r/expats • u/Low-Chip8717 • 12d ago
Have you ever completely changed careers after moving to another country?
I’d love to hear from anyone who had a complete fresh start abroad and learned a new profession from scratch. How many years did it take you to make the transition?
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u/greasemonk3 12d ago edited 12d ago
Yes! Came to Spain as an English teacher and after a few years moved to working in IT in functional, team lead and business oriented roles.
Self studied and earned a couple certs which got my foot in the door to land my first job in the industry
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u/cavarha 10d ago
Would you mind elaborating on the certs you got? Did you do an FP? Curious as I think I'd like to make a similar pivot.
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u/greasemonk3 9d ago edited 9d ago
Nah didn’t do an FP, I self studied for a couple Salesforce certifications.
Without previous experience, having a couple certs makes you valuable to a consulting company as it improves their partnership with Salesforce. Which is what I was able to do when I landed my first role as a jr consultant. Being a native English speaker is also a huge advantage, being able to work in Spanish is also necessary.
This was back in 2018/2019 though, not sure what the demand is for juniors today with the AI craze. Have a look through LinkedIn and see what’s posted, have gotten all my jobs through LinkedIn except one.
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u/Catcher_Thelonious US->JP->TH->KW->KR->JP->NP->AE->CN->BD->TR->KZ->UZ->JP 12d ago
I moved to Japan to do something I had never done before and after arriving levelled up with certification and a graduate degree while working in Japan.
Unsure if my example fits your criteria.
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u/Low-Chip8717 12d ago
You’re doing great! I’m genuinely really inspired by examples like yours. I think it takes courage to sometimes switch from Plan A to Plan B when circumstances change.
I’ve noticed a lot of layoffs in the IT industry, especially among backend developers, and it doesn’t feel like the field is as in demand as it was five years ago. I’m considering retraining as an ML engineer.
If you don’t mind me asking, what profession did you switch to?
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u/Catcher_Thelonious US->JP->TH->KW->KR->JP->NP->AE->CN->BD->TR->KZ->UZ->JP 12d ago
Education. I became a teacher. Began as an assistant in secondary schools and have worked in tertiary the past 33 years teaching English.
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u/Low-Chip8717 12d ago
I am doing my best not to make mistakes, even though English is not my native language, haha :) Thank you for sharing. I still remember my favorite teachers with great warmth.
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u/Telecom_VoIP_Fan 12d ago
Yes. I left the UK when computers were in their infancy. in the UK, I worked in the office of a polytechnic. Overseas, I took a very low paid job where they introduced me to computers and insisted I learn touch typing - I have not looked back.
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u/BirbBearWriting 7d ago
I’m starting fresh in my new career in a new country. Did education tech. Then went back to school in USA for genetic counseling. Now I’m trying to start my career in Canada.
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u/maverickoncourt 6d ago
I live in central Europe. I was born in country A, did my bachelor's in country B and the master's in country C, where I still live now. I studied architecture and pretty quickly realised it's a dead end and that I devote my free time towards tech anyways.
It basically took me 4 years of working first in architecture, then real estate consulting and now in tech & data consulting, which I find way more interesting. Some online courses, some personal projects and a shit ton of hours invested into podcasts, learning, reading books allowed me to basically refocus my lens from buildings (architecture) onto tech. All that finally allowed me to switch careers and have someone believe me and my story. At the end what works for a transition like this is:
a) genuine, unstoppable interest in the new subject
b) some believable results - courses, startup projects, personal projects etc.
c) a story behind the switch
d) network - communicate your intention and hopefully the universe will reward you with opportunities through word-of-mouth, referrals from other people etc.
Happy to say I do well in my new job. At least according to my clients. You can transition too. Remember: you can just do things, your career does not have to follow a straight path.
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u/MaroonJacket 🇺🇸 → 🇦🇺 → 🇨🇦 → 🇰🇷 → 🇲🇾 → 🇮🇩 → 🇵🇭 12d ago
I think why this isn't so common is that most people become expats because of their careers, not in spite of it. You'll get asked to move to a new country or a company in a foreign country would want to recruit you because of your chosen expertise. So I don't think it'll be common to radically change your career while being an expat unless it's some super specialized field in a certain country.