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The
international job market is just that, a market driven by economic forces of
supply and demand. Why do organizations hire Westerners and nations grant work
visas? For our professional skills and products. Westerners are too expensive to
hire as unskilled labor, but worth paying for our technology and our products.
This demand fuels jobs for about 5,000,000 westerners overseas.
All
countries protect jobs for their own people. Also, all countries go outside to
meet real needs.
1.
Vocational
profile of the global job market.
The need to develop is the primary force driving the job market in most
developing nations. Development requires the transfer of technology and
especially the training of any nation’s greatest resource—its people.
Consequently, education at all levels is the single largest vocational field.
Because English is crucial for globalization, English teaching is a huge arena
all by itself. Further, as schools and other organizations overseas learn that
they can get teachers who will work in their limited settings, the demand
increases. Recently I have heard story after story of schools and universities
asking tentmakers to help them find more teachers because they see what the
tentmaker is providing. Especially at the university level, openings exist for
almost all fields.
The
second area providing international jobs is business and industry. There is
tremendous demand in computers, communications, engineering, marketing,
manufacturing, health care, and basic development. This is also considerable
demand in banking, accounting, financial services, law, transportation,
agriculture, tourism, and arts and media. Some vocations offer fewer openings
like recreation and social services.
2.
The
two markets.
There are essentially two overseas job markets, expatriate and local hire. The
expatriate market pays Western wages in order to obtain qualified Western
expertise and job openings are advertised publicly. The “local hire”
expatriate market consists basically of local agencies which are open to hiring
Westerners who are willing to work for local wages. Jobs in this market are not
generally listed, but are discovered by networking. The President of Kyrgyzstan
a few years ago wanted to hire 7,000 EFL teachers. But there is no way
Kyrgyzstan could pay anything close to Western wages. There is similar interest
in Kazakhstan and other countries. This is why it is not generally wise to go
overseas to look for a job. You will not likely find a competitive Western job,
will not be able to live on the income, and will harm your credibility if you
take such a job and live on almost full support.
In
reality, these two poles are oversimplified. Market forces drive this situation.
Many organizations want more Westerners, but cannot afford any or many at
Western salaries. So when Westerners are willing to work for less, they take
them. Why do they work for less? Desire for travel, missions motivation, service
motivation. For instance, a person can find numerous jobs that provide adequate
income to live in China, though low by western standards. In other situations, a
person will need supplemental support. In such settings, it is vital to
negotiate hard for other forms of compensation like housing, in-country
transportation rates, health care, etc. This lowers a person’s need for
support and enhances credibility. Another caution should be added: Live
appropriately to your role in the community. Identifying and connecting with the
people is one of the great blessings of tentmaking. When tentmakers live beyond
the means of their job, they undermine credibility and distance themselves from
the people.
3.
The
four job providing entities.
Basically four entities provide work to Westerners overseas: 1) international or
local corporations, 2) indigenous national institutions like colleges,
universities, and government agencies, 3) relief and development agencies, and
4) new start-up businesses. These are the arenas in which to look for jobs.
Starting a business offers some wonderful advantages like ability to stay
indefinitely and greater evangelistic freedom. However, it demands special
skills and experience. More on this later.
4.
Structural
nature of the global job market.
The international job market is very decentralized, fragmented, and
unstructured. This is a natural result of specialization in skills and needs.
With globalization and modern communication, it is easy for a university in
Tajikistan to communicate with a chemical engineer in Idaho who is open to
working there, but how do they find each other. Because of this challenge, the
global job market is really a collection of hundreds or even thousands of
relatively small, vertical job markets, which communicate through specialized
networks, publications, websites, and job agencies. For this reason, it is vital
for job seekers to take initiative and persist in pursuing all these channels.
5.
Relatively
closed character of the global job market.
The job market tends to be closed to outsiders for a couple of reasons. First,
western organizations have a strong tendency to promote and transfer from within
for overseas jobs even when the person has little cross-cultural skill or
experience. The reason for this is that organizations need people with intimate
knowledge of the organization, its culture, products, services, and authority
structure. The consequence of this approach is big adjustment problems and a
high turnover rate for workers going overseas. Nevertheless, this pattern is
likely to continue for some time. Some companies are recognizing the problem and
a new industry is developing to provide cross-cultural training for employees.
