Boomeranging: Expat to Repat

S4 Ep8: Survey Insights: Do I Stay or Do I Go?

In this special podcast episode Margot and Simone chat about the findings of their recent Australian Expat Career Survey and the release of the report ‘Should I stay or should or I go?’  that explored the role work and job plays in an Expat’s decision to come home.

 

With 450 Australians answering the call to take part, they share their 5 key take-aways along with some insights on who took part, how long they’ve been away, what expat's experiences with recruiters and hiring managers has really been like and just how long the average Aussie spends planning their move home.

 

They also talk about how expats can use these findings to support the planning of their return and how mobility professionals who work for organisations managing global workforces can support the repatriation process.  

S4 Ep7: Liz Ritchie

‘Forget Sydney and Melbourne and you’ll be happier’, is the message from podcast guest Liz Ritchie, CEO of the Regional Australia Institute, for expats living overseas and thinking about moving home.  The  Institute is an independent thinktank and Australia’s pre-eminent source of research, information and policy advice on regional Australia.  And according to their research, people living in Australia’s regions are happier than our city-dwellers.

 

Right now, there are more than 70,000 job vacancies advertised in the regions, and factoring unadvertised positions, this number is likely to be double. The most in demand jobs are skilled professionals and mid-to-high skilled trades like engineers, doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, teachers and accountants.

 

In this podcast, Liz talks about the professional opportunities for skilled Australian expats looking to be part of the positive trend of people moving to Australia’s regions as part of the Great Regionalisation!

S4 Ep6: LJ Ferrara

If you were an Aussie living overseas who managed to navigate your way home during COVID, chances are you are very familiar with the Aussie Expats Coming Home Facebook page and its founder LJ Ferrara.

 

What started as a group to help LJ navigate her own journey home in 2018 after 20 years overseas, became a vital source of information and support for thousands of Australians trying to get home during COVID.

 

At many points during the pandemic, LJ and her community were providing answers to expats and their questions faster than what they could source from public and government channels.  The power of this community saw it swell in numbers almost overnight.

 

In this episode, we explore how LJ and her expat community helped Aussies during this time and how the community today is supporting expats navigating the logistics of coming home.  With planning to come home often intrinsically linked to securing a job back in Australia, we talk about how long LJ thinks expats should be allowing for the transition. 

 

And here’s a hint for expat dog owners, 6 months is not enough!

S4 Ep5: Deborah De Cerff

Deborah de Cerff’s career is supporting the careers of expats.  For the last 30 years, she has helped individuals and organisations move lives and careers across the world and back again.  She is now Founder and Chair of The Employee Mobility Institute advocating, promoting and growing the talent mobility industry throughout Australasia.    

 

Over her career, she has seen many changes to how organisations view and treat expat assignments but no period has offered up more changes than right now. The global talent shortage is forcing many organisations to re-think how they view and support traditional expat assignments.  In the past, organisations have focussed on ‘global mobility’ but with the demand for talent so fierce and flexible working having a seismic impact on where many roles are now based, the focus is moving towards ‘talent mobility’ or ‘career mobility’.

 

Could this be the end of the word ‘expat’?

S4 Ep4: Louise Broekman

Senior Australian expats with global experience are highly sought after for positions on Advisory Boards according to Lousie Broekman, founder and CEO of the Advisory Board Centre.  Louise founded the Centre 10 years ago and has grown the Centre to be one of the leading professional bodies for the advisory sector globally with a presence now in more than 20 countries. 

 

In this episode, we discuss how Australians with knowledge and experience working in international markets are highly sought after by organisations using advisory boards more and more to test and manage growth opportunities. Louise discusses what organisations are using advisory boards for and the sectors and markets in hot demand.

 

She believes expats with knowledge and experience working in international markets make excellent candidates for Advisory boards – particularly as more and more Australian companies and start-ups look at their global growth ambitions.  But she also stresses that joining an advisory board is not a ‘retirement plan’ and outlines what it takes to be an effective chair and board member.

S4 Ep3: Julia Van Graas

Has the new era of flexible and hybrid working opened up new opportunities for C-suite expats looking to return home? Co-founder and Chief People Office of Leaders on Demand Julia Van Graas certainly thinks so.

 

Julia leads a team of experienced, hands on c-suite executives who deliver on-demand support to CEOs and organisations looking to scale.  In this podcast she talks about working with the on-demand team, 85% of whom are Australians who have lived and worked overseas, and the experience they bring to Leader on Demand clients in Australia.  And why this style of work, is so attractive to returning Australian executives.

 

We also discuss the impact of flexible and hybrid working is having on how leaders work – and where, which Julia believes will open up more opportunities to senior executive Australian expats.  She believes Australia needs to take this opportunity in this period of transition of how we work to really re-think the ‘where’ we work to really unlock Australian talent anywhere in the world.