I know a few people off here work LT abroad, some very LT, yes i mean you Eugene!

But I've been asked a few times if the Chinese market is as good as news reports lead people to believe in the tech world and my honest answer is that i don't have a banana!

Lots of stuff on the grapevine saying about much better pay and so on but having once seen how people are expected to work over there, Beds next to desks (i kid thee not!).

Now the last offer i had for working abroad was in the famous warzone that British troops are still in for 3 months on, 1 month off rotation but was double what im on now, surprise surprise, but decided against it at the time.
Now im wondering about doing a few years work abroad if I can find a good enough paying place to build up a good nest egg and some other bits here in blighter land.

Has anyone on here in the tech industry successfully done this? FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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EVERYONE that I know that said it would only be for a few years is still doing it. Once you get used to more pay you will not want to go back to a "normal" pay.... Guaranteed! Previously..
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Thats the thing CB, when it comes to stuff like that i can set the target and stick to it

I earn 4 months wages in 1 month of OT/oncall at one point and wish I hadn't let some manage my finances as I'd still have it now  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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I did it, and I gave it up as well. The Middle East is no place to take the family, especially with the way they treat women so I came back to Blighty. Still have some money and assets offshore to keep from sharing any of it with George Osborne.

Do I miss it? Sometimes.
Enough to go back? Only if the price was enough to retire on in 2 years.

Thing is, living in a different culture is fine & dandy where there is a decent ex-pat community. Otherwise it can be a very lonely existence. The expression "There's more to life than money" comes to be especially true in those circumstances.

And you also have to remember, working in some of those places is all well and good on a Belgian or Dutch passport. However, you have a British one and there are plenty of global reasons to hate the British right now.

That's the thing, i currently have nothing to tie me down in the UK at the moment

My mums on the mend so my dad is needing less and less help with her, kid stuff still dragging through the courts and divorce papers are en route to the ex

Only thing I'd want to take is the FF for a nice long adventure drive over there!

Im not a specialist mind but have a good deal in HyperV and windows deployments with lovely dell machines and just working on my clustering skills and exchange now and learning a little about SQL admin as well but have never been attracted to coding languages  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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Waves from behind a stack of Perl books ..... I think I'm getting too old for this new language stuff  Land Rover Addict
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You wear Perls

That's the thing, only a few have stood the test of time and when i was back in college you did your java and HTML in notepad.

I use it to diagnose issues with code a little but try and stay away now as the last time I debugged a page for some marketers, they weren't chuffed when I showed them it was outlook causing the problem thru some 3rd party site that was creating the mailshots for them...

Site range me up the next day asking how I knew they caused the problem.
Simple, you hadn't tested it fully as it works fine in everything else but a LOT of people use Outlook to recieve mail so if they receive it in that its gunna look like turd after the 4th offer. At that point it would lose all formatting and dump random double carriage returns where they really didn't want them... FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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Outlook and HTML ... don't go there. Land Rover Addict
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Yeah  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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Just hit the wrong button lost my entire text

Anyway, lets try again :

The pay uplifts are directly related to (perceived) danger/discomfort. For example the major oil companies have the highest uplifts for places like Nigeria (danger and discomfort) and Sakhalin (discomfort is an understatement here ). For Chevron I believe 55% on their normal salary and usually tax free and all kinds of other nice things.

Most companies need to do it because it is the only way they can get experienced staff and if they don't take care of their people, they loose them very quickly. Still always make sure you get a lot of information on the situation onsite. Especially HSSE (Health Safety Security and Environment) as that is not only for the outside world but also for the employees .

Your situation is a bit easier being on single status as you don't have a family to come along (cost is therefore lower, despite the usually higher rotation) and no "overworrying" family at home (that can be pretty taxing and causes people to resign).

Living in the "hardship" places does come at a price, emotionally and physically it is more taxing than working in a "normal" country/place. Despite the usually nice living conditions the "outside" is generally a lot more taxing in all kinds of ways. That is where the R&R comes in, you do need it.

We have been in Nigeria for 4 years and still love it a lot and hope to be able to stay for another 1 or 2 years, but then we will have to go as the batteries for "tolerance of discomfort" are empty. Despite the fact that we love living in Lagos, it also comes with some "hardship" and risks (I had to rush to Johannesburg for emergency eye surgery last week, still recovering in Joburg at the moment).

