Do you want to work abroad? Optimizing your CV and working on your portfolio is never an easy task (nor a quick one). Sometimes, even for the local market, there’s always an extra tip that could give you access to that dream opportunity you wanted badly, but the right information wasn’t there.
To make into a new market, launch yourself as an international talent and achieve your dreams to get job opportunities abroad, there are a few careful steps you have to work on, to improve your chances and nail the best offer you can get in such a competitive market.
To help you with a few tips on how to get things done, we talked to The Bridge’s co-founder, Chief Happiness Officer and author of the London Creative Guide, Bernardo Carvalho Wertheim, and he pointed out 7 very important steps, so you can get the job of your dreams. Here we go:
- Improve your Linkedin profile
Linkedin is our favorite social media for showcasing your experience (except if you are a designer see below for more on Portfolios) and for connecting with talent hunters as well. There, you can have your CV available 24/7, with extra input from people who believe in your skills, get referrals from former co-workers and discover interesting business related content from the most inspiring people you can follow.
If you’re on Linkedin (and you should be!), you also should take a look on Linkedin groups, such as The Bridge’s, that bring together lots of opportunities and talented people such as yourself.
- Review your CV
Reviewing your CV is just as important as having your Linkedin profile updated. Here are some of the most important topics:
- To keep it short and sweet, work on showing your personal information, education, qualifications, work experience, achievements and relevant skills to the job, in maximum two pages;
- Don’t keep it generic and adapt your CV to suit the role you’re applying to;
- To help you out with designs, we offer great exclusive CV templates to our Premium Members (keep that in mind!);
- Also, it’s important to describe your best skills and interests – topics that can get you noticed, highlighting how unique you are as a professional, so always keep it updated with the new things you’ve learned;
- Just remember: show results and what you brought to the table in every experience you’ve had. Your future employers are waiting to see what you can bring as a part of their teams as well, so help them to figure it out!
- Translate your profile to English
This one is more obvious, but it’s always important to remember: if you want an opportunity in your area, anywhere in the world, it’s important to showcase your best work in English. If you’re having trouble with that, especially with technical terms from your area of expertise, we can also help with that.
- Practice interviews
Practice, practice, practice! Interviews can be nerve wrecking (we know it!), but practice is everything. To help you with that, we offer interview simulations every Wednesday, at 14:00 PST (19:00 Brazil). Over an hour, we cover the best ways you can answer the most tricky questions the international employers can ask. Join us for a free trial and be prepared! All our events and classes are here.
- Research companies on Glassdoor
Information is power! You know exactly what you want to work with and where, but you don’t actually know anything about the companies there? Glassdoor is the perfect website to get to know more about different businesses and it features very useful content, such as employee reviews and salary estimations.
- Research popular global destinations
Research in advance the laws, culture and opportunities of your destination. If you don’t know yet about the best places to move and how to get a great job opportunity in your field, The Bridge Destination Guides can help you sort out a lot of useful and must needed information at countries such as New Zealand, USA, Ireland, Portugal and UK. Everything you need to start planning your future is in one place, coming soon for Premium Members. Meanwhile, you can check the awesome NomadList.com.
- Build a well-prepared portfolio
Protect your work and showcase it in the best way possible. Having an updated Linkedin, an awesome CV and all the basic information is important, but building an amazing portfolio is the ultimate tip for the designers out there. A clear and direct presentation with easy mobile/web access that allows your work speak for itself is the key. But you should also showcase your particular skills, results obtained and add a touch of personality.
Just remember: curate, edit and show the best work that you really believe in. Less is always more, do not put everything you did in your life since university.
Tools like CarbonMade, Branded.Me (great for non-designers) and Behance will help you on this task.
Are you interested in getting more help with your profile, CV and interview skills? Get Premium and let’s rock!
