!

#china #globalization #careers