Having spent 10 years of my career as an HR professional on international assignment (working in Mexico and China; living and working in Poland), I had the opportunity to recruit employees for international assignments.

Working in a foreign country can be very exciting, but if can also be very challenging and therefore, very demanding on the expat employee and/or their family. However, if the expat and/or family members have the illusion things will be just like their home country, they will be headed for disaster.

The best piece of advice I could give someone who was considering a foreign assignment is to make sure their family had completely bought into and supported their decision to live and work in an environment that was very different from the one they are familiar with. Further, the potential expat needs to honestly evaluate their family's tolerance for change, adaptability and their willingness to embrace the challenge of living in a different culture and in many instances, deal with not being able to speak the language of the country they may be sent to. Additionally, the potential expat needs to understand how they and/or their family would deal with being away from family and friends, especially during holidays, for an extended period of time.

My experience taught me that expats who took my advice and honestly assessed the aforementioned items had the greatest potential to be productive and successful on their foreign assignment. Conversely, those that didn't, had difficulty adjusting and in many instances were not able to complete their expat assignments.

Anthony J. Darin, SPHR
Managing Partner
Compass HR Consulting, LLC
"Guiding You to the Right HR Solutions"