Careers: Global Considerations in Choosing Your Employer

So much emphasis is placed upon helping interviewees "sell" themselves to prospective employers, we sometimes forget that interviewing is a two-way street - that the candidates have every right to vet their interviewing partners. Which only makes sense, considering we spend 1/3 - 1/2 of our waking lives working for The Man (or increasingly these days, The Woman).

No where does this vetting take on such urgency as in the need to assess a company's status (or preparation) for going global. In previous posts (May 8 - "They're Here - Are We Ready?), I've mentioned that with the growing interconnectivity of global employers, vendors, customers, employees, business partners, media, affiliates and even governments, the so-called Global Workplace (or "Multicultural Office") is already here now - even if you're going to be sitting home in your jammies with a PC, modem and iPhone.

Not that small businesses aren't taking notice: I saw a stat recently (source unknown)that said 65% of small businesses are only doing business within the U.S., yet 92% of them would like to be doing global business. Which is sound advice - since according to the Small Business Association 96% of all exporters are small businesss.

What should a prospective employee be looking for when screening candidate employers? Well, for starters, if you stroll by Co. XYZ's booth at the job fair and they can't describe two or three things they're doing to "go global", then keep walking - they're dying on the vine and don't even know it.

You could also ask:

1. How many of XYZ's "people on the ground" (employees or channels/middlemen) know that culture; preferably, are of that culture...

2. Do XYZ's financial planners know how to calculate Cost/Benefits (or Return On Investment) of foreign ventures - which requires understanding currencies, laws and regulations, different worker productivity standards (working environment, how many holidays, etc.), risks of strikes and work stoppage, political climates, transport logistics, etc., etc. ?

3. Is that firm active with local chambers of commerce, trade associations, and governmental agencies that help to facilitate trade relations?

4. Does the firm dedicate resources - language/cultural training,libraries (Do's and Taboo's books), staff/partner presentations, etc. - to prepare employees for cross-cultural / international dealings?


This just scratches the surface. But hopefully if a career seeker is already clear on what he/she wants to do with their life, then a logical next step is to join a company that's connected to a bigger playing field - because they're going to be the survivors in coming decades.