Abroad Jobs Interview Preparation Guide

☛ Know your local consulate
☛ Meet the embassy
☛ International working vs international playing
☛ Be in touch with your employer
☛ Allow yourself extra time
☛ Documents to have available
☛ Some European work related vocabulary
☛ A country by country guide

If you are looking to work overseas, the consular should be your new best friend. A consular is by definition an official appointed by a government to reside in a foreign country and represent his or her government's commercial interests and assist its citizens there. More importantly, a consular is your ticket to obtaining all the entry/residency requirements you will need to work in that country. This is where you apply for your visa or permit. Most countries position several consulate offices in each foreign country, so you should not have any trouble finding one.

A country's main presence in a foreign country is often an embassy. This is an important source of information for anyone who would like to travel or work overseas. They can also assist you in finding the nearest consulate office. An Embassy is also sometimes called a High Commission.

To travel overseas as a tourist and to travel overseas as an employee are two very different situations. Be aware that the entry procedures and requirements are usually not the same. For instance, in many cases, tourists do not need a visa, permitted their stay does not last longer than a certain time. When entering the country as an employee, not only does the visit often last longer, requiring a different visa but the government might have a say in the activities you can engage in while in the country.

Your employer overseas will most likely be responsible for obtaining your work permit. And without a work permit, you will not be able to process your visa application. Your employer will also have to produce a contract of employment that determines your length of stay in the country and other documents concerning their business validity and your employment.

This process can be very time consuming, so allow yourself plenty of time to complete the visa/work permit process. Processing time can take anywhere from 2 days in some countries to 6 months in others. Your employer will have to arrange for certain documents (and their approval) as well before you can even begin applying for your visa. If you rush through the procedures you could miss an important step and have to start from scratch.

You should always answer yes and briefly explain why. A good explanation is that you have set goals and you have met some and are on track to achieve the others.

This question is one reason to do some research on the organization before the interview. Find out where they have been and where they are going. What are the current issues and who are the major players?

Try to include improvement activities that relate to the job. A wide variety of activities can be mentioned as positive self-improvement. Have some good ones handy to mention.

Be honest but do not spend a lot of time in this area. Keep the focus on this job and what you can do for this organization. Anything else is a distraction.