The
second reason for the relatively closed market is that there are few entry-level
jobs for westerners. Generally openings require a bachelor’s plus two or more
years experience in one’s field. This applies across the board with English
teaching being the only exception. Almost any native English speaker can find a
job teaching English somewhere, though qualifications are rising and pay is
limited for those without TEFL certification. But going without good skills
serves people poorly and dishonors Christ. In addition to vocational competency,
employers often look for travel, overseas work experience, relational skills,
and even language competency for obvious reasons.
6.
Length
of contracts.
Overseas contracts tend to last 1-3 years. After that, a person must renew or
find another job. Corporate jobs tend to last 1-3 years because they expect that
employees will want to return home. Development agency jobs tend to be limited
because they are tied to government grants and specific projects. Another factor
is that national organizations want expatriates to equip their own people so
that they can take over as soon as possible. The result of this trend is that
international jobs and careers tend to evolve unpredictably and require ongoing
changes. Since many jobs actually isolate people from the larger global job
market, it is imperative to develop a broad range of contacts and keep one’s
ears open to impending vacancies. Networking is indispensable. Furthermore, most
job moves tend to be horizontal rather than hierarchical because most jobs are
oriented toward delivering specialized direct services. Only larger corporations
and government agencies provide more vertical job changes. However, such changes
usually move people away from direct work in the field where many find greater
satisfaction and excitement. Again, running a business is a big contrast to
this.
Regional
Job Markets
Regions
of the world vary significantly in the numbers and kinds of jobs available.
Interestingly, the greatest concentrations of jobs occur within the 10-40
window.
- North
Africa –
Greatly unreached, N. Africa is opening up to the West. Opportunities exist
in education, information technology, English teaching, running a business,
tourism, and some business and technology jobs with U.S. companies.
- Middle
East & Gulf –
Greatly unreached. There are jobs in many fields: education, computers,
English teaching, business, communications, engineering, relief and
development in certain countries, aviation, and health care. Running a
business is an option, though in some countries the businessperson has to
allow 51% ownership to a national partner. Saudi Arabia is opening many
industries to outsiders without the partnership requirement. There are many
oil-related jobs in the Gulf and jobs tend to provide good compensation and
benefits. In some Gulf countries, expatriates (skilled from the West and
unskilled from the developing world) comprise 50% or more of the population.
- Central
Asia –
Greatly unreached, but with growing young churches. Because the area is
poor, there are fewer Western level jobs in the region. Nevertheless, there
are openings in education, computers and communications, business and
technology with some U.S. corporations, health care, development, and
running a business. There are more possibilities for work at more local
wages. For instance, the president of Kyrgyzstan stated his desire for 7,000
English teachers several years ago. But the government could not pay
competitive wages. These kinds of openings are not generally advertised
because who would take such jobs ordinarily? Christians could also develop
more openings like this by networking in country. However, a major caution:
taking such jobs needs to be done credibly. This requires negotiating hard
for other forms of compensation, and preferably, going with a broad-scope
development agency versus a mission agency. This provides full integrity
because the tentmaker does not become a religious professional. Further,
people expect development agencies to provide funding.
- India
– There are
a number of Christians in the southern India, but overall India is largely
unreached with thousands of towns, villages, and people groups without a
witness. Christians among the upper castes are very few.
It is much easier for members of the British Commonwealth to find
jobs there. Openings are available in
education and technology fields, various business fields with international
companies, health care, and in relief and development. The fields of
information technology and digital communications are enormous in India.
Business alliances and partnerships along with entrepreneurship in certain
fields provide openings to work and serve in India.
- China
– China has
a vibrant, growing church, but many peoples and regions are still largely
unreached. Also, the educated classes are much more unreached. The job
market in China is growing with potential jobs in many fields. Education is
big and the demand for English teachers is enormous. And that demand keeps
growing as more institutions learn of the possibility of obtaining native
English teachers. Though it varies considerably by region, China is often
very restrictive on Christian witness. There is also opportunity for
starting businesses or partnering in business. However, the challenges of
the business environment are great.
