The world is a smaller place these days, particularly if you are the proud owner of a professional qualification relevant to the global accounting and advisory market place:- ACA, CA, CPA, ACCA, MBA, CFA, CISA, CFE, CTA, JIEB – these are just some of the qualifications that could be your passport to an international career. Global mobility is not for everyone but the opportunities are there and in many cases being mobile comes as part of the territory of the job.
The world is almost literally your oyster although in some cases your options may be restricted by local immigration restrictions and local language requirements. Often, firms are more likely to invest in more experienced candidates who have more developed skills and can therefore add more value at Senior Manager, Director and Partner levels. However, this is not always the case, particularly in areas where skills and resources may be more transitory – a good example of this is on offshore island locations where professionals may want to experience living and working for 2-3 years but not indefinitely.
If you are working for a global firm there is the obvious option of going on an internal secondment but there are plenty of opportunities for external applicants too. So where are the hotspots? Well, it’s impossible to give a detailed view in such a short article but here are a few good examples:- High level Advisory roles in Asia Pacific in areas such as Forensic Accounting, Restructuring, Transactions, Merger Integration , Data Analytics, Technology Consulting for Senior Managers, Directors and Partners, locations including Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and others. Note that local language skills are usually required for Hong Kong and China. Audit and Advisory roles at all levels in Offshore locations such as the Channel Islands, Bermuda, Bahamas, Cayman and British Virgin Islands. Audit, Assurance & Advisory roles in the UK and throughout Western, Central and Eastern Europe particularly at Manager level upwards and ranging from routine audit roles to more specialised skills such as Disputes and International Arbitration specialists for UK, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and France. These are just a few examples but other locations such as Canada, Middle East and Latin America are other possibilities.
At the end of the day, if you have the qualification and the motivation there is a plethora of international options out there for today’s professional explorers.