“This place gives you a better perspective on life”

Last week I was in Vanuatu.  It’s an island archipelago in the South Pacific with over 80 islands stretching over 12,000 square kilometers and a population around 224,500.  A beautiful place.  Sandy and coral beaches, blue waters teeming with fish of every colour, vivid flowers, fruit laden coconut trees and banana bushes; all were a feast for the eyes and some for the stomach!

So it didn’t come as a surprise when an expat I spoke with described one of the benefits of working in Vanuatu as “ better perspective on life.”  However he wasn’t referring to appreciating the beauty of nature but lessons learnt from the local people.

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Expat life in Australia -how does it compare?

People move overseas for many different reasons.  An opportunity to explore the world, a chance to learn new skills, a great career opportunity, more money, better weather and sometimes for love.

But how do the expectations match the reality?  And is there a way we can find out if our hopes and dreams will be met? 

One source of expat feedback is the HSBC expat explorer survey results.  In these results you can see expats' perceptions of life in their new locations and how it measures up on a range of measures.  From raising children to economic data, to experiences such as social life and, yes, even the weather; you can play with the data to see how a country you may be considering as a new location compares.

Australia, as you can see if you explore the data, compared well, with an overall rating at number 5 out of all the countries in the survey.  It was lower on the economics rating but 65% of expats were satisfied with their life in Australia and many chose to stay and retire in Australia. 

Comparisons are helpful but the big picture is often more than the sum of individual factors. And sometimes some factors will outweigh others.  Being with someone you love can make all other factors unimportant.

Knowing yourself is important here.  What is important to you?  What do you really want your expat life to be like?  Taking some time to reflect will help you to make an active decision and give you stronger foundations for your time ahead.

What is important for you?

The Challenge – To provide Cross Cultural Training on a limited budget

Is it possible to deliver the quality cross-cultural training that expats need to perform effectively when the global mobility budget is tight?

We commented in last month’s newsletter that the desire to cut the cost of expatriate assignments has been a reoccurring theme in industry surveys. In fact, reducing the costs of expatriate assignments has been a continuing goal for most global mobility specialists over the past five years. 

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