An eye for talent

By Matthew Tebeau

I am an expatriate and have been posted in Poland for five years, my posting is coming to an end but I would like to stay in Poland, or potentially Central Europe - what kinds of opportunities might there be?

This is not an unusual situation and in fact many expatriates living in Warsaw express this sentiment. Poland offers an attractive lifestyle for many families and they begin to put down local roots. Also many expatriate managers have had very interesting and challenging assignments that have substantially broadened their horizons and skills.

Many roles in corporate headquarters are narrower than senior operational roles in Poland or Central Europe. It is also true that, in an emerging market, seeing the impact of one's performance - which is much easier to do in markets that are not mature - is motivating and invigorating.

Expatriates who have worked in Poland, or anywhere abroad, for a substantial period of time, often lose their internal corporate network and, as a result, are less able to identify and/or be considered for some of the most interesting opportunities. This is ironic, since quite often the best executives are sent abroad in the first place - in order to give them more and broader experience.

On the other hand, looking outside of a corporate career can be difficult. Firstly, many companies use an expatriate appointment as an opportunity for an internal executive - rather than looking outside of their organization. Meanwhile, the Polish labor market is not that large and locally a premium is placed on Polish language skills, even when an expatriate clearly offers greater experience (although this is changing because of the evolving complexity of the Polish marketplace and also because of the growing integration of Polish business into global business issues).

Without knowing more details it is hard to provide really concrete advice. Typically an expatriate begins a search towards the end of their assignment although recently, as a result of the number of mergers/acquisitions and corporate restructurings, we have also seen expatriate executives suddenly faced with the prospect of a job search in a foreign country.

I will assume that the questioner has some time and that he/she began to look at opportunities available in the mother company where there are no extremely attractive alternatives. When you have time, it is important to use that time to be systematic and selective - a job search for an expatriate conducted from Poland can take between six and nine months.

It is important, as a first step, to dust off the resume and make sure that it reflects well your most recent accomplishments as well as aspirations. Together with preparing the CV an executive also needs to do a careful self-assessment - and clearly define his/her interests and goals in a realistic but firm fashion. Clarity and motivation will be an important factor in any selection process.

It is also important to (re)establish your business network, especially as a source of finding out about opportunities. Here, expatriates need to bear in mind that their future job is usually one level (or more) above the current position they hold. Therefore, peers and other local contacts in Poland are more valuable as sources of potential leads than as potential employers. Secondly, at the most senior levels in Poland, often the decision-makers are, within multinationals, outside of Poland. Therefore it is not enough to make contacts in Poland, but also potential sources of employment need to be identified regionally and contacted. In the case of contacting executive search firms, this is also true, only the global and regional search firms are going to have access to the decision-makers who are willing to hire senior level expatriates.

Expatriates can expect to find that, with EU accession, there will be an increasing demand for them and the hidden labor market they represent. Many corporates would welcome employing expatriates who can bring their international perspective along with experience and knowledge of the local market, but simply do not know where to look for them.

Once you have identified a potential opportunity, there are a couple of important issues to keep in mind at the interviewing phase. First, be clear with a potential employer about compensation, career goals and motivations. For instance, many potential employers assume that an expatriate executive has a substantial set of financial demands in addition to base compensation about which they are not flexible. Further, financial package construction also varies substantially from country to country and position to position. Therefore, if you asked about compensation, and you are flexible or would not need a housing allowance or a schooling allowance, or can accept a gross financial package where you take responsibility for these things, let the interviewer know.

The same applies to contract duration - most employers of expatriates will expect more than a two year commitment, if you cannot commit to at least two or more years, then it is time to rethink your decision.

You also need to know the plans of the employer for the position to which you are being considered. Most likely, it is a specific role within Poland filling a specific need and only very rarely is the person 'planned' to become part of the international expatriate network of the employer (e.g., subject to future job rotation), although it does happen. This means that during your interview, unless you know differently, focus on Poland and not the future opportunities within the company two to three years on, otherwise the employer will perceive that you are not so focused on Poland.

Matthew Tebeau is the Managing Partner of Ray and Berndtson Poland and the Baltic States, a consulting company that assists in selecting senior management and specializes in management audit