Really Curious: What Do You Work At Abroad?

csi vegas · 14-10-2012 11:08pm #1

As with the title, I'm curious as to what everyone does for a living abroad.

There's heaps of Boards users with all kinds of locations attached to their profiles (I know, I know - outer space etc) but from getting familiar with their posts, how they describe daily life etc I know who's genuine.

I'd like to know especially if people are working at something they didn't study at college, are they doing something completely different or even menial but are satisfied overall with their lifestyle?
Was it a relationship that brought you there?

I'm not really asking about J-1's or the like but from people who are long term emigrated and plan to stay abroad for their forseeable futures.

I'm asking because I'm at the starting point of a major life overhaul and because I don't know where to begin I guess I need some inspiration

mandrake04 · 16-10-2012 9:52am

I basically install and maintain LINAC.

If you dont know what a LINAC is its a Linear Particle Accelerator used in Nuclear Medicine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu85ae3TpvY

Not something you study at college but started with a degree in E/E Engineering and have since acquired a list of qualifications the length of 2 arms.

Also have worked in

Colour Photocopiers
Clinical Pathology Diagnostics
Molecular Diagnostics
X-Ray and Nuclear Diagnostics

csi vegas · 17-10-2012 4:48pm

Wow! That's about as specialist as it goes. You can just choose your countries, eh?

Me, I'm a little less qualified, shall we say and leave for now

smurfjed · 17-10-2012 9:00pm

I fly airplanes....... not the original job that I left home to do, but its with the same company.

smurfjed

Darren1o1 · 18-10-2012 1:56pm

Medical device Engineer.

Grandeeod · 18-10-2012 4:06pm

Audio Visual solutions.

Ponster · 19-10-2012 2:18am

I'm a Contact Center Systems Engineer, designing and building IP telephony solutions, mostly for multinational companies.

MrKingsley · 21-10-2012 1:37pm

Moved to france 3/4 months ago with the plan of learning the language and doing something different.

Got a job in a bar and I am absolutely loving it. Already im saying to myself that ill be here for the forseeable future

Mr Burgess · 22-10-2012 1:22pm

Bookmaker

who the fug · 22-10-2012 1:27pm

Dis and Dat, you can take the boy out of bog and all that

Daisies · 23-10-2012 8:06am

I'm a lecturer in a healthcare programme in Africa. My profession doesn't yet exist in the country so the department is staffed by expats

Tom Dunne · 24-10-2012 7:43am

Lecturer in IT.

Cunning Stunt · 24-10-2012 12:02pm

I have a sales job in the green energy sector. The tasks can get a bit repetitive but I get to travel a bit which is nice.

I am qualified in IT but am just not interested in an IT career anymore...

Morzadec · 24-10-2012 12:07pm

TEFL teaching. I'd imagine there's a fair few doing the same as me.

It's not a great idea for a longterm career plan, but an easy field to get into and a great way to experience a foreign country.

Not to be recommended if you want a mortgage, support a family etc..., but often a fun, rewarding and stress-free job.

Beats sitting at home on the dole anyway.

Columbia · 24-10-2012 12:33pm

Another TEFL teacher, currently in the middle of a two-year stint volunteering. I'll be heading off to make money somewhere when my contract expires in December/June (some political stuff going on here [Georgia] that means foreign English teachers may not be welcomed back after Christmas vacation).

However in contrast to Morzadec, I do plan on making a career of it. I'm going to live in a few different cultures over the next 5/6 years, and then decide whether I want to settle down somewhere foreign or back in Britain/Ireland. If I choose the former, I'll specialise in multimedia techniques (I have an MLitt and other research experience related to this) at university level, if I decide on the latter I'll up-skill to teacher training.

(There is also secret option number 3: save some money and retrain as something entirely different).

Setun · 11-11-2012 10:39am

I work for art galleries producing and installing digital art exhibitions, I also do some lecturing/workshops on the side. A lot of the galleries and museums here are starting to close down due to stringent budget cuts unfortunately, so I'm planning on leaving to go somewhere else next summer.

Ms. Ka · 12-11-2012 8:16pm

I work as a geocoach, which is a fancy way of saying I work with GIS & agriculture. Its fairly new here in Canada and its not in Ireland at all. Its interesting as I get to mess around with satellite imagery and geo-spatial data and with agricultural machinery. Yes, its as sexy as it sounds!

Gav104 · 25-11-2012 4:37am

Scuba diving Instructor. If you really want to call that a job.

narfsnonsense · 25-11-2012 5:01am

In an office in a hospital. Same as back home but more along the events line which Im looking to get in to. Plus its tax free here, so aim to be debt free by the end of my first year.

3DataModem · 25-11-2012 5:08am

I work in Online Poker

rockonollie · 29-11-2012 4:35pm

Head Teller & Mortgage/Consumer Loan officer with a local bank.......never finished college and moved to the US with my wife a couple of years ago......I'm pretty happy with the job security and it's a good enough income for us starting a family.....there's also room to move up too.