Natalie Tan

Natalie and I share an obsession with living and working abroad. We met as students at Cal, and have pursued international careers in completely different ways. Natalie’s path has been more linear than mine. She majored in Mass Communications at Cal, and studied abroad in Paris. While working for a major public relations firm in San Francisco, she negotiated a transfer to the London office. Now she’s back in the Bay Area and managing digital projects for Lonely Planet and preparing to enter an MBA program in Hong Kong. A few months ago Natalie got in touch with the Cal Career Center and was invited to lead a workshop called Get Your International Career in Gear. The workshop happened to be during my visit, and I was so glad to participate.

Here are the slides from the event.

These summarize Natalie’s experiences and mine, and include flow charts that explain each of our career paths. Mine is about to going from a starter position to a local hire. Natalie’s is about how to transfer within a multinational company. Many students took photos of these flow charts! A good sign.

A few more comments on topics that came up during our presentation:

1) Network, network, network!

The best way to find international opportunities is through friends (and friends of friends.) If you’re interested in, say, urban planning in China, or social entrepreneurship in Singapore, or ways to live in France, tell everyone you know. Your aunt’s friend’s daughter might be a fantastic contact for you. Search LinkedIn for people with similar interests. Ask them about their experiences. Make it easy for these people to help you, by being specific, concise, friendly, and grateful. Through this blog I get quite a few emails from people considering a similar path and I am more than happy to listen to their ideas and connect them with my friends.

2) Opportunity Benefits and Costs.

The big benefits of living and working in another country are that you can immerse yourself in a different culture and experience the world in a new way. You can master a language, get involved with new industries, and connect with fascinating people. And so much more. I’ve talked about these benefits at length in this interview for Atlas Sliced, this podcast on Brazen Careerist, this post for Untemplater, and Why China? Because I could.

Would I be able to invent a new course at a university in the US, like I have in Chile? No, especially not without a graduate degree. Would I be able to work in such a wide range of industries and build the portfolio career I have now? Probably not.

However, the opportunity costs of these choices are less commonly discussed. One student asked if I thought I was missing out on career growth by working overseas. I answered by saying, “It depends on what’s important to you and how you’re defining career growth.” If I were looking for a steady job in the Bay Area right now, would a recruiter look at me just like a 2006 Cal grad who had spent the past 6.5 years working for the same company in the Bay Area? No. Would I be offered the same position and salary as that hypothetical person? Likely not. If I’d had tens of thousands of dollars in student loans from college, would I have been able to pay them off by now? Maybe, but I might have made different career choices in China and Chile to ensure more stable income.

A friend of mine served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Latin America and then did an International MBA in one of the best programs in the US, which included a year of study and internship in China. When he finished his MBA, he applied for jobs in the US in his field, and it took him more than a year to find a job, and he described that job as less than ideal. He’s bright and hardworking and his experience is all related, but he noticed a mismatch between his experience and what company recruiters were looking for, since the recruiters are used to seeing MBA graduates who’d had more traditional pre-MBA experience.

If and when I decide to move back to my home country, I know I’ll need to carefully package my experiences into something that people can understand and see specific value in. I will likely continue to pursue an entrepreneurial portfolio career. Cate Brubaker at Small Planet Studio has written extensively about re-entry, and she interviewed me about my re-entry experiences in this podcast.

If your dream is to live and work abroad, you can make it happen. Do your research, build your connections, and get your international career in gear.

Here’s the text of the handout we gave out at the event, to guide students in their initial international career research:

Websites About Working Abroad:   

The Cal Career Center is a great place to start researching international opportunities! Other resources that Leslie and Natalie recommend that aren’t already mentioned on the site are discussed below.

On AtlasSliced.com, twenty-something Alexa Hart interviews dozens of young people about their international career paths. Her site also features excellent resources about how to volunteer or work abroad.

At TeachingTraveling.com, Lillie Marshall shares stories to help more teachers travel, and more travelers teach!

Books:

Go Global! Launching an International Career Here or Abroad by Stacie Berdan
$4.99 Kindle/$11.99 paperback on Amazon.com
Stacie draws from her own experience to give practical, step-by-step advice. She worked for a top global PR firm in Hong Kong for many years, during which she gained the skills and experience to skip several levels on the corporate ladder. (I previously reviewed this book here.) 

Delaying The Real World by Colleen Kinder
$5.18 on Amazon.com for the paperback
This book changed Leslie’s life by giving her the idea to move to China with a Latin American Studies degree! It lists hundreds of ideas on things to do after college that do not involve law school or a cubicle. (I previously reviewed this book here.) 

Fellowships, Internships, Traineeships:

AIESEC is the world’s largest student-run organization, and it offers placements for internships and traineeships all over the world.

