Working abroad (and long term travelling) 2

[jd90]

Hi everyone,

I am currently a student but will be graduating this summer. I hope to save up enough money to be able to go travelling in a couple of years. Whilst I would like to travel for a year or so I am also exploring the option of living abroad and potentially living and travelling long term.

I study mechanical engineering and as I'm sure everyone here knows engineers have a vast range of skills, however I would like to ask if anyone knows if there are specific niches or areas that are most sought after in the international job market? (I'm in the UK). I know some people freelance when travelling / living abroad but I don't know how realistic this is early in my career.


Or...any general advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[miningman]

Can't see it myself. In my opinion you are going to have to decide whether you want to focus on establishing a career or if travel is that imoprtant to you , to be willing to conciously sacrifice your career advancement. All that cr*p about "travel broadens the mind" is spouted by persons who are not senior engineers or engineering managers. Go travel for two years and when you are ready to start seeking your first entry level job , you are essentially competing with every other engineer who graduated in the last 36 months who hasn't yet found employment. Other than flipping burgers or labouring, what do you think you have to offer an employer while you're travelling. Do you really think someone will train you , knowing you will move on within sfew months.

 

[MortenA]

I disagree with miningman - you wont be "sacrificing" your career by taking say half or a full year travelling after graduating. Even HR people will be able to look through this, and some may even consider it a plus that you have "been around the world".

But wrt getting a job as en engineer i think thats very unlikely and you would also have to consider that outside of the EC you cant just get a job on a tourist visa. You may be able to e.g. go as a volunteer e.g. through a NGO or a church affiliated program - but again then its another way of travelling.

 

[miningman]

I can most certainly appreciate Morten's point of view but this is what makes life interesting. Often there are no right or wrong answers. We as individuals make these decisions and then have to live with the consequences, be they negative or positive. Especially when young, it is so easy to fail to appreciate what the long term consequences of any specific decision might be.

 

[IRstuff]

As a new engineer, it'll unlikely that someone will be willing to hire you with a spotty job history. After the first or second job, your resume will be obviously filled with holes that the next potential employer will figure out that you are a permanent short-timer; it's certainly something that I look for. I figure out the length of time at each job, and gaps in-between, and the job-hopping quotient is evaluated.

TTFN
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[Latexman]

Maybe you can get lucky, like me. I was a Regional Process Engineer for our plants in SE Asia in the 90's. I lived in Singapore. We had plants in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and China (2). I also covered our plant in Dubai. I travelled about 50% of the time for work. Then, we (wife and daughter) travelled to many other places in the region. I saw and experienced so many things foreign to my culture and up-bringing. It was very exciting and interesting. Try to find a job like that. That will help with your desire to travel.

Good luck,
Latexman

To a ChE, the glass is always full - 1/2 air and 1/2 water.

 

[BUGGAR]

I blew off two years of my professional career to join the Peace Corps and teach a totally unrelated subject in Ethiopia. Didn't hurt my career.

 

[JNieman]

"Project Engineer"
"Process Engineer" (as noted by Latexman)
"Field Engineer"

The thing you have going for you, as a mech. eng. student, is the flexibility of the very broad mechanical engineering discipline. There are a whole lot of career choices that'll let you travel /while working/ and will inevitably have time available for you to take brief personal adventures. Best of both worlds, other than the fact that while you're adventuring, you know you have to be back to the plant/shop/factory/refinery/whatever on Monday, instead of "whenever I feel like it".

 

[ST111]

Very interesting responses here. I personally wouldn't hesitate to delay my career a couple of years if it meant I could travel the world. But, if you could somehow combine your passion for engineering with this then all the better. I totally agree with what Latexman says, I know people that have done that in the past and it does seem like a great option.

Also...you never know who you might meet on a trip around the world, a few new additions to linkedin could land you in a new job, an unlikely scenario but a possibility

 

[GregLocock]

Anecdote is not data but a friend of mine travelled to Australia and walked into a job down the corridor from me. But he did have four years relevant experience. I took the rather cruisier route and got the Australian employer to pay for my relocation.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[JackMats]

Hi! Taking a year out won't do any harm at all and don;t listen to anybody who tells you otherwise, they're wrong! Any employer would be fine with it when you come to apply for jobs a year later, and over a say a 40 year career, the difference between starting at say 22 or 23 is negligible.

Now the freelance stuff, this would be difficult! I know experienced guys who have done this and it's hard work; constantly hunting down new jobs, fluctuations in the amount of work available, different levels of income each week. Needless to say they all lasted less than a year.

If you've got the cash I would put your career on the back burner and let your travels be more cultural and hedonistic. You could pick up the odd back packer job if you wanted or get into Oz/NZ through the 'back door' by finding an engineering job and after 6 month get your employer to sponsor you to stay. Alternatively get on a good grad scheme where they offer opportunities abroad. I'm only 27 and have worked in Thailand on my grad scheme and currently the Middle East as well as going all over Europe and the odd one to the US and Asia on small business trips.

Good luck anyway!

 

[bridgebuster]

when I was your age my Uncle Sam had a saying "Join the navy and see the world."

 

[zeusfaber]

The OP is from the UK. For its size, the RN is still very active across many theatres, but there seem to be far fewer opportunities (especially for MEs) for a good run ashore than there used to be.

A.

 

[bridgebuster]

I was aware that he was from the UK; figured her majesty could put him to good use. Back then, my uncle had another saying (for us land lubbers) "Many captains of industry started out as second lieutenants."

 

[oldestguy]

One thing to keep in mind is the difference between single and married engineers starting out. If the job opportunity require you to travel some, the married engineers is not likely to be interested, so the demand for someone free to move makes that job type more likely to have openings.

Hopefully BigH here will chime in. He probably will have some good advice having been all over the globe.