In an article in Transitions Abroad Magazine, Jennifer Hamm explains how more young professionals now are seeking work overseas than ever before.  The reasons for this are varied, but Margaret Malewski, author of GenXpat: The Young Professional’s Guide to Making a Successful Life Abroad, suggests that before, companies only dispatched senior staff abroad. Now, junior workers who demonstrate the desire to do so, can find work abroad because employers seek younger employees who are more flexible and mobile. The following are four basic tips for landing your dream job abroad.

1. Plan ahead.

It’s an indisputable truth–landing an international job is much more difficult than finding employment at home, the poor American job market notwithstanding. It will take a lot of planning and dedication. So the first step, really, is asking yourself if you really want to do this. If so, then start planning. If you’re still in school, then be sure to take classes in the language of your target country or countries. Consider studying abroad. Take classes with an international focus, like international business.

If you’re already working, find out whether your company has offices abroad. If so, then let HR know your interest in being transferred. Stephen Kantor, a twenty-eight-year-old banker who was assigned to work in Amsterdam for three years, explains that it was his assertiveness that got him the job. “No one was looking for me,” he said. “I looked at it as this is my career. This is something I want to do and the only one that is going to make it happen is me.”

If your company doesn’t have offices abroad, then consider taking a few months off to travel and volunteer, building some international experience and contacts along the way.

2. Get a Master’s degree

An MA is now considered standard for most international jobs, especially in the social sciences and business. Consider getting a Master’s degree abroad, too, so that you can build those all-important networks.

3. Travel and…Network!

If you don’t have any special skills that would make you more attractive than a local to an employer, then you probably aren’t going to seal the deal on a job abroad from home. This is especially true of Western European countries. In this case, you’re going to have to save some money, travel to your target country, and NETWORK.

Teaching English is a good way to earn a livable wage while looking for better job prospects and contacts. However, be advised that many schools require English as a second language teaching certificates. Consider doing freelance work in translation or editing, advertising private English lessons, or becoming an au pair for wealthy families interested in exposing their children to a different culture. All these jobs require some credentials or experience, but if you’re in-country and available, then employers are often willing to forego the credentials for convenience.

Also avail yourself of networking resources at home. Let everyone in your circle (cast your nets wide–include friends, family, alumni, professors, everyone) know that you want to work abroad. You never know who’ll have that connection that you need to find employment overseas.

4.  Tailor your resume…err CV.

Although they’re essentially the same thing, resumes are more commonly referred to as C.V.s abroad. Be aware that employers from different countries often expect something different than the resume you already have. For example, in the United States, it’s isn’t common practice to include a photo with your resume, but in many countries, it’s standard. For more information on international resumes, click here .

This guest post is contributed by Katheryn Rivas, who writes on the topics of accredited online universities.  She welcomes your comments at her email: katherynrivas87@gmail.com.

We’ve all got some big challenges to deal with these days: this wacky economy, maintaining cash flow, laying safety nets, building our companies, attracting more business, all while managing to stay sane and tenacious through these trying times.
That’s why we rolled up our sleeves and put ourselves to work on attacking this hairball of issues that literally can make or break your career…not to mention your spirits.

After months of all nighters and brutally long workdays, we’re finally ready to unveil a big new resource to help you find solutions to your biggest personal and professional challenges.

It’s called Fast Track to Success: 30 Days to Transform Your Life & Career.  Jam packed with perspective, inspiration and tips for leaping into action, this new tool is GUARANTEED to make a serious difference for you.  And you can take that to the bank!

How?  Fast Track is an online learning program that you can power through in as little as 30 days, 30 minutes a day.  Every lesson features online posts to read with full audio (read by me!) that you can download and listen to on the go if you’d prefer.  Then, once you’ve learned, it’s time to help you do.  Almost every lesson has a worksheet (or a few) designed to walk you though putting everything into action immediately.

Since this is all about getting to the next level, you’ll see not only your perspective, but outlook and opportunities evolve more and more every day!  We’ve even included a few videos to keep you fired up and opportunities every step of the way to share your thoughts or ask for help or advice from our team.  And again, we’re so confident this can help change your life for the better, we’re willing to guarantee it.  We’ll even send you a hard copy of our New York Times bestseller Secrets of the Young & Successful: How to Get Everything You Want Without Waiting a Lifetime as our gift.

