Overseas experience – steepening your future career trajectory

When I received my MBA from NYU, I was told that my education would drive my long term career arc, not my immediate opportunities. I think about this statement in the context of my return to Australia.

A recent article by the ABC provides survey data that returning to Australia with overseas experience can be difficult. The logic is that Australians are returning are not able to gain positions which are similar to their overseas positions on their return resulting in demotions, pay cuts and damage to their self-esteem.

From my own experience (5 years in New York), there are some observations that I would make abut being a returnee:

• Larger markets, particularly London and New York, have a diversity and depth in industries that are not required or sustainable in smaller markets such as Australia – that is not unfair, that is physics. Seeking similar positions in Australia is unrealistic. For example, in New York, I was a Director in the research team for a sustainable investment manager. There are not many of those jobs in New York, let alone in a market the size of Australia.
• In some areas, your experience may not even be leading compared to Australia. My guess is that renewable energy and mining in Australia, given our world-leading growth rates, means that your experience in other countries might not be substantially better than the local experience. Sustainable investing is another area where Australia has decent capability and seeing the less than enthusiastic response to my experience as an attack on my self-esteem is counter-productive.
• Australia’s economy is not in a boom so while the employment rate is low (but rising), you are recruiting into a competitive market. Compensation will be lower because of this. Even if you are fantastic, it is going to be hard to negotiate high salaries. Good paying jobs in my area are highly competitive.

These are my observations based on my experience but I want to explain why I would still recommend overseas experience because, given the choice again, I would do it a heart beat.

• The experience is difficult but rewarding. You are pushed and you respond, building resilience. It is worth it just for that.
• In some places in world, you can see how the sausage is made. Seeing how an industry works at its core is invaluable. You are inside the tent and, from then on, you know why things happen in your industry the way they do.
• You build a network that is really global. You aren’t just building connections or acquaintances but you build friendships with people in your industry in other parts of the world which is professionally and personally satisfying. Think less email starting with ‘Dear Mr/Mrs…’ and more ‘Hi Indra/Malcolm, how are the kids?’
• Australia, in most industries, is not on the cutting edge. It is a receiver, rather than a generator, of ideas. Going to the spots where the ideas are made puts you ahead of the curve in Australia.

So, your overseas experience is a set of relationships, industry understanding, future ideas and personality strengths.

To expect that someone will hand the keys to a company to you based on these attributes is foolish. Making money today is about your prior relationships, projects and skills in the context of the Australian market. You don’t have any of those but you can build them.

Where you are valuable is in longer term, strategic thinking and projects that require resilience, international networks and future ideas. This, in my view, are good attributes for a senior executive, but you have to have the local elements as well.

So get back in wherever you can. Take the job that gives you the greatest possibility of showcasing your experiences over time.

The secret, I think, of overseas experience is that it makes your re-entry point lower than you want it to be but the career trajectory is steeper.