The Luce Scholars program is a competitive fellowship program to enhance the understanding of Asia among potential leaders in American society. It’s designed for young leaders with limited exposure to Asia.

Teach for China is part of Teach for All, which is the international arm for Teach for America. American and Chinese teachers work side by side at schools in rural China.

Princeton in Asia/Latin America/Africa. Princeton University offers year-long fellowships in lots of countries in the fields of journalism, international development, business, and teaching, even for students who do not attend Princeton full-time.

English as a Second Language (ESL) Teaching Resources:

EslCafe.com is a site with everything you need to know about teaching ESL. A key feature is that you can post your resume so schools can contact you about relevant opportunities.

CIEE.org/teach. This is the program that brought Leslie to China. It is run like a study abroad program and offers placements in Chile, China, Dominican Republic, South Korea, Spain, Thailand and Vietnam. NOTE: You may have to pay an initial placement fee, but the administrative process is a lot smoother than going out on your own.

Contact Us:

Leslie Forman | leslieforman@gmail.com | www.leslieforman.com

Natalie Tan | natalie.joy.tan@gmail.com | www.natalietan.com

hola te escribo este correo porque estuviste en una charla de emprendimiento y a mi me encantaría ser emprendedor para ayudar a mi familia en especial a mi hermana que es sorda, pero no se como, no tengo los recursos necesarios, por eso necesito que me aconsejes de que podría hacer???

tengo algo en mente mi padre sabe arreglar bicicletas y tiene un taller pequeño y las ganancias le sirven para puro comer y no para comprar materiales y crecer.

seria como una meta poder tener una empresa no un sueño, una meta que se haga realidad.

le agradecería su expuesta.

::

Hi, I’m writing this email because you were at an event about entrepreneurship and I would love to be an entrepreneur to help my family, especially my sister who is deaf, but I don’t know how, I don’t have the necessary resources, and that’s why I need you to advise me on what I could do.

I have something in mind. My father knows how to fix bicycles and has a small workshop. From the earnings he can eat but he can’t buy materials or grow the business.

It would be like a goal to be able to have a company not a dream, a goal that comes true.

I’d appreciate your reply.

I’ve been in conversation with this writer, and I’ve already shared some initial ideas with him, but I’d like to open up his question to a broader audience. What do you suggest that he do?

photo credit: Mark J P via photopin cc

This semester I taught Social Entrepreneurship, an elective course in English at Universidad del Desarrollo (UDD), a private university here in Chile. Half of my students were on exchange from Denmark, Germany, and Sweden, and the other half were Chilean business majors. This has been the biggest and most challenging project I’ve taken on this year. I’ve written a lot more about the experience and I will share this with you soon. Thanks Max for the photo.

My article, “The Secret to Creativity and Productivity,” was published in Forbes. This concept has really helped me get more done and feel less stressed. Click the photo to read the article.

Diplomado en Creatividad e Innovacion. One of the best things I’ve done this year has been taking a postgraduate course on creativity and innovation in the design school of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the top university in this country. Amazing course, amazing classmates. We learned so much about the process of creating innovation, from brainstorming to needfinding to research and development. I also made great friends in this class and I already miss them!

Here’s a photo from our diplomado graduation celebration a few days ago. Claudia, Paola, Berni (the head of the course), Tomás (the course assistant/coordinator), Meilin, me, Pamela, Darinka. Our class had 12 students and perhaps even more teachers.

I launched this free course on how to create your international career, as a “lean startup” approach to writing a book on this topic. I’ve been living, working, and studying overseas for about 6.5 of the past 8 years, and I really want to turn these experiences into a useful resource for people considering a similar path. Since launching this free course, I have connected with dozens of fellow global citizens. Thank you all for your thoughtful notes and helpful feedback. I really appreciate it. More soon!

When my brother was here in Chile, he and Emma and Marcelo and I traveled to visit Marcelo’s family in the countryside. Here we are at a gorgeous restaurant in Chile’s wine country.

I created this website for UnoCrea, a consultancy in Iquique in the north of Chile that offers innovation and training programs for companies and student groups. Click the image to visit the website.

I’m looking forward to visiting Iquique in March or April to lead a workshop for the students of MEC-U. I made this semi-ridiculous video to welcome everyone to the program.

I could add so many more: my parents’ visit to Chile in May, several fun trips to the beach, what I’ve been cooking and reading and thinking about.

But in the interest of space and honesty, I’d like to move on to what hasn’t been so good this year.

Doing way too many things at the same time.

For much of the year, I had four simultaneous part-time jobs, and was studying creativity and innovation, writing articles for several publications, and launching this free course on How to Create Your International Career. I could hardly sleep. My immune system basically shut down. I got sick midway through the semester, with a fever that turned into a cough that turned into bronchitis. I was ill for about a month altogether. I got behind on grading and preparation, and I couldn’t think about more than a week at a time.

