Moving from a National to an International Career: The Advice I Wish I Heard Earlier

Making the jump from the national to the international level might seem daunting for many. As someone who has taken that leap, here I share the best career advice I learnt and some tips that I wish I had applied sooner. 

Back in Argentina, I had a stable job as a Civil Servant at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, it came to a point where I wanted to shake things up. My passion is on disarmament and non-proliferation, a field that is not too developed in my country. Deep down, I knew that my efforts would be better placed on supporting international organizations working on these issues, but that did not seem like something I could achieve. Fast forward a few years later, and the tables have turned. Here’s what it took:

Change your mindset: the spot is for you

You’ll never be truly ready for what is outside your comfort zone. But it is out there that growth and achievements occur. (Not) funny enough, it is well documented that women tend to be less confident than men -- that is one of the reasons why so many incompetent men become leaders. Plus, as a person coming from the Global South, I know how both our cultures and actual opportunities shaped by history undermine that confidence too. That is why it’s critical to adapt our mindsets if they don’t serve us well, so we can then hack into the system.

Probably my biggest aha moment of this journey was to learn about the impostor syndrome. I’m talking about that feeling of not being qualified in your field, even when objectively you have the skills and abilities to perform. It comes with the accompanying fear that you will soon be “discovered” by those that you have “misled”, leaving you humiliated. It also goes hand in hand with what RuPaul calls an inner saboteur: your own Mr. Hyde that talks down to you and self-sabotages whatever you try to accomplish. In doing so, you might find yourself procrastinating, as your instant gratification monkey tries to drive you away from those anxiety-inducing goals. 

AUTHOR: MARIA GARZON MACEDA

María is a professional focused on disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. She is currently a Policy Leader Fellow at the EUI and an active participant in several youth and women initiatives in her field. Previously, she has worked at the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and collaborated with international organizations and NGOs.

With a strong interdisciplinary background, María holds a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, and had previously graduated Cum Laude as a Bachelor in Political Science from the University of Buenos Aires.

To this day, I am still surprised to see how many young women aren’t aware of how these things are playing against them. If the funny impostor, saboteur or monkey characters resonate with you, you are not alone. The first thing to do is identify those inner voices that tell you that you cannot or should not go for it. Then you can actually talk back to them by adopting a growth mindset and reminding yourself that it is never too late, you are good enough and you do belong. 

That being said, as Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-ann Burey say, the true solution is not to fix individuals, but to create an environment that fixes bias and fosters a variety of leadership styles. For example, I wouldn’t have considered applying to fellowships for so-called “leaders” before, but it turns out once I did I got a spot on several of them. Sure, my leadership is not stereotypical, but it doesn’t mean it’s not there -- I just had to spot it myself first.

I am not saying that you will get that dream job just because you want it hard enough; but if you don’t even try, you will never know. While changing your mindset, figure out your goal, draw the steps to achieve it and work hard on what you lack to get there. You might be surprised to see where you turn up. 

Learn to tell your story: connect the dots

This piece of advice has two parts to it. We all have different paths, so you have to share your journey in a way that fits the requirements of your next goal. To do so, you need to learn to connect the dots in retrospect.

First, there is the issue of our education and job systems varying throughout the globe. However, when you apply to an international spot, you need to fit yourself into a square box that might leave you feeling like a triangle. The trick here is to distinguish when you just need to adapt your resumé and when you need to update yourself. In my case, I didn’t have a typical CV, so I made it fit by tweaking and bending some terms for an internationally digestible story, and making sense of my “unusual” path of working-full-time-while-studying in cover letters. But I also understood that I could not get the type of jobs that I wanted outside of Argentina without having a proper Master’s Degree. I had to make peace with the idea that my international journey would need to include going back to school first.

The second part of this advice is an open secret: you will usually come across people that seem to have a strong professional calling and a clear career execution roadmap that goes according to plan. Don’t be intimidated. Those are mostly mythological figures. The truth is that the majority of us, particularly at the beginning of our careers, do things by accident, because we were told to, or simply because that is what was available. What happens is that we connect the dots in retrospective to tell a story that makes sense. And you can do it too: take the time to adapt your CV and cover letter in each application. State clearly your niche, goals and objectives, even if you are not sure and will probably change them next month. In time, you will learn what sticks with you and the line between your dots will become clearer. Fun fact: you can always erase and redraw the line if you want to change paths.

Network: build relationships with a common interest

It might be relevant nationally too, but you can’t get around it if you want to crack your way into an international career. Let’s be honest: networking is vital to learn about opportunities that barely get publicized; to have someone put in a good word for you; to get insider’s information about how to go around the excluding selection processes, and much more. But how do you even get to that point? As an introvert, what helped me was to re-frame what networking is: I now approach it as wanting to build a relationship with someone I share a common interest with. 

First things first: if you are not sure who to network with, make sure to keep up with the news and get involved in the relevant networks of your field, such as WiFP. Over time, you will understand the ecosystem. However, seniority should not be the rule: while established professionals might be eye catching, building a network of your own generation is important to future-proof your career too. 

Treating networking as relationship-building, you understand that it is not about adding whoever into your LinkedIn or rushing into shaking hands with the busy expositor. Rather, you want to say hi to the person sitting next to you in the (virtual) conference room -- I had a few surprises this way. Cold emailing someone from an organization you want to work in and setting up a (virtual) coffee chat is a great way to start too, but think of this as dating: you don’t make a marriage proposal on your first date, so don’t ask for a job or a referral right away either. Then, after a first approach, LinkedIn and professional Twitter accounts are great to get the relation going. If you nurture these relationships, eventually they will help open doors for you.

A final note: lift others up

The leap from a national to an international setting is not of the same width to all of us. Apart from the safety net and resources that make the jump easier, some have the international logic and requirements explained to them from earlier on, while others have to decode them and adapt themselves on the go, fighting against discrimination and bias.     

That is why, to conclude, I want to share with you what I would like our field to be like: a place in which everyone, in any position to do so, remembers to fight for greater diversity and inclusion. We can all start now. As you move in your career, share what you’ve learnt along the way. Things that might seem obvious, natural or easy to you might be of great help to others. You, like me, have a platform at places like The Zig Zag; make sure to use it. 

Edited by Lauren Matthews

Published 31st March 2021