Our plan is to recharge in a "normal" place for a few years before coming back to Africa or going to another hardship location. The main reason is not the money although that is an important factor (retirement needs to be sorted at some point), the experience of living in Nigeria or similar countries is brilliant and I recommend it to anyone. Just don't forget, it is never easy but always interesting

As for looking for work, only deal with the top agencies for your branch. They will have the better companies they are recruiting for and they now the deals (usually they also have the better packages as they know the playing field best). You can use Monsterboard and similar sites as they trawl them, as well as Linkedin.

Make sure your CV is up to date, to the point (detailed but not too detailed) and put a good personality profile on (also on Linkedin). It makes it easier for them to find you. When you get an offer, do your own research, into the country, location, employer etc. ask to speak to expats in the company, preferably from your country (as they will have a similar outlook on things as you) and ask them to be frank on the pros and cons of the company, work and country, they usually are. That to prevent the bed/office issues

I doubt that you will ever regret doing the expat thing, even negative experiences can be quite interesting (although usually only in hindsight of course). I mean most expats I know have heaps more positive experiences than negative ones.

Cheers,

Eugene MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Cheers Eugene

I keep my LinkedIn upto date but locked down to public viewing but am not actively looking per se yet.

Just might start putting some feelers out. As long as I can get semi decent food and occasional net use I'm happy

I spent two weeks in Taiwan in a tent in the middle of their summer and most meals were noodle based or Oreos

Don't fancy the Russian place, an 8000 mile drive would eat a lot of fuel and take a good 2 weeks flat out at best but more like a month!

Bad experiences, pah they only make your stronger and give you drinking stories!!!

Will have a look and see what's about over the next few days

Thanks guys  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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Just remember, don't only look at salary, but also the local cost of living. Earning 2x the salary in a city with 3x the living costs is not a great idea.

Eugene makes some excellent points and gives good advice.

I went single-status in Australia 3 years ago and loved it, but being 12,000 miles away from my wife and children wasn't easy at times.

I was given a great bit of advice before I left from another colleague who'd been there, done that. It was that you have two choices; enjoy life and (mostly) p*ss the earnings up against a wall or work hard, keep your head down and focus on the real reason you're there - providing for your retirement / family / L405 fund or whatever. I chose the latter.

I brought my wife and son across for a fantastic holiday (daughter by that time a tiny-weeny bun in the oven - that's what can happen when you've spent 10 weeks away from your wife...) and we had planned another trip until baby daughter made her presence felt, so I came home earlier than predicted.

The money was good and a real downer once back in the UK on 'normal' wages, but I've corrected that now by going contract. I'd only go out again if I had family status and Australia calls very strongly as we all loved it.

Watch the tax situation! Get a good accountant. Look at what else your 'package' includes. I had free accomodation, food, ute, fuel - the only thing I needed to pay for was beer and single malt and the odd cigar. I even got a travel allowance home every 8 weeks and made around £1,000 on each trip just by going economy. It soon mounts up...

But I found that when you encounter problems and you're so far away from your loved ones, each problem is intensified. Great experience, looking back but, like Eugene said, not good at the time.

I'd say your biggest pull to here are your kids. There's Skype and the phone and all that stuff, but nothing, NOTHING! compares to seeing them in person, face to face. And, for me, it didn't get easier, but harder each time the LHR flight was called to go back. My son (8 at the time) was in floods of tears and begging me to stay on my last rotation.

Think about it very carefully and do your research. Talk to your kids and your parents about it. Cover all angles. And enjoy every minute of it when you do go.

Do I miss it? Hell, yes!!! Si. <This is my name.

I eat rat poison.

A man ain't truly been insulted until he stands buck naked in front of a woman and she didn't even notice. Or care.

There is lies the rub. I cant see my son at the minute so I'm stuck with that and the courts process isn't fast. so i havent seen him in nearly a year already and it looks like it could be going the same timeline again due to the ex digging her heels in

My motivations are simple. I want to have enough to have a house paid for outright, if not 2 cheaper houses to rent out and start working towards a good nest egg for retirement if not before.

If I'd leapt at the one i got a while back I'd already be there as like you put Bellini, everything was paid for, even flights home and being 4-5hours on a plane isn't as bad as 24 I guess

I' d still have to pay my normal bills while out there, Rent to the folks for all my gubbins still at theirs, car insurance, MOT.... but thats not much out of the monthly paycheque expect when something breaks really  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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I did 15 years out of. Suitcase. Was already travelling when I met my wife and until we had children we lived where the work was. Holland, France, America, Brazil among others..
Did all the 'Stans' on my own but have been back in the uk for a couple of years now with just the occasional 3 months here and there. Like the contrast too and am off to India in the next few weeks for 3-6 months (yes Bellini... FPF1!!)
Will go on my own with the family holidaying for a week per month. Regards
Mark

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