Things to Consider When Making an International Move

As I’m sure everyone will be telling you, an international move is something everyone must do in their lifetime. This is echoed throughout the office here in Edinburgh and by many of the professionals who have been placed by us. What are you waiting for? The Think Global Recruitment team are experienced and dedicated to helping you secure a new job in an international location. The experience, and achievement, is like no other. Embrace the challenges facing you, celebrate the differences and most of all enjoy the opportunity!

Understandably, you may find an international move to be a slightly nerve-wracking experience. I certainly did but I am so glad I overcame my worries and had the time of my life. Here at Think Global Recruitment, we not only find you a job, but offer support and guidance to make the move as easy and worry-free for you as possible.

What do you find most daunting about making an international move? A question which will fill some with sky-scraping levels of anxiety, and a question which others will never really consider seriously because they’re nothing if not adaptable to any situation.

Is it leaving home, your family and friends and the security which familiarity brings? Is it the new culture, the new people, and not knowing anyone in the country, let alone the city? Or is it the more practical considerations – how much will your accommodation cost, how do you get a mobile phone SIM card, what sort of taxes are you expected to pay and how do you pay? Or perhaps it’s the little things that you’ll never know until you make the move and warning letters, for TV licenses and various other things, drop down through your letter box and you wonder why no one has ever told you. Or what if there is an emergency, what is the telephone number you call? What’s the dialling code for friends and family members who want to call you and catch up whilst you are living it large in new and foreign cultures?

Panic not!! Whilst I can’t provide you with all the answers, I do try to supply you with as much relevant information about living in a new country as I can. What makes me able to do this? By putting myself in your shoes, hypothetically, and calling upon my own experience of making an international move, to Australia, myself a couple of years ago, and travelling extensively to and from.

When choosing which course to study at university, it was a no brainer for me between business studies, and international business studies. Purely because it was compulsory for all international business students to study abroad for at least one semester. However, as the time drew closer to choosing which continent I wanted to spend at least 6 months of my life in, I quickly transitioned from being one of those people who gave the practicalities very little thought, itching to get away to see and experience the world, to a little apprehensive of the unknown, mostly.

As it turned out, I was one of the lucky ones who was awarded my first choice – Australia! Although not too culturally dissimilar to the one I was accustomed to, I was still moving to the other side of the world, never having been there before, not knowing anyone, and having to organise everything myself – flights, visa, application to university, accommodation, health and travel insurance, bank accounts, the list continues!  

Now having returned back to the UK, and graduated from university, I have joined the Think Global Recruitment team as a Marketing Intern. My first project here is to research various cities to make that international move a little bit less daunting for all those lucky professionals who are being placed by the team here at Think Global Recruitment. I aim to put those people making, or thinking of making, an international move’s minds more at ease by providing information on: how to set up a bank account, how much tax one is required to pay, the most common mobile phone networks, information about healthcare and dental treatments, the most common airlines which operate in that country to a few suggestions of tourist attractions, events, bars and restaurants to help one settle in and get familiarised with the new surroundings, all specific to each location.

I hope you find this information useful and you do decide to make an international move. I am already thinking about going again – if only I had an accountancy and finance background, I would 100% leave my fate in the hands of the Think Global Recruitment team. 

By Hazel, Think Global Recruitment's Marketing Intern