Technology such as video-conferencing and instant messaging may be bringing the global workforce closer together, but many women still seek out employers who can offer them the opportunity to spend time in an overseas office.

“There is no substitute for face-to-face working and getting to know people,” says Kylie Rogers, a delivery director at Capgemini UK, an IT and professional services firm. “I have always been interested in travel, and being able to combine that with work allows me to achieve a personal goal. To me, this is a significant benefit.”

Rogers has enjoyed six-month stints in Copenhagen and Paris. The Danish trip came early in her career when the decision to move abroad was easy, but the secondment to Paris required more consideration. “I was older and my life different. Capgemini was totally flexible about how I made it work.” The company agreed a flexible working pattern, provided a mix of hotel and apartment accommodation and helped with travel costs so her partner could visit at weekends.

Amanda Shrimpton, head of employee relations at Capgemini UK, says: “Working abroad gives employees the opportunity to build networks with colleagues and to practise their ability to adapt to unfamiliar circumstances.

Chance to reach for the stars

Women are seeking choice, challenge and change, says Glenda Stone

Background

• Cast the net far and wide

• Work and play in harmony

• Even top jobs can be flexible for everyone

• Guided path to a higher rank

Background

• Keeping women on the career ladder

• The spy who came in over the gender divide

• Global network adds a vital string to their bow

• Avoid a waste of talent

“They gain new skills and languages as well as getting an enhanced knowledge of international business.”

Gaining an international outlook can be a good career move, says Caroline Griffiths, the HR manager for the UK and Ireland at Cisco, a technology company. Its graduates find work in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

“Having people move between countries provides a broader range of career development opportunities, while each country can tap into talent from across the globe,” she says.

Stephanie Reed is a personnel manager for Schlumberger, an oil and gas services company. As an American she is working “overseas” in England. “Carrying out your role in a different country is a challenge and certainly motivates you. You start again with a new team, a new environment and new challenges, and that’s a great opportunity to redefine yourself.”

Her first overseas assignment was in Oman. “I also covered Pakistan. It was a case of ‘in at the deep end’ but the company provides plenty of support and you never feel alone. And, of course there is a Schlumberger culture in the workplace.”

As well as being professionally rewarding, Reed’s stint in the Middle East was personally rewarding as she met her husband, a British Schlumberger employee, while in Oman.

Anne Drakeford, a senior associate with Clifford Chance, the law firm, has just returned from a year in Hong Kong, which she describes as a “profound experience” that provided an opportunity to look at her career from a different perspective.

“Professionally, it took me outside my comfort zone and gave me new opportunities and scenarios and brand new clients.”

Drakeford found that her Chinese clients were not concerned with her gender. “What they are looking for is someone who can advise them on their issues and, provided you come across as confident and able to deliver, then they are happy.”

She says she would welcome another chance to work abroad: “I think the whole experience makes you a much more rounded individual. If you are taken out of your comfort zone, you have to be more self-sufficient and self-starting and I found that very motivating.”

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