Career planning for expatriate partners involves navigating unique challenges and opportunities
Career planning for expatriate partners involves navigating unique challenges and opportunities.
Flourishing Abroad: Introducing the „New Roots“ Expat Partner Support Program
Discover the „New Roots“ program, your sanctuary of support and enrichment as you begin your life in a new country. Designed specifically for expat partners, this program will assist you in adapting to new cultures and building a fulfilling life in your new home. Read on to explore how I can help you navigate this exciting journey.
The aimless & spoiled expat spouse – an opinion piece
A few years ago I read an article in a renowned German newspaper about women who move abroad for their husband’s careers and give up their careers to do so. The article was written in a tone that made it clear that the reality of this situation was not fully grasped by the authors. There was a lot written about self-sacrifice, betrayal of emancipation, and throwing away one’s identity. These are points that are certainly felt partially by expat partners, but they do not reflect the real motivation and situation in all its complexity. I have then written an opinion piece that has lost nothing of its relevance to this day.
Therefore, in this blog post I would like to point out the other side and draw a counter-draft to the image of the spoiled partner abroad.
The 4 different types of expat partners
In this blog post, I will paint a picture of the accompanying partner trying to summarize different study findings. It will help you to get a feeling for the wide range of personalities of the expat partners.
The threat of expatriation for the expat spouse
An international relocation presents varying degrees of threat or challenge to expatriate spouses‘ happiness. In this blog post, I explain why that is and reveal the key ingredient to master the journey of moving countries with a sense of fulfillment and happiness.
What do spouses work when moving abroad?
Learn how many expat partners are working abroad, the question of having a work permit or not and what to do when Plan A of continuing your former career does not work out.
Role Model Story Flor: A dream job 9 years in the making
Our Role Model Flor has a lot to offer: she grew up in Venezuela and is currently living in Germany with her American husband. She raised 3 children far away from home, couldn’t continue her profession as a lawyer abroad, was searching for herself without the professional label for a long time, and finally found her dream job shortly before her family will move from Germany to the USA in the middle of a pandemic. Flor has so much to share with us. She tells us what it was like for her to be at home with three small children and the knowledge that her own career fulfillment was so far away. She also shares about the long application process that finally provided her with her dream job and reveals her secret ingredient
Why some assignments fail
Not every posting ends happily. Many secondments fail, affecting not only corporate projects but also, especially in the long term, family and personal satisfaction. In this blog post, I would like to share a few insights that I was able to find in the course of my research on this topic. I like to refer to academic studies and large-scale studies and I am glad that there have been more studies on this topic especially in the last 20 years. If you want to look more into the topic feel free to check out this info box. In this box, I put the names of some papers and studies that I consider relevant.
6 Pillars of creating a career abroad
In this blog post I would like to go into the 6 pillars I recommend every expat partner to build. I address each of these pillars in my 1:1 coaching sessions and in the regular Mastermind groups.
Internations Business Solutions Study 2019
Recently, InterNations Business Solutions published its new survey about expats around the world. This time they dedicated a whole section to the relocation spouse and presented her demographics, personal situation, needs, and wishes for their time abroad.
With over 1,300 relocation spouses interviewed, it is one of the most comprehensive surveys out there. That’s why I find it highly relevant to talk about the results – so let’s have look inside.
EXPAT PARTNER CAREER PLANNING: HOPE & DISILLUSION
Recently I stumbled upon one of the best, recent academic papers about Dual-Career Planning in expatriation. The paper „Expatriated dual-career partners: hope and disillusionment“ by Agnieszka Kierner perfectly illustrates how hope vanishes when career goals are not met during an international assignment.
Career Planning for Expat Partners: Insights Career Survey
In this post, I want to share with you the results of my very own survey I did with about 200 expat partners around the world. I have asked them about their job situation, work permit situation and how they are evaluating their career after moving abroad. In the following, I will share my top 5 learnings as well as an infographic with more details.
Blue Monday
Do you like Mondays? I have the feeling that claiming to hate Mondays is not only the new norm but also widely socially labeled as „cool.“ Everyone is posting a sad face and a reference to Mondays on social media. I recently found out that there is also the term „blue Monday“ referring to a Monday in January which weatherwise brings the most depressed vibe with it. However, if you are the expat partner, Mondays might have reached a new level of stress. In this article, I want to explain why and what will help if you are feeling moody.
A positive answer to the question „What do you do?“
So, I covered in several posts the identity struggle than can come along when you are moving abroad for the partner’s job. It’s a new beginning on several levels and a change also in areas that you have been happy with such as the job situation. In this blog post, I want to present you an interview with a very experienced Expat who moved abroad for her husband’s job and managed to re-invent herself and be happy with the new lifestyle. She contacted me after reading one of my blog posts where I covered the topic of why the question „What do you do?“ can be a tough one. She expressed her disbelief that modern women are still struggling with this and showed me her perspective. I loved it and wanted to present to you her point of view so I asked her for an interview. And here it is: A conversation about the modern challenges of being an Expat Partner and what to learn from more experienced Expat Partners – with the amazing Antje Döhring.
The truth about Blogging – an straightforward interview with an Expat Mum
This interview is the perfect proof that when you reach out to the universe, it will reply. I was searching for Expat Partners who were willing to share their story of becoming a professional blogger, and I found Christine. She was an Expat in Germany when she started her blog and turned it into a real profession. In this interview, she is sharing her tips and tricks without whitewashing. She is pretty straightforward about the ups and downs of blogging making this interview a perfect resource for you! I promise it is worth your time! Thank you so much, Christine, for your contribution!
The Expat Partner in Numbers
Since I started my mission to help Expat Partners worldwide to continue their career abroad, I am fascinated by the statistics you can find in that field. In this blog post, I want to give you an overview of the different resources out there and what is so impressive about them.
The Impostor Syndrom: Why it is such a big deal for Expats/Expat Partners
I recently joined a webinar about the Impostor Syndrom amongst the Expat community by Monika Evje. It was really interesting and offered a lot of helpful information, so I did some further research and decided to share my learnings in a blog post.