I was pretty miserable and probably not a lot of fun to be around. I don’t want to live in an exhausted, coughing haze.

So yes, now and in 2013, I am scaling back my commitments and choosing projects more carefully.

I will be teaching a different course at the same university starting in March, and I really really want to write this book and get it out into the world before I turn 30 in January of 2014. So far I have a rough outline and lots of pages of transcribed interviews that I’ve fit into the outline. (Thank you Frann for helping me get to to this point.)

I’m sure there will be lots of opportunities to get involved with other projects, and perhaps I will take a few on, but my new mantra is…

… healthy.

My core desired feeling is to be healthy. To live with energy and enthusiasm. To get plenty of sleep and plenty of exercise. To be present. To do one thing at a time.

I don’t want to be a crazy Type-A overachiever who needs to do everything all at the same time, believing that busy = successful (thank you Michelle Ward for pinpointing this underlying automatic commitment.)

I’ve already started to make dramatic changes in my diet (green juice! little coffee.)

Thank you all for reading this blog, for supporting me through this crazy and wonderful year.

I wish you health, happiness, and joy in 2013.

Much love from Chile,

Leslie

P.S. May 27: After two solid days of rain, the clouds opened, shining bright rays of sunset light over the Andes. <3

Happy Chrismukkah! Yes, that word may or may not have been coined on The OC, and it’s what we celebrated here in Chile. With latkes and ornaments. And this amazing a capella parody song by The Maccabeats. A festival of lights.

And I’m finally able to step back from everything I’ve been doing this year. So much movement, so many ideas, so many different projects and connections and challenges.

I look back at the past few months of this blog, and see a theme: figuring out new ways to deal with stress, uncertainty, and overwhelm.

And now, my slate is finally clean(ish). The grades are in, the invoices have been sent, the diplomado is almost finished.

My brain is exhausted. My body is exhausted.

How lucky I am to have so many opportunities. How silly I am to say yes to almost all of these opportunities.

I’m learning so much. Concepts flash/spin/twirl in my head and get scribbled in my notebooks — about social enterprise, effective teaching, stages of living and working abroad, why planning and goal setting make me so uneasy, and so much more.

Whatever you’re celebrating this season, wherever you are in the world — I wish you peace and love and joy, and the lights to see it all.

I invite you to read the full article here. 

Special thanks to The Daily Muse’s managing editor, Adrian Granzella Larssen, who helped me  synthesize this big idea into an easy-to-digest article.

And if any of you try to consciously separate your divergent and convergent thinking, I’d love to hear how it works for you!

I hope you’ve had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We celebrated here in Chile with an international potluck, with adobo, borgoña, clafouti, olive cake, pisco sours, and friends from all over the world.

Before I get started with today’s post, I’d like to welcome all the new readers who have come to my site in the last few weeks, especially through How to Create Your International Career. I want to thank all of you who have written to me with your stories and questions. You’ve inspired me to write more concrete tips and share more links.

I think personal stories like this one are just as important in building an international life as resume tips or networking tactics. A lot of my experience in China and in Chile has been about creating stability while far from home, especially since my work is always in flux.

The last few months have been trampoline-like, with a steep learning curve. In other words: stressful.

But two activities, specific skills I cultivated way back in high school, have helped keep me sane. And for these, I am thankful.

1. Baking. 

When I was a sophomore in high school, I did a big project for chemistry class on baking. I created an experiment: study the properties of baking powder, baking soda, various types of flour, eggs, sugar, and more; then bake cakes by intentionally ignoring printed recipes, but measuring everything, and tracking (and tasting) the results.

I baked about 30 different cakes. As I recall my parents were less-than-thrilled with this experiment, since I went through tons of groceries and may have been less-than-diligent about cleaning up.

But I remember more specifics from that project than just about anything else in high school. And that has served me well today.

My first recent experiment with baking was driven by nostalgia and illness. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, but this year I had just been diagnosed with bronchitis and was on three kinds of strong medicine. So I couldn’t go out and celebrate.

But I couldn’t bear to let my favorite holiday go by uncelebrated. So I made pumpkin bread (following Elise’s recipe. 16-year-old me might be appalled that I didn’t use measuring spoons! The horror!) And I dusted off last year’s devil wig.  

Delicious.

I’ve since recovered from bronchitis, and have baked a bunch of other breads. Banana bread with strawberries and walnuts. Zucchini bread (though with cilantro rather than rosemary, since that’s what I had on hand.) And more.

Baking reminds me to slow down, to focus, to wait. It reminds me that I can transform simple ingredients into something special. And for that, I am thankful.

2. Treading Water. 

At the same time I was experimenting with recipe-less cakes, water polo was my sport of choice. My chosen position? Goalie. Every afternoon, for most of the year, I jumped towards the corners of the cage, and did all kinds of drills, all while treading water.

