Tips on How to Shift Your Domestic Engineering Career to an International Opportunity

The following is a summary of Episode 40 of my podcast, The Engineering Career Coach (TECC) Podcast. I will summarize the main points in this post; however, you can also listen to the show through the player below or by subscribing on iTunes. I offer a career-changing tip at the end of each podcast session.

In this session of The Engineering Career Coach (TECC) Podcast, I provide a young electrical engineer with strategies for shifting his engineering career to a global one.

Fadi is a young electrical engineer from New York City. Originally from Iraq, Fadi received a scholarship to obtain his Master’s degree in New York City. He subsequently obtained an internship doing engineering design and was ultimately offered a full-time engineering position with the same company. He has been thinking about making a shift from working on communications engineering to international development.

In this episode the following strategies are discussed in detail, in hopes that you can apply them in your engineering career if you’re planning to change your engineering career path; especially if you want to work abroad.

• Try to identify employers that have international work available in your field. Investigate which companies are doing the same work you have planned on transitioning into and see if the company is a good fit.
• Research those prospective employers and understand what certifications they are looking for. Find people through social media who have made similar transitions in their engineering careers and talk to them so you can get an idea of what credentials you should pursue. Figure out what you need to do to be a good fit for those employers.
• Once you have identified these certifications, pursue them. Build your industry knowledge by obtaining certifications or having taking courses. Should your transition require learning a new language, then go for it. Think about your reputation and resume.
• Try to build a network to help you in the industry you are transitioning into. Become a member in professional organizations that spans the globe. Other ways to build your network is through LinkedIn and school alumni associations.

Transitioning to a new career can be challenging and take a long time, i but you have to stay focused and in a positive state of mind. 

Have you found this post useful? What other strategies have you used in making transitions in your engineering career?

Anthony Fasano, PE, author of Engineer Your Own Success, found success as an engineer at a very early age and now writes and podcasts to help other engineers do the same. Visit Anthony’s website at EngineeringCareerCoach.com to access all of the free engineering career resources he has created to help engineers succeed.