Your first thirty days after arrival will be crucial.
Photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash
I got lost in the wilderness of cobbled streets, hidden alleys, glaring statues, and a vast sea of gawking strangers.
I was in the middle of an adventure.
I enjoyed every single moment of it.
But first, I panicked.
I was alone and nameless in that country. I’m just another immigrant who is intent to map a career in the international scene. I don’t know the language. I don’t know the people.
On one of those days, while looking for an apartment to rent, I got lost multiple times, missed the bus and the train, walked for hours (not necessarily in that order), hungry and tired and terribly alone.
When living and working abroad, you’ll face different survival tests like mine. Your first thirty days after arrival will be crucial. It will be your deciding point on whether to stay for long or not. You’ll face a plethora of challenges from finding a place to live to connecting with people at work, to dealing with language and culture barriers and adjusting to a different lifestyle.
Don’t worry if you end up in a panicked, high-stress state. It’s part of the thrill. You’re only getting what you asked for.
It’s a good ask anyway because if you happen to survive that, you’ll enter a growth and maturity phase that will help you surpass greater challenges in the future.
So…let’s get on to your adventure.
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Beat the panic but don't beat yourself.
Don’t beat yourself if you find yourself not adjusting as well as you wanted to be. You might have a different adjustment knob.
Unlike me, you might have come into a country where you already know some people. Meet those people when you arrive. Ask them for tips. If help doesn’t come your way from people you know, ask strangers. You need all the help that you can get.
While I wander the streets of my new home, I remembered an old Sociology class where the professor asked us to research the socially accepted norms of a country and share them with the class. While it has been interesting to learn that the French greet each other by kissing, it’s a different matter to experience it.
Think of your world now as a huge, limitless classroom. Each day you spend in it will deal you with an unforgettable lesson.
Tuck in the fear because you’ll need it to avoid hairy situations. At the same time, dare yourself to do something you haven’t done before.
Here's how to adjust to working abroad.
Your work brought you to that foreign country. Don’t make it a reason to exit the country in a flash.
During my first two weeks in a new country, I was working remotely. The work-from-home set-up dulled the impact of moving abroad to live and work as an accountant.
The only difference is that whenever I look outside of my apartment windows, I can see red gable roofs partnered with pine trees instead of a bustling street crisscrossed with lamp posts and stray electric wires.
But during those two weeks, a surprise came.
The firm partner who hired me visited me to ask how I was doing. I came from a culture where it’s not usual for firm leaders to do house visits. That’s why that kind gesture lifted my spirits and became one of the reasons why I adjusted so well.
I felt welcomed.
Of course, you cannot expect the same treatment in other countries. Your reception will vary depending on location and culture. But if you want to become well-adjusted at work, here are some tips that can help:
- Introduce yourself as a newcomer, even if no one will do it for you. When people are aware that you came from a different country and you’re new, they will warmly tolerate your ignorance. If you don’t know how things work, they will do their best to help you. Plus, you gain new connections in the process.
- Ask lots of questions. Ask about the things that you can’t Google about such as “who is the best person to approach when you need some technical guidance in the office” or “what’s the reasonable range for renting an apartment in a specific location” or even “how to use the office printer”.
- Listen more to people instead of talking more about yourself. Be mindful that you’re a stranger to that country. People might be curious at first but they’re not obliged to know everything about you. Instead, it would benefit you more to listen to their common conversation topics, spot the nuances of their language even if they’re speaking in English, and also observe their behaviors. Copy them as closely as you can but don’t also forget to be yourself. You have unique views and perspectives that you can bring in conversations.
- Engage in activities that will gain you connections and don’t limit yourself to your current teams or circle of fellow expats. In a new country and work environment, you’ll find yourself lost in a wide jungle of strangers. It’s easy to keep to yourself or within your circle of fellow expats. But in the long run, you’ll have to develop connections and know people even those outside of your teams.
- Do stretch assignments. You can keep making the excuse that you’re new that’s why you’re not being active or you can start right away and be more comfortable with it as time pass. That’s what I thought when I volunteered to train new hires two months after I started work. It was a challenge to talk to younger people who came from a different culture and who might not appreciate my way of facilitation. In the end, I realized that despite being separated by our identities and cultures, we all shared the fear and excitement of starting something new.
Photo by Harry Cunningham on Unsplash
Be clear with your non-negotiables.
If you still have the mindset that living and working abroad offers endless freedom, especially in spending, it’s time to rethink. Recall why you decided to live and work abroad. Remember that you wanted business capital or huge retirement savings, or providing money for your family or some other intrinsic motivation.
Even as an accountant, you’re not immune to the risk of over-spending. One of the mistakes you can make is not protecting yourself from the risks and squandering your money on temporary pleasures.
