Idea in Brief
The Background
Today’s professionals are often expected to be geographically mobile, especially if they work for multinational corporations.
The Problem
While cross-border moves offer many career benefits, there are also regulatory and occupational constraints and economic and psychological costs associated with them.
The Solution
Research indicates that making moves early in your career can accelerate it and that effective relocators find creative workarounds, stay connected to home, strategically time their trips to headquarters, and proactively plan their next steps.
Bill Wiseman was facing a quandary. He’d been working at McKinsey’s Seattle office for two years when his wife got a job in Okinawa, and he had to decide whether to remain a U.S.-based consultant or take a position as an engagement manager in the South Korean office, where an opportunity had opened up. While Wiseman was eager for the promotion and wanted to be near his wife, he had very little knowledge of Korean culture and language and worried that a move to Asia might hurt his career.