Whether you are a recruiter or seeking a strategic career move abroad, you'll need to develop – and maintain – your business network. We look at what it takes.

Job hopping to the distant corners of the world takes pluck, persistence and perspiration – for starters.

Daniel Allen, an experienced American laboratory technician, spent more than five years trying to find a similar position in Europe, including going to Germany for three months to job hunt on site. He concluded he would have to sell himself short to be hired there, and needed something more suited to his abilities. Last month, Allen got a higher-level job as a field-applications scientist for Molecular Devices in Wilmington, Delaware in the US.

You'll need pluck, persistence, perspiration...

Switching continents to switch jobs can enhance your career. Bilingual global managers "are going to be more and more in demand," predicts Kyung Yoon, a vice chairman of search firm Heidrick & Struggles International. "But the learning curve is very high if you've never lived in that target country before."

Despite multiple obstacles, you can snare a cross-continental offer without losing your sanity or your wallet. Specialised skills can give you an edge at lower levels. Bill Lee, an auditor for the California Legislature, longed to see the world years ago. Alerted by a friend, the certified public accountant attended a Japanese job fair in Boston. A software house there picked him to be a financial analyst in Tokyo. He subsequently worked for companies in Japan, Singapore, the Philippines and the US.

To land higher-level positions abroad, sharpen your networking skills so you're well connected to people with clout at your desired destination. Build deep ties with executive recruiters like Ms Yoon, who ran Heidrick's Asia practice from Hong Kong before her transfer to Menlo Park, California, in early 2002. She often introduces promising US candidates to Asian colleagues.

In most cross-continental placements, "we have had a five- or 10-year relationship with someone" and know the person's track record intimately, says Jeff Hauswirth, head of the Toronto office for recruiters Spencer Stuart. Prepare for such a move at least "a year or two in advance," he advises.

Extensive involvement in world-wide professional groups raises your visibility. Sign up for an organisation's online bulletin board and attend its global meetings. During discussion sessions, describe a groundbreaking work project. Volunteer to substitute if a convention speaker suddenly cancels. Book tables at hot local restaurants, and invite key industry players to join you for a meal. Then give them a well-crafted pitch rather than merely pleading for a foreign post.

David Muir once captivated an international conference of movers when he opened a presentation by riding an antique British butcher's bicycle into a Las Vegas hall. The bike basket held a cooked turkey. "I was trying to illustrate it was time for a change in the industry," he says. Officials of Crown Worldwide Group, a Hong Kong firm whose businesses include international relocation, remembered the speech and hired the Scotsman more than a decade later for a California post. He now runs Crown's Europe, Africa and Middle East operations from Prague.

...and sharp networking skills

Press coverage will raise your global profile, too. Hauswirth recruited an American to run an ailing Argentinian joint venture about five years ago after reading a trade-publication piece written by the executive. The article described his turnaround of a similar venture in Spain.

Seek introductions from overseas customers, suppliers and venture-capital firms, perhaps during business trips to their locale. A Belgian organisational-development specialist eager for a US job recently requested help from the American Management Association's Brussels office, where he was a major client. The office forwarded his résumé and arranged a phone interview with a top human-resources manager at its New York headquarters. The effort has yet to bear fruit, however.

Former colleagues working for a different employer in your targeted country may provide your best connection. "Keep track of those people" through their home email, recommends Steve Swanson, a Princeton Search Group managing partner in Oakland, California.

Lee left his job as Citibank's finance chief in the Philippines five years ago for a higher-level spot with Visa International in Foster City, California. "I thought I would have to take a step down to come back to the US," he recalls. But he had stayed in close touch with his old Citibank boss after the man joined Visa. The friend invited him to apply.

For his Visa interviews, Lee took extra days off during a U.S. vacation. Your willingness to subsidise such screening costs may bolster your chances of a cross-continental job hop. Inform hiring managers "that it's relatively easy for you to be there," suggests Marilyn Machlowitz, a New York executive recruiter. "Offer to inconvenience yourself."

Karrin Nicol, a California human-resources executive, was so keen to find a job in Europe that she told certain companies she would pay for her relocation. "You've got to position yourself to compete with local talent," she explains. In April 2002, she became international HR director for Nvidia. She moved to Reading, England – and the U.S. maker of graphic chips paid the full freight.

July 2005

Subject: International careers, business networking, working abroad