Identify your non-negotiables and only make financial allowances for that. It also helps to budget and track your expenses, as any good accountant would do for a company.
Learn some practicalities during your initial weeks of living and working abroad as an accountant.
No matter which country you arrive in, you’ll have to arrange for these practicalities. Most often, you’ll have to do it by yourself. If you already know someone in the country, you’re in luck but if you don’t have someone to ask, the below tips can help. You can even do most of them prior to leaving your country of origin.
1. Managing your bank accounts
You can open a bank account in your country of work prior to leaving your country of origin. Ask for the bank accounts that the company uses for payroll and contact your preferred bank. Then, ask for the forms that you’ll need to fill and send everything via email.
Before you leave, sort out your bank accounts from your origin country. Activate them for international use and inform your local banks that you’re moving abroad so that your cards will not get blocked when you use them.
If you plan to send money to local banks in your home country, partner with a reliable and trusted online remittance platform. You save plenty of time when you don’t have to line up to send money. I’ve experienced it during my first few months because I didn’t know any better. Once I found an online remittance partner that worked, I saved time. I even benefitted from better conversion rates.
2. Finding and renting an apartment
You can also do this prior to leaving. Subscribe already to the email list of reliable renting sites or agencies. Pick your selection online. Do a virtual tour if you can and commit to having a visit as soon as you arrive in the country. Inquire about the prices and be aware of how much they need for advance deposits. You can include that in your budget.
Bonus tip: Do you know that you can negotiate rent prices, especially if you’re dealing with a landowner? Just be clear on the range that’s acceptable to you. If you really like an apartment but it’s a bit higher than your acceptable range, you can negotiate to lower the current rate by politely asking. Some nice, sincere flattery also works.
3. Finding a community
You can also do this prior to leaving. Check out the existing communities in the country via social media. But if mingling with fellow nationalities is not really your thing, this would probably be the last thing on your mind. Rather, you can join expats groups that will give you accurate, real-time info on what’s going on in that country that news posts wouldn’t mention.
4. Learning the language and the culture
If part of your why for living and working abroad is to immerse yourself in a cultural experience, you’ll be in for a ride. You have to be open-minded, keen on learning, and infinitely curious.
If the country uses another language other than English, it doesn’t hurt to learn the language too. Even exposing yourself to street lingo and idiomatic expressions can make a difference to your integration.
Here's a bonus tip: Immerse in the local markets.
On warm sunny days, I enjoy visiting the Sunday market at Flagey. When I was out hunting for apartments, I tumbled into it by chance and didn’t know then that it was a popular spot among expats.
If you’re someone who likes to observe, you would find a local market to be a great study in the country’s character.
Observe this in a local market. When you find a subdued, generally quiet atmosphere where locals and expats mingle to pick potatoes, fresh lettuce, and onions while nobody’s gawking to see whether you’ll bag them without paying, know that you’re in the company of reserved and honest people.
Each country has its version of locations for “good, cheap and fresh” food. You only need to find them. Be brave to venture on your own. Indoor supermarkets will not give you the same cathartic experience.
Photo by Gary Butterfield on Unsplash
Bringing it all together
If you sum up all of the promises of living and working abroad, you would think that they’re all glamour and comfort. But behind all the glamour and comfort, there’s you, who’s trying your best to survive and adapt to a new environment.
You will feel like an outsider most of the time. You will feel alone and lonely, even in other people’s company.
You will miss home, the familiar sounds of waking to your mother’s voice or your dog’s barks or the sound of frying and the smell of it wafting through your nose as you join your family for breakfast.
You will miss the tea/coffee shops that you frequent when you’re stressed, the easy smiles and laughter of your colleagues, and the stories that you swap when you all go out for dinner or lunch.
You must endure all of that because when you first decided to live and worked abroad as an accountant, you had a clear why. You planned your exit well, prepared yourself mentally, emotionally, financially, and even prepared for the unexpected. You’re doing your best to settle and fit in at work in a new country.
After you’re done with all of it, you would have crossed many borders, gained friends, built connections, made discoveries, and opened your eyes to the world. Cherish each moment.
You’re a pearl and the world is now your oyster. Claim your spot in it.
“Adventures are only interesting once you’ve lived to see the end of them. Before that, they are nothing but fear, and being too cold or too hot or too wet or too hungry, and getting hurt.”― Holly Lisle, The Silver Door
This is Part 3 of a 3-part Audit Adventure (Audventures) series on living and working abroad as an accountant. Discover your why in Part 1 and plan for your exit in Part 2. If you want to share your adventures too while living and working abroad as accountant, get in touch and let’s get your story featured.
P.S. Are you still looking for an opportunity to live and work abroad? Subscribe to my email list and get a copy of my e-book How to Win Jobs and Influence Recruiters: The CPA’s Guide to Winning Resumes and Getting Hired.
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