My name is Megan Fitzgerald and I am an expat career and entrepreneur coach and the founder of Career By Choice.  I help expatriates use their unique value or personal brand to build a career or business that supports their international, mobile lifestyle. In this column I will be sharing tips on how to build a fulfilling professional life, wherever you happen to call home.

For many, becoming an expatriate can sound glamorous or exciting.  I am not going to argue that living in another country is not an extremely fulfilling and rich experience. However, in order to build the life that you want for yourself abroad, it is important understand what an exciting and fulfilling lifestyle looks like for you. Personal and professional satisfaction can be different things for different people.  What you think you want might not give you the life you truly desire.

It is also important to recognize that, for some people, giving up your professional life in order to enjoy a rich personal life in another country can be a recipe for disaster. The loss of professional identity is one of the biggest reasons why people become disenchanted with living abroad and return to their home country.

Building your career abroad begins with a clear vision of what you want so you can create a “map” for how to get there. Here are just some of questions to ask yourself as you prepare for your career overseas: 

•    In what city and country would you be living? In a big city or small town?
•    In what industry would you like to be working?  Using what skills?
•    What are you passionate about? What kind of work would allow you use those passions?
•    Do you want to work for yourself or for someone else?
•    Would you like to work in an office or work from home?
•    Do you want to work for a small local business or a multinational corporation?
•    Do you want to travel for your job? What % of time are you traveling? Where?
•    Are you part time? full time? What are your working hours?
•    Are you working primarily with people, places, or things?
•    What language do you need to speak at work? Do you want to work with people native to the country or with other expats?
•    What salary level would support the lifestyle you desire?

These are just some of the questions to get you started building a clear vision of a fulfilling professional life in your country of choice.

Expat Professional Success Tip: Whether you are thinking about moving overseas or are already living in another country, ask yourself these questions.  Use the answers to start drawing a picture of what a satisfying professional life would look like. Creating a clear vision is the first step towards making it a reality.