From Menial to Meaningful: The Uncomfortable Truths of Climbing the Career Ladder Overseas

Living overseas can be a thrilling adventure, but for many of you (us), it can also be a frustrating experience, especially when you’re stuck in a menial job that doesn’t match your skills and qualifications. Although this is the uncomfortable truth for 90% of people who have the balls to venture into another country’s life, you must know that is in facing the harsh realities of life that we find true meaning and hope that tomorrow will be better. So, today I’m going to confront these uncomfortable truths and give you some actionable insights to help you climb the career ladder abroad.

Embracing Discomfort

Let’s start off with a big issue which is evidently in everyone’s mouth these days, but rarely in people’s heart: discomfort. One of the biggest challenges of living overseas is being underemployed despite having great qualifications and professional experience in your home country. It’s tough to see your skills go to waste in a job that hardly utilize any of your true potential. But here’s the thing: discomfort is a necessary part of growth. Instead of avoiding or resenting your current situation, accept it as a starting point for change. Embrace the discomfort and use it as a catalyst for personal and professional growth. Embracing discomfort is an exercise of humility. The world doesn’t owe you shit. So, you’d better be humble to start from scratch which is exactly what you’re doing in your new country.

Confronting Reality

Now, let’s talk about reality. The reality of professional and educational recognition and the potential limitation which language barriers can impose are harsh and frustrating to deal with. Many countries have strict regulations on recognizing foreign qualifications, making it difficult to find a job that matches your skill set. But if you think rationally, do you think it’s harder to demonstrate that you know something or to learn something new? My guess is that to learn is far more complicated. If you think otherwise, you don’t exactly know what you claim you do. So, embrace the discomfort of recognizing your professional qualifications because the most difficult challenge, you’ve already overcome when you graduated.

And let’s not even get started on language proficiency. If you don’t speak the language, your job opportunities will be capped. How will you execute on your skills if you can’t understand instructions, intent and relay information? But facing reality head-on is crucial. Start by adding a few new words to your vocabulary every day. In a month-time, you’ll have added one hundred new words to your vocabulary. Taking into consideration that an average person uses around 800 different words per day - I’m talking about professionals such as lawyers, doctors, engineers, reporters, etc. In other words, if you learned 3 words per day, you’d have a vocabulary as wide as an average native-speaker professional does in a matter of a few months.

So, ditch the night parties and the weekend barbecues and get busy researching the process for getting your credentials recognized as soon as possible. Use this process to add new words to your vocabulary. That’s productivity: carrying out one activity and getting results in two separate areas. By confronting these challenges directly, you can begin to open up new opportunities.

Finding Courage

Building a professional network in a new country requires courage. It means putting yourself out there, meeting new people, and possibly facing rejection and being ridiculed. Embracing vulnerability and uncertainty is crucial here. Join local professional groups, attend networking events, go hang out at places where professionals go for happy hours, and reach out to potential mentors. Building a strong network can provide you with valuable connections and insights that can help you advance your career.

In my time establishing a successful career overseas, I attended many public networking events of local Chambers of Commerce to start relationships with professionals whose intent is to expand their network and find opportunities. These events can be either paid or free. Don’t even try to tell me you don’t have money, because if you’re here, I know that you pay to go to parties and nightclubs. You just got to choose where you’re money can yield better results.

Building Authentic Relationships

Authentic relationships are essential for both your career and personal life. Cultural differences can make it challenging to form these relationships, but it’s worth the effort. Be open, honest, and willing to learn about the local culture. Show genuine interest in others, and you’ll find that meaningful relationships can develop naturally, providing support and opportunities for growth.

Bear in mind that the best way to become an interesting and attractive person is to be interested in and attracted to others. In other words, when meeting new people, be sure to ask more questions than you answer. Be curious about what the people you’re meeting do and like outside of work. This way, you can find commonalities and be invited to events and introduced to even more people.

Enhancing Self-Discovery and Growth

Working in a menial job doesn’t mean you can’t continue to grow and learn. In fact, this can be a period of significant self-discovery. Growth often comes from uncomfortable situations. I remember when I was working as housekeeper. Within a few weeks, I was almost always be put in leadership roles. Not manager or supervisor, but as a leading hand. Not because I cleaned showers or made beds better than my peers, but because my approach to the any situation was of proactivity, reliability and always solution-oriented.

So, how your experiences can make you stand out? Consider what you’ve learned, and think about how you can translate the insights you had working in your chosen field into what you’re currently doing. Whether it’s scrubbing toilets, mixing cocktails, pouring concrete or mowing lawns. You’re building your new character, developing your work-ethic, being dependable in a new environment. Your career depends on it. Exercises like journaling or speaking with a career coach can help you reframe your current less-than-ideal situation to one that is building you up to reach your true potential.

These are only a few of the challenges we, as expats, digital nomads and immigrants face. Embracing uncomfortable truths and dealing with these things head-on can lead to significant personal and professional growth. The way you confront the realities of underemployment, finding the courage to build a rock-solid network, creating authentic relationships, can either make or break your career and life overseas. Remember, discomfort and challenge often lead to the most meaningful growth and change.