If you’re a millennial, you know how important certain things are to you when it comes to work: flexibility, independence, and the possibility of growing in your role and making it more your own. Work has to be an important part of who you are, something that makes your lifestyle not only possible financially but meaningful, too. There’s a reason why studies have demonstrated that millennials will switch jobs four times on average their first ten years out of college.
And one of the biggest trends among millennials is how excited they are about working globally. Whether it’s working for a remote company, or moving to a new country and picking up work there in the local economy, millennials are carving global career paths. Here’s how.
1 Teaching English
One of the most popular ways of pursuing a career path globally is by teaching English abroad (and in the States, too, if you decide to return after traveling around). Whether you want to teach in the center of Paris, or in the mountains of Peru, there are opportunities everywhere. It’s all about getting the right certification (for example, earning a CELTA), deciding what country you want to go to, and applying for jobs with schools in the area.
If it’s your first time looking for a job teaching English, it can also be a good idea to use a service such as American International English Teachers Association (AIETA), which connects teachers and young professionals with institutions looking for English language teachers. Through AIETA, individuals can rest assured knowing that they’re working for credible schools that offer monthly allowances, as well as travel stipends which covers the cost of housing and health insurance.
2 Working for an international organization
Depending on what you’ve studied and what your career background is, there are many ways that you can work for international organizations. Whether you want to work for the UN in Brussels on a diplomacy initiative, or edit press releases for an international organization like the OECD in Paris, or you’re passionate about fighting against world hunger and want to volunteer or intern with an international aid agency in a third-world country–well, you get the idea. There are options out there, and it’s all about finding what matches your interests best.
If you’re serious about pursuing an international career for your entire life, then you’ll want to ensure that you prepare for it properly. This means learning languages that are spoken in your countries of interest, and pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies that are related to the career you want to pursue. Research the companies you’re interested in, and see if you can follow the career paths of the people who work there.
3 Working remotely
Another option, especially if you value flexibility and the ability to travel, is working remotely. Oftentimes, these workers are called digital nomads–and many people have noticed that a large number of millennials are drawn to this work. It’s a tempting lifestyle, if you’re the kind of person who wants to live on an Asian island, on the beach, working from your computer at a cafe that sells avocado toast with a side of free wifi.
Of course, if you want to work remotely, you’ll want to ensure that you have the kinds of skills that these companies are looking for. Getting some remote work experience of the kind you want to pursue–even if it’s free at first, for example writing online for a company–is one way to get started. Joining remote work Facebook groups, like Remote Like Me, can help you get started and become part of the community, and searching for flexible jobs on sites such as Angel will help you decide if remote jobs are the right fit for you. You should also consider negotiating a remote work arrangement with your current employer.
It’s been said before, and we’ll say it again: millennials are changing the way that all of us think about work, whether it’s the layout of the office, the way we interact with colleagues, or what countries we end up working from. Millennials are changing the way we work, and it means more freedom for all of us.
Are you a millennial in the workforce? Are you pursuing a global career path? What advice do you have for anyone looking for work in that sector?
