If you’re serious about finding work abroad, there are a number of things you can do in order to prepare ahead. The first thing you should do is decide your top priority with regards to working abroad: is finding a job the most important thing above all else? If so, your initial job search will be tailored to look for the best jobs available, regardless of location. If location is high on the priority list, your job search should be tailored to look for jobs in a particular place. This will inevitably limit your options, but will also ensure you get to choose where exactly you want to go.
Whatever your top priority is, the very first thing you should do is find out about the best international job boards. Here are some to get you started:
Indeed
Indeed’s international job search allows a user to browse through jobs in many countries throughout the world, from Greece to Pakistan. You simply click on your country of choice and then fill in one of the entry fields (type of job or specific location). When you’re considering working abroad, it’s doubtful you have a specific area in mind, so it’s better to type the job you’re looking for into the job title field instead. For example, you might want to emigrate to Australia, but don’t have a particular area in mind. If this is the case, you simply select Australia from the list of countries, and type in the ‘what’ field. The ‘what’ field is the occupation you’re looking for. Doing this while leaving the ‘where’ field blank will show you the kind of job you’re looking for all over Australia.
Note: Simply typing in ‘indeed.com’ or ‘indeed.co.uk’ will not bring you to the correct menu. Make sure you copy and paste the URL linked above. The same applies to most of the other popular job sites. Typing in the generic address brings you to a country specific site that doesn’t include worldwide jobs.
Monster
Monster is a well known site for local job searches, but it also has a vast selection of international jobs. Language can be a barrier to looking for international jobs, so it is probably in your best interest to refine your search to countries which offer jobs advertised in English. For example, when you go to the link and click on Denmark, you will see that the Denmark section pops up in Danish. Conversely, clicking on Saudi Arabia immediately displays jobs in English. This shows that the results can be quite unpredictable when you’re conducting an online international job search, because Denmark is high on the list when it comes to English as a second language.
International Jobs
International Jobs is easy to navigate because the landing page immediately offers options for looking for jobs around the world. The countries included on the drop down location menu include Australia, China, and Russia, so you can spend hours hunting for suitable occupations all around the world. The great thing about this site is that the results are displayed in English for many countries where it isn’t their first language. The results of some countries include a mix of English and primary language results, so if you haven’t decided what country you want to live in, you’ll have hours of searching ahead of you!
Extra Tip
If you’ve already set your heart on a particular country before searching for jobs, you might have better luck simply typing appropriate search terms into Google. For example, if you want to live and work in Amsterdam, typing ‘jobs in Amsterdam’ will bring up a variety of search results that will help you find a suitable job more quickly. The sites outlined above are best for users who aren’t 100% decided on what country they want to live in, and are in the very initial stages of considering working abroad.
by Gillian Rixey
(Gillian is a PhD qualified freelance writer and scholar born in Ireland but currently residing in the United States.)
