Everyone has their own reason for taking up an overseas posting.

For the professional, key considerations might be the purchasing power of the remuneration package; whether or not the posting will contribute to long-term wealth creation; how it will contribute to broadening career path opportunities; and how it will impact on your personal life.

Preparation and realistic pre-departure expectations are essential to a successful placement overseas.

Certain personal skills such as political, economic and geographic knowledge about the world and the country in which you will be working, knowledge of the international aspects of your field of work, personal coping and adapting skills, and international and intercultural awareness, also significantly increase the likelihood that your overseas posting will be successful.

While multinational companies with will established overseas operations are likely to be aware of many of the employment-related relocation issues and pitfalls canvassed here, small to medium-sized employers, for whom sending staff overseas is not a regular event, may be less familiar with the issues.

This publication is intended for Professionals Australia members contemplating working and living overseas, and for those who may have accepted a posting and progressed to the “nuts and bolts” stage – and now require an overview of issues they should discuss with their employer.

With an increasing number of professionals looking to work overseas, this is compulsory reading.