Working Abroad

Working in another country for a company can certainly enhance your confidence in handling people and situations. However, it can also provide a wonderful added dimension - a greater understanding of your company’s global vision and approach.

Elizabeth Flaherty is currently Branch Manager in Manchester for international specialist employment company Randstad. She returned to the UK after working for Randstad in Madrid, both as a consultant and PA.

“I spent a year in Spain as part of my degree in European Languages and Business Studies,” Elizabeth explains. “After completing my degree in 1993, I went back to Spain, and I taught English as a foreign language to DHL employees. In May 1997, I started working as a consultant for Randstad in Madrid in their main office on Paseo de la Castellana.

In April 1999, Elizabeth was offered the chance to take up the PA role to the Managing Director, who himself was Dutch.

“At one time in that role I worked for three people,” Elizabeth explains: “the Managing Director; the Regional Operations Director and the Financial Director. The role was very much a strategic one. It was great because rather than just doing the day to day work, I could see a strategic view over the next five years for the company’s business in Spain. The number of employees we had in Spain doubled while I was in the role from 60 to 120. Today we have 900 there.”

So what were the benefits to Elizabeth of such an experience?

“You certainly acquire more of a global vision, not just in terms of where the company is going, but in the culture,” explains Elizabeth. “Randstad’s managers are all hands on and approachable, and you can see how the company’s values and beliefs are the same world-over. I would recommend international companies to provide staff with the opportunities to exchange offices - within the EU, that’s now much easier to set up. The transferable skills you use in the UK continue to be useful abroad.”

Of course, you may need to have a good knowledge of another language, but that depends on where you go to. When Elizabeth first arrived in Spain after her degree, her first role with DHL didn’t involve much Spanish. While working for Randstad, her Spanish became so proficient that she could visit clients and hold business discussions with them.

What makes the difference between a successful stay and one which ends in tears?

“It’s important to have a mentality which is open to change,” Elizabeth emphasises. “And much depends on your boss. The relationship between boss and PA, for example, is a very close one; if your boss is open-minded, so much the better. But if you’ve got good transferable skills and the right mentality, you can do just about any role.”

“You also need the desire to live in another culture, to fit in, and to adapt to their way of living. It’s really important to be with the locals and to embrace their culture.”

On her return to the UK, her experience enabled Elizabeth to see things in a different light.

“I stayed with Randstad when I moved back to the UK, and now I’m on my fourth role with them as branch manager,” explains Elizabeth. “I think the opportunity to work for an international company enables you to see things from different angles and you have a broader point of view. Now I couldn’t imagine working for a company that wasn’t international.”

So are there any downsides to working abroad?

“It can be unsettling to come home. You can look quite negatively at your own country when you return to it. Plus you’ve changed: friends and family have got on with their own lives while you’ve been away so it can take time to settle down again. But overall it’s a very positive experience.”

Elizabeth would certainly recommend working abroad. If you’re thinking of doing it, she has these words of advice: “Be brave, find out about it and go for it. If you are independent, and you have the opportunity but don’t take it, you could live to regret it.”