14 Jun How Assignees Can Level Up: Network with Relevant Groups
Finding and hiring a qualified assignee should be par for the course for an experienced global mobility manager. Prepping and sending them for their next dynamic assignment, after the first one has run its course, is an ongoing goal to aspire for.
Sending an assignee back home after their job is done, and not recruiting them for more jobs in the future, is a nightmare to be avoided. However, in-between the steps of this career advancement of an escalator that can go up or down, is a little-known yet equally important phase: advising an average-performing (or low-performing) assignee, who did not quite hit the high marks, to level up. In that way, they can improve their performance, fill in the skills gap, and land the next preferred assignee stint.
The Impact Group advises this challenged assignee to continue networking with groups that have — or draw in — a lot of foreign talents, from executives to their own level. For example, once back in their city of New Delhi, the assignee can keep an eye out for events launched by European or Asian Chambers of Commerce, or philanthropic activities held by multi-national industry associations.
Exposure to more foreign talents, especially leadership, can give them insights on the kind of employee they’ll be getting, the kind that companies are looking for. It can also give them an idea of the competition that they are up against, and what the need to do in order not to overlooked by the recruiter once the talent search begins.
The assignee can also work their way back to regaining their confidence which could have deemed a little after the non-renewal of their contract. Speaking again with foreign executives and colleagues, and presenting themselves in their credentials, can become an informal introduction to the real job interviews that will come in a few months’ time.
A second way to level up is to improve their skills and core competencies, including the language of their next preferred foreign destination.
The assignee can do this, whether they have full-time employment in their native country, out of work, or in-between jobs. The networking they should be continually doing can point them as to which skills they should take on.
Online courses are one option. Another method is to do volunteer or part-time work in companies that can help train them further in their linguistic and other abilities.
Volunteering or a part-time stint has one advantage over online learning: it will help the assignee establish stronger and more personal connections with foreign talent. These in turn can open doors for employment opportunities later on.
Finally, the assignee should be able to come up with their own personal vision or mission statement concerning their search for overseas work.
This shows the global mobility manager that they have focus, did their homework, and would be highly motivated upon landing their dream jobs.
An assignee who can articulate why they want to work in the marketing department of a software company in San Francisco will impress the recruiter more than another assignee who gives a simple desire to work overseas as their reason for applying for the same position.