Here’s a team photo from those days. I’m in the front row, third from the left. I think this photo still hangs in the halls of Menlo-Atherton High School. Go Bears!

(Thanks Dad for the picture.) Though I haven’t played water polo in more than ten years, I’ve just rediscovered the magic of treading water.

I’ve been going to the pool alone, in the mornings before the shadow rolls in.

Here’s our apartment building’s pool, as seen from the balcony.

I tread water. I kick. I stretch. I keep my head out, just as I did in water polo practice, all those years ago. But now, there’s no racing, timing, coaching, or anything like that. The hips and pelvis tend to be tight with emotion,  as I learned from this article by Diana Antholis, and treading water releases this tension.

Thank you, 16-year-old me, for focusing on baking chemistry and water polo practice. 12 years later and thousands of miles away, these bring me joy.

I’m curious: Do you have an activity that you loved many years ago, and have since rediscovered? I’d love to hear about it. 

I summon the island metaphor because of the isolation factor. While Ryan and I have lived here for 2.5 or 1.5 years (!) now, respectively, California is receding more and more. It’s simply been a long time since we lived there or called any part of it our own.

…

But I know what I’m feeling isn’t just about the distance anymore. It’s about what Ryan and I have been through this past year, how rare our experience is, and therefore how isolating it feels.

I’m jumping in the middle of the trampoline, trying to maintain a steady rhythm, and not fall off.

The springs of the trampoline are the supports I have here in Chile are: a certain man, the university where I teach and its wonderful staff, all my other clients and projects and friends and rituals. There are lots. The fabric is pulled tight. Perhaps too tight. Often one spring will fly off and another one gets connected, so I need to be careful where I jump.

What image describes your world today? An island? A trampoline? Or something else entirely?

Shannon and Kristin launched Revolution Apparel with a Kickstarter campaign to fund the first run of Versalettes. The Versalette can be worn in dozens of different ways, as demonstrated in this video.

The fabric is recycled, the Versalettes are sustainably and ethically made in the USA  (which isn’t common in the fashion industry) and these girls have taken great care to source thread, buttons, drawstrings, and everything else from the very best suppliers. It’s the ideal piece for a woman with minimalist sensibilities who doesn’t want to wear the same thing all the time! I’m a huge fan.

When Tara Gentile asked on Twitter: “Which three companies have most shaped the way you think about business?” (I don’t remember the exact words, but that was the idea.) Revolution Apparel was first on my list. I love their approach: transparent, positive, sustainable, and multifunctional.

For the record, the other two companies on my list were Starbucks — for the way it’s consistent in all its locations, but also customized for each culture and each customer — and Patagonia — for its commitment to long-term, practical, high-quality products for loyal “dirtbags” (yes that is the word Patagonia uses to describe its people. I learned this in Let My People Go Surfing, Yvon Chuinard’s inspiring memoir.)

Back to Revolution Apparel. Here’s a collage I made when my Versalette arrived here in Chile. Thanks Mom for the special delivery!

If you want one, subscribe to their updates, since they occasionally put a limited number of Versalettes on sale — and they sell out within hours.

Smartest thing I’ve done this year? Got reading/computer glasses. If you get headaches or struggle to focus, get your eyes checked.

I have so much more to tell you. I’ve been crazy busy lately and a bit under the weather as winter turns into spring (too slowly and indecisively for my taste. Can’t it just be sundress season already!?)

It’s nearly Halloween, the best holiday of the entire year. It’s something I’ve written about a lot on this blog, in reference to crime in Chile, best practices for corporate celebrations, and even a post-Halloween hangover edition.

This year, I’ve felt very little Halloween spirit. It’s not celebrated much in this country. The only place where it feels like the October I know and love is in the supermarket candy aisle.

But today, the dueña of the kiosko across from my office warmed my Halloween-loving heart. Witch hats, spiderwebs, devil horns, and lots and lots of candy decorated the stall. I asked if she liked Halloween, and she said yes! She told me about how she and her son got dressed up in costumes, and her son asked to go trick-or-treating. So they went door-to-door in their apartment building. Even though there’s not a huge cultural base for this in Chile, the neighbors were delighted to see him, and found some chocolate, cookies, or coins to give.

This is a country that likes to celebrate. Last night I went out for karaoke with my creativity and innovation classmates to celebrate two birthdays.

Good times. Gracias René por la foto! 

Also, my site has a new look! I’ve been wanting to change it for a while, and have been tweaking the layouts and logos bit by bit, but I wasn’t satisfied with the look until I recruited Sandra Busta, a graphic designer who creates logos for crafty entrepreneurs all over the world, and happens to be my neighbor here in Chile. Here’s my new logo!

Sandra also created a new title image for my free course.

That’s all for now. Have a fabulous weekend everyone!