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Do you have an adventurous spirit and an interest in seeing the world? If you do, then an international assignment may be right for you. Such assignments offer many benefits, including the opportunity to advance faster in your career than you would otherwise. "International assignments have given me an opportunity to take on more responsibility earlier in my career and benefit from a truly multicultural approach to work projects," says Timothy Hansen, who has had international assignments throughout his career and now leads expatriate recruiting for Aramco Services Co. (Houston, TX).
As exciting as an international assignment may seem, relocating overseas is more complicated than getting your shots, passport, and airline tickets, packing a few boxes, and hopping on the next flight. A typical relocation involves almost 50 different factors that have to be coordinated for your move. What's more, you may not have much time to prepare. "Some companies give short notice, less than three months, to employees who have been selected for expatriate assignments," says Lorraine Bello, CEO of REA-Partners in Transition (Basking Ridge, NJ), a global transition-assistance and career-management services provider. 'Typically, employees new to expat assignments don't know what they don't know. Then they have to figure everything out quickly, which...