Go East young man! (or woman)
“My god this place is just exploding … . we have so many great opportunities here and we are really only constrained by getting good people in … . jeez if I was in my late 20’s or early 30’s I’d be here in a shot”.
Two posts (here and here) from the David Brains at Edelman, make me happy to be out here.
"Maybe it is a function of my advancing years, but I am amazed that even ambitious young people in the business seem to be viewing their career in very narrow geographic and discipline ways."And one more:
"Someone once said ‘we don’t know what we don’t know’ and that sometimes makes us blind … working and living abroad is the best way to open your eyes to be a truly global operator."I like the idea of being a "global operator".
He singles out (fairly, I think) Brits and Americans as the worst provincials - cursed by their native English ability to never going anywhere. Honestly, until you've survived somewhere where the first language is not yours... Shame we haven't got an Empire anymore. There was a time when every young bright thing would spend a few years abroad, rewriting the Indian education system or putting down an insurrection. Great on the CV.
But then, on the other hand, I've heard horror stories about people trying to get jobs going back home ("re-entering the market"). Sitting in interviews, good applicants are told that they are wild and unpredicatable free spirits, and not to be trusted. Plus with an immigration policy like Britain's maybe you could say we don't have to go abroad, abroad comes here - or "there", I should say, still being in Tokyo.
Is working abroad a dirty-mark on the CV?
2 comments:
So what made you make the move? I can remember my reasons, which were as basic as "why not" and it seemed like a more interesting thing to do with my life. I have come to realise in my dotage that the meof then is a pretty crap focus group for the aspirations and ambitions of the young and talented in our market. Weird though. Good for you for being in Tokyo. You will never regret it.
Honest truth is that a fat scholarship propelled me over here, and the desire to try teaching made me stay. But I'd always wanted to travel. Everything's interesting when you're in a foreign country - even the morning commute has its surprises. Nothing is dull.
But having said all that, I'm thinking of heading home now. London looks pretty interesting at the moment, lots of chances to do internships, speak to interesting people, lots of bookshops, hmm... I kind of feel like I'm running out of things I want to do out here. Maybe it's just the three year itch. By the way, I laughed when you said, "always looking for talent willing to travel". "Willing"? Honestly, I have trouble understanding people who don't want to travel. Especially if you could do it in a way that would be helping your career!
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