- SE
Asia – SE
Asia has many largely unreached people groups, yet a growing church has
developed in certain groups and countries. The job market is fairly diverse
because of international involvement. Jobs exist in many fields—education,
engineering, computers, communications, business professions, mining, health
care, and relief and development. There are also opportunities to start
businesses, to partner with existing businesses, and to provide small
business development.
- Japan
– Even
after a century of missions, Japan is less than 1% evangelized, especially
the men. Tentmaking is especially strategic in Japan because it is so hard
to connect with the men. Obviously Japan has much less need of western
technology and thus has fewer jobs for them. Openings are available in
information technology, marketing, accounting, management, engineering, and,
of course, English teaching. Demand for English teachers is quite high.
- Eastern
Europe & Russia –
Not totally unreached, yet deeply impacted by secularism and communism,
Russia and Eastern European nation do have small churches and the Orthodox
Church is again active. In some cases there are solid Evangelical Christians
in leadership of the Orthodox Church, but in many cases, the church is more
formal and political. The job market has been hurt by the recent economic
struggles of the region. However, there is a wide range of jobs for
qualified people. Again, information technology and communications are big
area. Openings exist in science and engineering, banking, business
professions, agriculture, and relief and development in certain countries.
Business start-ups, alliances, and partnerships are possible And small
business development is needed.
- Western
Europe –
Heavily secular, post-Christian, and post modern, much of Europe has become
quite unevangelized. Many of the jobs in EU require a high level of
expertise and experience, i.e., strong university credentials and
experience. Another way of working in Europe is to provide consulting
services in high demand fields or to start a business. Education generally
and English teaching in particular also provide jobs. It is also possible to
obtain jobs with U.N. and European development agencies.
- South
America –
Because SA is more developed and protects more jobs, it offers fewer
international jobs. Fortunately, SA has a vibrant, fast-growing
Bible-believing church so that the need for missions outreach is fairly low
except in Uruguay, some parts of Mexico, and certain tribal groups. Job
openings exist in education, English teaching, relief and development in
certain countries, and business and technology. Partnering in and starting a
business are also possible.
- Sub-Saharan
Africa –
Africa is also more evangelized with a fast-growing Bible-believing church.
and has less need of missions outreach. However, a few countries are more
unevangelized like Mozambique. Because Africa is so undeveloped, there are
many job possibilities, though many require supplemental support. Major
openings can be found in education, relief and development, business
development, health care, and entrepreneurship.
Implications
for job acquisition and working overseas
Choosing
a vocation: The
basic question to ask is, “Where do my gifts, skills, and motivations best fit
the many needs of peoples overseas?” In reality, there are varying needs in
different countries, in different provinces, and even among different peoples.
If you are early enough in choosing a vocation, the first step is to research
needs related to any vocations in which you are interested. Do general research
to learn what kinds of jobs are available and the specific tasks and skills
involved. If you have any sense of God’s leading you to a particular region of
the world, research that region and the job market in that region. Progressively
adjust your vocational focus and training to best serve those needs.
It
is also helpful to do some vocational, work profile testing to better understand
yourself—your interests, task motivations, and abilities. Gaining some
experience in a proposed vocation is extremely helpful because many students end
up working in jobs they have never really observed or experienced before.
Building
your competence:
What if you have already chosen a vocation? Trust God’s leading, do the
research to focus your vocation to best meet real needs, and get further
training and experience if needed to better serve. We do not need to be in such
a rush to get overseas. What we are doing at home can provide invaluable
training to increase our work and our ministry effectiveness. In fact, since
your goal is to serve people well, you want to intentionally build your
competence through good training, work experience, cross-cultural experience,
and even language training based on good research. It is becoming increasingly
valuable to have cross-cultural experience in obtaining jobs in addition to
preparing the tentmaker to be more effective.
