Should I stay or should I go? Navigating a major career change when working abroad

Leaving a job can be scary. While it may seem that the grass is greener somewhere else, it's also a jump away from familiar territory into the unknown. Great possible rewards also come with a risk.

The stakes are even higher when working abroad, especially when it also means giving up a great position at a successful company. I had to face that decision last year - and ultimately decided to make the jump. Let's explore the reasons for it together.

Why is it harder to switch companies abroad?

Switching jobs always involves some risk, since you can never fully know if your expectations at the new role will be met. If you work in a toxic environment which affects your mental health with no improvement in sight, by all means please run. If overall your job is okay, it's better to take more caution and evaluate your next step (and whether changing companies is even necessary) carefully.

When you work abroad (and wish to stay in that country), this adds another complexity to your decision. Depending on where you are located, your residence / work permit may be tied to your employer, so your new company would need to sponsor a work permit for you, which makes you less employable compared to other candidates. Unless you are a native speaker of the local language, a language barrier might block you from certain jobs, or puts you at a disadvantage compared to local candidates. Often, companies simply prefer hiring locals when given the choice, which makes job hunting abroad more challenging.

If you are an expat, defined as being sent to another country to work for a company at their local office, such an assignment is time-limited and often comes with some extra perks depending on the company and position (e.g. housing allowance, flight tickets home, extended vacation days, health insurance etc.) - it can be a sweet deal. If you currently are on such an assignment and wish to stay longer but want to change companies, it is even more difficult, since finding another similar position is often not easy. It could almost feel like being trapped in a "golden cage" - comfortable, but hard to leave (I wrote about this in my article about the job market in Taiwan for business graduates here).

So, how can you approach such a decision?

At a crossroad. Source: Caleb Jones via Unsplash

Factors you should consider whether to stay in / leave your company

Since changing jobs is risky, even more so when working abroad, what are the factors I believe you should consider before making the decision to switch companies?

Do you like the company and its culture?

Overall, when you are thinking of going to work, how do you feel about it? Do you generally feel positive about it, or you already dread the prospect of going to work the next day on Sunday evenings? Do you like what the company is doing, do you agree with the company's mission, its culture, and feel you want to be a part of it - or actually more the opposite?

Another important factor here: Do you like the people you are working with? Are you happy with the person you are reporting to? If you can answer most of these questions with "yes" - awesome! The more "no's" you have here, probably the sooner you would want to make a change - it's not good to stay in an environment not fitting you for too long.

Do you enjoy the work you are doing?

Besides the work environment, how about your role itself? Do you feel fulfilled, happy or energized (at least some of the time) when doing your work? Great!

However, what if you often feel rather bored, uninspired, or frustrated with the daily tasks your work comes with? The good news here is - if you realize you like your company and the work environment, but not the work itself - this can be changed. If you are already in the company and familiar with the way things work - why not try to change the focus of your role, do more of what you like and try to eliminate the parts which cause your frustration? In the books Designing your work life, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans are giving great tips for transforming your current job - I recommend you to read this book before leaving a great company, just because you don't like your role (anymore).

It's usually easier and less risky to first try to change the work in your current environment, before making the leap out of the organization into the unknown.

Can you make a positive impact here?

Do you feel your contributions at this company actually matter? It could be you are passionate about the product or business model of the company itself, and feel you can directly contribute to a cause you value. It could be that you can positively impact your colleagues, your team, your clients - which makes you feel valued and appreciated. I believe it's important to feel your work is actually making a positive difference for others - it can be frustrating to be stuck in a job where you feel your contributions don't matter, and your work seems meaningless.

Are you being compensated fairly for your work?

Of course, monetary compensation is a major factor at work. There is a common perception that changing jobs is a faster way to increase your salary, so for many the prospect of earning more elsewhere is already a convincing reason to jump. Even though money is not the only factor, it's probably the most obvious one, since the monetary aspects of your current package vs another company's offer are easy to compare.

I believe companies should compensate their employees fairly in the first place, not wait with salary raises until an employee gets a better offer elsewhere and threatens to leave. If you feel not being compensated fairly (anymore) for your contributions, it's always better to raise it to HR or your manager first in a positive and constructive way, and see if an improvement can be made. If your demand is ignored, it does make sense to check if you could get a better offer elsewhere.

Can you achieve your career goals and grow here?

While it's important to like the work you are currently doing, if you have the aspiration to grow, learn new things and move forward in your career, you should also think whether it would be possible to achieve this in the current company? What opportunities for growth are there, and do they match with your personal plan? If they are available, that's great and a good reason to stay - it's usually easier to grow in an environment you are already familiar with, compared to starting again in a new environment.

While you might like the company, the colleagues and also feel like you are compensated well, if you have ambition to grow and feel you cannot make it happen in your current company, a feeling of being trapped or stuck will likely creep in over time, which makes the wish for change stronger.

Does this company match the life you want to live?

Especially when working abroad and wanting to stay in the location you found yourself in, finding a company that values and supports the way you want to live your life is important. Some companies offer flexible time, a remote work possibility, sabbaticals, extended vacations - if that's important for you because of your travel goals, family needs or hobbies, it's perfect if your company can offer it, and it will be a good reason to stay.

My own decision making process

For me, to deciding whether to stay or to go was tough. Working for an Austrian company in Taiwan, living in Taipei while still being connected to my home is pretty cool. Being able to speak German, English and Chinese on the job, being a bridge between both cultures is exactly what I like to do. My role included all of that, so it would be risky to give all of that up, especially since similar opportunities are hard to find. Why would you leave a comfortable nest, after building it for 5 years?

The answer was simple: The nest got a bit too comfortable for me. After 5 years of building a strong team and Taiwan office, once the administration and processes were running well and stable, you don't wanna change too much anymore - tweaking a few things here and there, but not risking any major disruptions. Even though I was then also involved in setting up processes at offices in other countries, it overall felt as more of the same - just in a different environment. While I still loved my job and company, I felt at this time of my career, after having worked in the company for 5 years, it would be good to see something new.

When I got the offer of another Austrian company to take a leading role in their Taiwan office and to take a leap into software industry, agile project management and organizational development in APAC, I had a major decision to make. When facing such a tough choice, I often use a simple technique for it: I imagine my life fast forward, what would the most likely scenario look like for each of the options (in this case: staying in my current job vs. making a change). I imagine how my life might be like, how my career might progress, and how it feels for me imagining it. While I also take the best and worst scenario I can think of into account, I focus on the most likely one, given the information I have at hand today. This simple exercise helps me to make my thoughts clearer, and the possible impact of the decision more visible.

Having done this exercise, it became clear to me that I wanted to give the new company a try - even though it was tough to leave a company, an environment and colleagues I loved and deeply cared about. At this point, it was then simply my gut feeling telling me that even though it was the more uncertain option, accepting the new offer seemed like the right choice for me. It was a risk, which I probably would regret not taking if I would let this opportunity slip away.

The aftermath

While it felt a bit scary to take the leap, overall it turned out to be a good decision for me. At my new company I quickly felt welcome and was able to contribute and also learn a lot in a field I had very little experience in. I quickly felt the new challenges and myself growing again. I also realized it's a lot of fun to build up things which were not there at the company yet, compared to optimizing an already well-running system. The grass is of course not greener in all aspects - every company has some parts which could be improved. Overall, taking the leap of faith worked for me - it can be a good thing to leave the safe, comfortable environment, and to take up a new challenge - even while working abroad :)