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A lot of people consider working abroad as an option. While a majority of them consider the possibilities they can do with the amount of money they can earn, others come home crying, unable to bear the torture of watching their children grow through a mobile screen.
Working abroad might be a lucrative choice for people who are really dead set on changing their lives. But there are some who might beg to differ.
Here are some of the good and bad things you need to know before you decide on working overseas.
Earn A Lot Of Money
You can ask a handful of overseas workers, and their answer would be the same. They receive higher pay. A regular welder can earn more overseas than a fully educated and experienced lawyer working locally. This, of course, motivates a lot of people to push through with going overseas.
When you think of the amount of money you can earn abroad and the conversion rates, who doesn’t want to go outside the country and work? Aside from that, overseas workers can help their families and send balikbayan boxes. All of these motivates a person to test their luck abroad.
An overseas worker can also be lucky and come across an amazing company who can provide benefits such as travel and housing allowances. These sometimes extend to their family members at home.
Loneliness or Homesickness
Working abroad has its ups and downs. One of the most common cons is the homesickness and loneliness you might feel. It can take a toll on your mentality. This also works both ways.
A child growing up just looking at her mother through a screen while the mother watches her child grows up without a mother to hold can be emotionally taxing. Leaving your loved ones might be the hardest challenge you might experience when you finally decide to work abroad. In the end, it all comes down to money or family. It depends on which you choose.
Another thing that a lot of overseas workers might experience during their initial stay in a foreign country is their complete and utter loneliness. Others can take it fairly easy once they have adjusted to the culture and language while others achieve fewer results and more depression.
Experience and Travel
Not many people get the luxury of traveling to a foreign country and staying there. Being absorbed as well as changing to meet the expectations and culture might be a great experience. Discovering new places as well as meeting different kinds of people is something you can only do in a different country. Regardless, it is a life changing experience that you should try once in your life.
Culture Shock
Well, you should be expecting this. Culture shock might be the bane in every overseas worker in their few months of staying in a different county. You might be shocked by how different things are from your country. Take, for example, kissing. For some countries, kissing a person is a form of a greeting. Other countries see this as a welcoming act when you meet your friends on the streets while others consider it as sexual harassment. You’ll be lucky if a case isn’t filed against you.
The world can be tricky to understand, and that is another hurdle you might take into consideration during your first few months there. Expect the unexpected, but somehow things will always take you by surprise.
Learning a new language
Linguists consider learning a new language as a means of exercising your brain. This is because when you understand a language, your mind automatically translates it in all the languages you know as soon as you receive the information. And while that is another topic in itself, you should understand how amazing learning to speak a new language really is. It can make you more marketable to the people who are looking for new employees. It’s also a skill you can show off when your friends come for a visit.
Learning a new Language
Same heading? That’s because learning a new language can both be a pro and a con. Things might feel exhilarating when you finally learn a language and become fluent at it. However, learning a language from start to end might be considered hell. You have to work your butt off before you finally achieve a decent understanding of what a native speaker just said.
When you are working in a different country, you have to keep learning until you can understand every single word the locals are saying. Learning a language is hard; learning a language in a short amount of time can be even more so.
Recognition
Wouldn’t it just feel amazing when people look up to you? Like if your small nephew comes to you and says he just wants to be like you when you grow up? Yes, that’s the feeling. Working overseas might be a tough decision, but it can put your family in a place where they can enjoy life to the fullest. Working abroad not only makes you a noteworthy and respectable person, but it also can make you a hero to the people who matter.
Discrimination
Racism and discrimination are things that every overseas worker have to deal with. Some Filipinos work hard to go abroad only to be treated like slaves. There is a lot of discrimination shared all around the world. Whatever gender or color you have, you will surely hear one or more degenerating and disheartening comments along the way. And it does not even stop there.
In some cases, doctors who graduated top of their class from a different country would end up as a janitor in a hospital. Lawyers become taxi drivers and nurses into maids. Often, overseas workers tend to work jobs they did not sign up for just to make a buck.
Now that you’ve seen the pros and cons of working abroad, what’s it going to be?
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This content is sponsored by Nidhi Mahajan.
Photo: iStockPhoto