Finding
jobs: The
crucial secret to finding a job is to take initiative and doggedly persist at
it. R. & C. Krannich (1992) say that most job search firms cannot do
better than you can, and in fact, probably do less well, in conducting your job
search. The reality is that the reputable firms make their money from employers,
not from you. No one has your interests more at heart than you do. Since there
is no organized, centralized job market, but only a web of needs and personnel,
no firm has anywhere near all the contact or openings in your field. Many jobs
are never advertised and over 80% of job acquisition involves some networking. No one is better at doing the job
search than you.
- Research
the companies which work overseas in your field. Black and Gregersen (1999) report that nearly 80% of mid-size
to large companies deploy employees on extended overseas assignments and 45%
plan to increase the number. Apply directly to these companies even when
jobs have been filled. Many firms maintain an in-house résumé bank from
which they draw for future openings. Many appreciate the initiative of
people who network with their company and are especially responsive to
people with special skills. So network. Also research development agencies
and NGOs which hire people in your field and work in areas of the world in
which you are interested.
- Look
for overseas jobs in your country first.
Most
corporations initiate and pursue recruitment within the their own
nations. If you want to take more initiative, travel to the cities where
companies are located to search for international jobs.
- Go
overseas to look for jobs when you are seeking to meet needs that are unlikely
to provide Western salaries. This can open up many additional options,
but must be pursued very carefully so as not to undermine credibility and
ministry. However, there are enormous opportunities for teaching English,
small business development, university teaching, and running a useful
business. Where tentmakers are taking positions, they need to negotiate hard
for alternate compensation to reduce costs and to enhance credibility.
- Network,
network, network!
The vast
majority of jobs are obtained through some kind of networking. Ultimately,
people connect with people, not paper. Managers are much more likely to hire
someone who has been referred to them than someone who is only a name on a résumé.
Researching jobs will alert you to companies in which you have contacts. Use
those contacts. Network to increase your number of contacts. With the
interconnectedness of the world today, experts claim that we are at most six
levels removed from any person on the planet. In other words, if you knew
the right path, you know someone who knows someone who knows someone, etc.
who know each individual on earth.
- Use
the Internet.
The Internet is changing the whole job market. More and more jobs are being
listed through more and more services because of the relative ease, speed,
and low cost of the Internet. Set aside regular time to surf for job
openings. You will find that Global Opportunities can significantly shorten
your initial research because it has researched and organized many, many job
sites.
- Subscribe
to professional journals in your field.
Almost all good professional publications have job listings. Subscribe to
and read the one that has many international listings.
Getting
the job:
- Customize
your CV and résumé to fit the job opening.
Recruiters and personnel people scan résumés and CVs to see whether the
skills they need are listed and keep recurring. If not, they are on to the
next résumé/CV, often in less than five minutes. So you have to show that
you have the competencies that they need. Of course, don’t say you do if
you don’t. Within the limits of good form, lay out your résumé/CV to set
you apart and highlight the competencies the company needs, usually in a
separate section. You want to be memorable, to stand out. GO’s Associates
website has resources to help with this area and with developing a CV which
is more personal and extensive than a résumé. You may also want to borrow
or buy a book on CVs.
- Spread
your résumé/CV widely.
This may seem contradictory at first. But it is usually helpful to spread
the net widely. Still customize your résumé/CV as much as possible to the
prevailing needs in the international job market.
- Network,
network, network! This
is very important as we discussed previously.
- Connect
in the interview. One
of the most important things to do in a job interview is to make a human
connection with the hiring person. This enables the person to tune in to you
and really listen. Then it is important to be targeted to their needs, to
show how you can contribute to their goals and make them successful. You
want to be memorable as a person who can meet their needs and who would
really like to work with them (if you would). These goals require that you
research the company, projects, and position ahead of time.
- Take
long-haul approach.
Take the process as an adventure and learning experience, which can
contribute to your relational and communication skills. It often takes time
to find suitable jobs in one’s area of expertise. Effective cross-cultural
workers are good at taking initiative and not giving up.
Keeping
employed: Most
contracts last one or two years and then have to be renewed. Many jobs are tied
to specific projects. Therefore, international workers must frequently change
jobs. By the way, this can be taken in to account in choosing the kind of job
you prepare for and seek. Performing your job with excellence and genuine
servanthood will help to make you so valuable that your contract will be
renewed. In some settings, this can continue for decades.
