U.S. companies are increasingly aware that there now exists a global marketplace and that U.S. industry must strive for its share of the market. Industries and companies that fail to identify the potential of the international market may be limiting their opportunities for growth.
Successful entry into a foreign market is not easy. It takes time, perseverance and long-term dedication. To establish a foreign subsidiary that will become a viable competitor and a good corporate citizen in the host country, the parent company must develop marketing plans, arrange distribution systems, secure local financing, make government and industry contacts, recruit employees, etc.
Once firms have made the commitment to develop an offshore business, the recruitment of U.S. nationals for overseas assignment (expatriates, as they are known in business) begins. For many firms-but by no means all-the recruitment process goes through three phases: the expatriate, the local national and the integrated phase. In each stage there is a difference in the type and number of overseas job opportunities, and anyone aspiring to an international career should be aware of those differences.
The Expatriate Phase
In the start-up phase, when a company has decided to expand into a foreign market and is beginning to establish an overseas regional headquarters or a subsidiary, it tends to recruit employees from its domestic staff. It knows little about the foreign market and has no local staff. Therefore it relies on a large number of U.S. expatriates, selecting those who have had a successful domestic career with the company, or those who have a good understanding of the local market.
During this phase, there is a lot of movement between domestic and international operations, particularly if a regional headquarters is being established, and many domestic employees at all levels can expect to be tapped for international assignments. Those assignments vary: some will be for very specific jobs of fixed duration, such as an engineer who is sent abroad to build a plant. Others will be more general and for a longer period of time, such as a general manager who is sent abroad for five to fifteen years. There is no better time for overseas career opportunities than when a company is launching a new subsidiary or headquarters.
The expatriate phase tends to carry the seeds of its own destruction. It is costly for headquarters to sustain a large staff of Americans abroad. It is also in the interest of the parent company to build up the overseas subsidiary with local talent so that it will be viewed as a local rather than a foreign enterprise. How long a company remains in the expatriate phase is deter-mined in part by such factors as the political and economic structure of the host country and the cooperation of the host government.
Local National Phase
As the foreign enterprise matures, more and more local nationals are placed in positions of authority, and the number of expatriates is scaled back significantly. There are fewer opportunities for two- to three-year overseas assignments, and the overseas vacancies that do occur are filled from the ranks of a small group of career expatriates, usually general managers who are transferred from country to country every few years.
In this stage, if all goes well, the foreign subsidiary has taken on a local coloration that enhances business prospects, and the parent company has begun to pare expenses by reducing the size of its expatriate staff. It may also have begun to dismantle or severely curtail the regional headquarters. This phase offers very limited opportunities to those who wish to launch an international career. The few overseas assignments that do occur are usually to fill a specialized need and last several years.
Integrated Phase
In the third stage, the parent company or its international division has acquired a truly international outlook, and it draws on a worldwide body of talent to meet its manpower needs. U.S. employees must now compete with employees in all the overseas subsidiaries rather than just the parent company for an international assignment. Increased competition reduces the opportunities; therefore, this is the bleakest phase for those seeking overseas careers.
The lesson for someone wishing to pursue an international career is, first, try to find out which phase a company is in. (Bear in mind, however, that not all international businesses follow the same three-phase pattern or use the same terminology to describe the phases.) If you are just leaving school and the company you are interviewing appears to be moving into an integrated phase, keep looking. Your chances of going overseas will be better with a firm either entering or already in the expatriate stage. Even in this phase, the total number of expatriates is only a fraction of the company's total work force. Moreover, a new graduate's chances of getting picked for overseas work are small. A typical U.S. expatriate is someone with an established, successful track record in his or her field who has been with the company for a number of years. Since expatriates must operate more independently than domestic employees, companies tend to choose people who have proven themselves. In general, the number of expatriates has diminished over the last decade because most of the major U.S. multinational corporations have already progressed from the expatriate stage to the local national phase, and a few to the integrated stage.
The best route to an overseas career is via a very successful domestic career in a company with an expanding international business. This does not mean that knowledge of foreign languages, experience living abroad and an academic background covering aspects of international business are not helpful. They are. But being an outstanding performer in your domestic position, having enough tenure to have established yourself in the company and making sure that management knows of your desire for an international assignment are key ingredients that will lead to an overseas post.
