Do you want to work abroad
Working abroad can strengthen you both professionally and personally, but there are also some considerations worth making beforehand. Learn more here.
The ongoing digitization, globalization and increasing international cooperation in the financial sector have created new job and career opportunities around the world.
But it can be a big decision to leave familiar surroundings and settle in a completely different country. Therefore, we have put together some questions below for you to consider if you are thinking about a career abroad.
Consider which country you would like to move to. Is there a particular country that draws you because you have a special affiliation with it? Or are there countries where precisely your skills are in demand and where you can be challenged in terms of work?
Before deciding on a destination, it may be a good idea to get information about the country’s living and working conditions to give you a realistic picture of what it would be like to live and work there.
If your dream destination is in Europe, you can find all important information about a European country’s living and working conditions via the EU job placement portal EURES. EURES also has a job bank where specific job opportunities and positions are posted.
Take a look at some of the below websites that show potential jobs in finance abroad:
http://www.ecb.europa.eu/careers (European Central Bank i Frankfurt am Main)
https://www.srb.europa.eu/en/vacancies (Single Resolution Board i Bruxelles)
https://www.eib.org/ (European Investment Bank i Luxembourg)
https://www.eif.org/ (European Investment Fund i Luxembourg)
https://www.eba.europa.eu/ (European Banking Authority i Paris)
https://www.esma.europa.eu/ (European Securities and Markets Authority i Paris)
https://ec.europa.eu (European Commission i Bruxelles)
www.europeanjobdays.eu (European Job Days)
https://epso.europa.eu/(European Personel Selection Office)
There are generally two options if you are dreaming of working abroad:
- You can get posted, which means that you work abroad for a time-limited period, typically between 1 and 3 years. You usually work according to Danish rules in this case.
- You can get offered employment abroad, which means that you work abroad under the same terms as the country of employment’s own citizens.
It is important to clarify the type of employment involved when seeking advice.
If you have a family that is coming with you abroad, it is incredibly important that you have talked things through well in advance. You will be setting up a different daily life together, where language barriers, cultural clashes and homesickness for your home country may occur. It may be appropriate to consider the following:
Your partner’s daily life
What will your partner’s daily life consist of? Does he/she have a job themselves, or will he/she have to fill their day with something other than work? It is important to take these considerations into account, both in terms of finances and to ensure that all parties will be satisfied in the new surroundings far away from friends and family.
Children who are in day care or school
If you have children moving abroad with you, it is a good idea to investigate the offerings for day care and schools in the country in question. It is appropriate to investigate whether there is any opportunity for your child to get into a day care centre or whether other childcare offerings need to be found, such as an au pair. For children who will be in school, it is important to investigate which schools are offered, whether there are vacant seats and what it might cost. It is not unusual for international schools to cost between DKK 5,000 and DKK 10,000 per month per child. It may be worth checking whether your contract covers these expenses.
It can be a big step to leave your home country to try your hand abroad, and therefore it can be a good idea to reach out to others. It can create a lot of security to have a network in the destination country both before and during your stay abroad. If you need to contact others who are in the same situation as you, social media can be a good tool to use. There are a number of network groups for Danes abroad on media such as LinkedIn, Facebook etc.
As a member of Finansforbundet, you also have access to useful coaching opportunities that can move you in the direction you need. If you would like to share your thoughts, dreams and worries with someone else, you can book an interview with one of our career consultants or participate in a mentoring programme.