But
many will have to find new jobs in the same city to continue there. When that
becomes impossible, we can trust that God is moving us on. Tentmakers must keep
networking and seeking for leads on new job openings in the area where they
live.
Tentmakers
also need to update their skills and knowledge. Many companies tend to pass over
people who have been overseas too long because they fear they are out of touch
with current knowledge and technology. Therefore it is important to read in
one’s field and to find ways to keep updating skills. Consider using some
travel time to take cutting-edge courses in the States or equivalent courses
offered abroad.
Running a business There are significant advantages
to running a business overseas.
1)
Effective businesspeople are able to stay indefinitely in the country if
they are providing something of real value like greater productivity, foreign
exchange, and job creation.
2)
They have more freedom for witness within their company and beyond. It is
easier for them to share their faith without threat and to offer Bible studies.
They can use company facilities. Of course, they must be careful not to violate
employees who are a captive audience.
3)
They often have many networks of contacts among the people: workers,
suppliers, customers, government officials, transport people, etc. What a great
opportunity for witness!
4)
They model and set patterns of hard work, of integrity, of running a
successful business, and of the validity and proper use of profits.
This
is very important. The central
non-spiritual need in developing countries is real economic development which
increase productivity. Without it, no other development can be sustained whether
health care, transportation, communications, or general quality of life. And
core to this is developing a genuinely good work ethic—morally good, not American with all our get
ahead-better life values. Effective businesses provide jobs, increase
productivity, and build people’s fruitfulness and self-worth. It also provides
work and income for Christians in oppressive nations who are refused or fired
from jobs.
But
there are disadvantages. Running a
business is consuming. There are enormous hurdles overseas—taxes, regulations,
customs, and relationship patterns. Legally required taxes can be so high as to
make profitability virtually impossible. Bureaucratic regulation can be
paralyzing. Dishonesty and fraud may be so common that running a business is
almost unworkable. People need special gifts, skills, training, and experience
to pull off a business.
The
business must be real.
Phantom businesses dishonor Christ and often hurt people. The business must
genuinely depend on its earnings or else fail. If it just provides a cover to
live in a country, it provides a model that deception and circumventing
authorities is okay justified for a good cause. Even running a business without
full commitment to its success and dependence on its income creates a bad model.
It usually communicates a low view of work and profit—that work and faith do
not integrate and that profit is illegitimate. It also models a poor work ethic.
But a truly good work ethic is core to
discipleship and precisely one of the greatest needs in many developing
countries. Such a model robs the people of seeing how to run a successful
business and the skills they need to do it. It also contributes little to job
creation, which is so desperately needed. People need to see a Christian model
of effectiveness business. A genuine Christian business provide jobs, increases
skills, builds better work ethics and character, raise people’s expectations
of what they could do, stimulates more businesses, and expands the economy.
Committed, effective business people are greatly needed.
How
can tentmakers go about launching a successful business?
First,
they need to get training and experience here. In fact, generally they should
have a successful start-up under their belts before trying overseas. Second,
they need to research the culture, market, and business environment. How do
relationships and decision-making work in the culture? How does work itself
proceed? What are the tax laws? Business laws and regulations? Government
bureaucracy? What products and services are needed in the country? Which ones
are marketable and how? Where and how is best to set up the physical operation?
What capital is needed? It is preferable to live and work in the country for a
year or two to observe and learn the culture and business setting. This also
enables the businessperson to build relationships for future business plans. The
third step after good research is to develop a strong, but flexible business
plan which covers all areas previously mentioned. As part of this planning,
Christian businesspeople should develop a set of Christian company values and
cultural strategies to build these into the company. Along with the business
plan, tentmakers need to develop a tentative ministry plan for reaching the
people they will be working with. Fourth, the tentmaker must find resources of
money and people to run the business. Once these are in place, it is time to set
up the physical location, equipment, and systems to make the business work. At
that point, the business can be launched and developed. But the work is only
beginning. From there the Christian businessperson must keep adapting both in
business and in ministry.
Running
a business is not for everyone, but the payoff can be very exciting!
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Global Opportunities
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