Exploring International Experiences Part 2 Life of a Young Professional in Singapore

James Norris - Young Expat working in Singapore

Moving overseas to work as a young professional may be the perfect way to accelerate your career or  it may just be the perfect time where responsibilities are far and in between. Even if it seems as if your student loan debt is insurmountable, there are plenty of creative ways to budget and save for a move abroad. The money, however, is not the biggest issue that I have found. More often than not, it is having the mental fortitude and the unwavering desire that stops most young professionals from even trying.

Living abroad as a young professional requires two things – courage  and perseverance. In the traditional sense, courage and perseverance conger up romanticized images of knights in shining amour pursuing dragons to far off lands to save their villages. Having courage and perseverance, though, is much more of an inner journey than this fairytale story. Both these traits help you to confront your fears and persevere, even though what you are about to do is scary and perhaps different than all your friends around you.

This is what we learned this week from our guest, James Norris. An intended 4 day visit to Singapore led him to a full-time dream job where he is currently living and working. Two months ago his life changed from being a young professional in Houston to working as an expatriate in Singapore for a non-profit called Social Innovation Park (SIP) [www.socialinnovationpark.org]. He shares his experience as a young working professional abroad and imparts actionable steps at the end so that you can do it too!
If you would like to get in touch with James, you can find him at www.jnorris.org and jsnorris@gmail.com.

Goinglobal: Why did you choose to move and work internationally?
James Norris: This was a choice made for several reasons. A few passions of mine were combined through this opportunity: social change, traveling, experiential learning and personal development. Not only that, but the company that I work for, SIP, acts as a platform to incubate and scale social innovation in Asia. Building and promoting social innovation is where I see my purpose fulfilled. I was fortunate to build and create the infrastructure for a social innovation hub in Austin, Texas before I left.

GG: What was the tipping point that helped to make the decision to work in Singapore?
JN: It was always a life goal of mine to explore the world, so when one of my mentors, Gary Hoover, invited me to join him on a month-long trip through Russia, Thailand, and Singapore, I jumped at the chance. My original plan was to explore Singapore deeply for 4-5 days, with a focus on learning about the social innovation ecosystem here. I ended up staying two weeks and moved here two months later.

GG: How did you find the opportunity to do work abroad?
JN: Google, LinkedIn and a connection through a friend helped secure a few initial meetings. Those led to more meetings. It’s much easier than you think to secure a first meeting with people or enterprises that you’re aligned with—you just have to proactively, persistently, and politely ask. It helps if you can think of a way to add value to the people you’re meeting, as well as have a few differentiators under your belt (mine were domain expertise, a personal website, etc.). One offer came within 10 minutes of meeting with a CEO. Another came from an informal phone interview after I returned home. More offers would have materialized if I pushed harder, but I didn’t need to—both were extremely good fits for me.

GG: How did you mentally prepare for your work experience abroad?
JN: Beyond the basic research about Singapore and what makes it tick, I spent some time planning my workflow systems and rituals and clearing my backlog. A backlog is one of the worst things we can carry around in our fragile little heads—I tried to completely eliminate mine before coming. Failed miserably! Well, not completely—I did leave with much, much less mental baggage by closing open loops and finishing outstanding projects.

GG: What type of planning (logistics, documents, etc) did it involve?
JN: I had my passport already and Singapore didn’t require a visa, so all I had to do was buy a one-way plane ticket (first time I’d ever done that!) and Google map the location of my hostel and workplace. There was a form from the Singaporean Ministry of Manpower, as well (it took 3-4 painful hours—MOM doesn’t let you cut corners!). I spent a week or so saying goodbye to as many friends as possible, which was hectic. I should have allocated more time for that.

GG: How much did it cost for you to work internationally (a rough out of pocket estimate to give someone an idea of how much to project to spend)?
JN: $550 for the flight from Houston, Texas to Singapore using World Travellers’ Club [www.around-the-world.com]. $20 for an international adapter and some Texas memorabilia to give out. I’d estimate that my living expenses are about 20% less here than living in the United States, but that’s only valid for my lifestyle. One ranking I’ve seen puts Singapore on the top 10 most expensive cities to live in anywhere in the world, but I question the metrics they use to make that claim.

GG: What was/is your favorite part about working internationally?
JN: My favorite part is how it’s helped accelerate my overall rate of learning. Being in a novel environment stimulates my mind on a regular basis—I learn a fact or a new twist on something every few days. I’m quite ignorant compared to my friends and colleagues here, so there’s a lot of internal pressure (and joy) in closing the gap. I know this intellectual rush will likely fade as I acclimate, but according to some studies I’ve seen the longer I stay and become integrated the larger the boost to creativity. So it’s win-win.

GG: What was your least favorite part about working internationally?
JN: Well, Singapore is a tropical rainforest. With no seasons. I think you can figure it out from here.

GG: What are 3-5 steps that you can recommend for someone who wants to pursue a career abroad (looking for tactical implementations)?

JN:
1.    Create a three-columned table showing: a) what you’re passionate about, b) what you’re good at, and c) what high-trajectory occupations appeal to you. Look for a match between all three.
2.    Create a career hit list incorporating your insights from #1. Include small, medium, and large enterprises; educational opportunities; personal ventures; and any other options you can think of. Shoot for between 10-100.
3.    Create a list of cities you’d ideally like to live in. Narrow to 2-3.
4.    Hit Google, LinkedIn, Facebook to look for opportunities in your 2-3 cities. Remember, every person you know that lives in those cities is an opportunity. Emails, calls, messages, IMs, snail mail, courier pigeons—do whatever it takes to politely get your message across.
5.    Follow up with leads professionally and promptly. Have your resume, CV, recommendation letters, portfolio of work (yes, this includes people who don’t traditionally need to supply a portfolio), personality tests, etc. all cleanly prepared and ready to provide on demand. Rehearse for the meeting or interview 5-15 times with different friends and colleagues. And so on. It’s hard to overprepare if you really want the opportunity. And if you don’t really want it, then why are you going for it in the first place?

What are your impressions for working internationally as a young professional? Do you have an experience that is worth sharing here?