To celebrate the launch of this new program, we’re going to spend the next 30 days sharing some of our best tips and tricks to take on this crazy economy on by storm, increase your opportunities, amp up your competitive advantage, and yes, make more money!

We want to share your best advice too, so keep your eyes peeled and we’ll offer plenty of opportunities on YoungandSuccessful.com, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to share your expertise and experience too!  So stay tuned and help us spread the word about anything you find particularly useful to your friends and colleagues.  We’ll all fare better and find the success we crave and deserve if we bond together and become a force to be reckoned with.

Here’s to all of our success!

Think about the last time you Googled someone. As young professionals, we grew up with the web and have all kinds of content out there about us. High school track scores, Facebook wall posts, blog comments, etc. – these digital breadcrumbs make up an online image that can work for or against us. Luckily, there is a new tool to help you make sure your online image works for you and helps advance your career.

This tool is called Brand-Yourself.com, and it’s the first online reputation management platform for young professionals of its kind. My team and I have been slaving away at the office to get it into your hands this week, and in honor of your loyalty to YSN, we’re giving away 50 full access, premium accounts.

Use the promo code “YSN” and sign up now >

And who is our system for? Everybody! Job applicants, consultants, small business owners, entrepreneurs, actors, professional service providers, authors – anybody who wants to control how they are perceived online.

After countless hours working closely with readers like you, top HR folks and personal branding experts, we’ve created a process that makes it easy to manage your reputation. We walk you through our four-step process with automated tools along the way. Not only does it work, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun!

You will proactively:

• Build on-brand content that aligns with your career goals
• Optimize that content to show up at the top of Google
• Promote yourself in the right places using social media
• Monitor your progress along the way

Step One: Build

In the Build section, we help you create the content you want people to associate with your name. We help you pinpoint your core strengths and build high-ranking web pages and profiles that demonstrate them.

Example Tool: Google Results Organizer

Throughout the process we’ve built some cool tools. Our Google Results Organizer is a fun way to discover how people perceive you when they Google you. You identify which results are about you and which are not by clicking and dragging results into appropriate columns. Our search engine optimization tools in the next section will then help you raise relevant results up above negative or irrelevant results.

Step Two: Optimize

Creating favorable content is not enough. The optimize section empowers you to choose which content shows up at the top of Google over negative content, irrelevant content and other peoples’ results.

Step Three: Promote

Being found when people are searching for you is an excellent reactive approach. In the Promote section, we help you proactively promote your content to the right people in the right places. We help you do this via social media by serving you daily recommendations of what to do next, and who to connect with to build your brand’s network.

Step Four: Monitor

Growing your reputation is an ongoing process. In the Monitor section, we make it easy to monitor your progress along the way by tracking changes in Google results and mentions of your name across the social web.

Over the past few months we’ve literally lived at the office, building the platform you can now try for free today. We’ve built something we are proud of, and we can’t wait to share it with you – and hear what you think.

For the first ten people who comment with feedback on the system, I’ll email you extra-extended free trial promo codes!

So poke around! Let us know what you like and what you’d change. Meanwhile, RJ Sherman (our Chief Technology Officer) can finally step away from his triple computer monitors and get some fresh air.

Sign Up for a Free Trial and We’ll Donate $0.25 to I’m Too Young For Cancer

During our official launch this week, when you sign up for a free trial, we’ll donate $0.25 to the I’m Too Young For Cancer Foundation, which ensures that every young adult affected by cancer is given access to the best support possible. The foundation strives to be a national leader in cancer advocacy, support and research, working exclusively on behalf of adolescents and young adults affected by cancer. With your support, they will continue providing hope, education and community to millions of survivors around the world.

1.    Sign up for a free Brand-Yourself trial now >
2.    Use the promo code “YSN” for an extended free trial
3.    Comment with your feedback and get an extension on your trial!

First comes love, then comes a contract??? As part of YSN.com’s 4 week  series about achieving success in your professional and personal relationships, today we’ll discuss how creating a written contract can enhance any new partnership — and make it easier if you ever split.

Sign On The Dotted Line…

At the beginning of all personal or professional relationships, we never like to think about things coming to an end. However, it is possible, and while we aren’t advocating pre-nups here, think about it: When you join a gym, start a job, buy a car or download software, you agree to a contract, which ensures that everyone understands their responsibilities, liabilities and the consequences of not living up to the agreement. In business, romantic or even roommate partnerships, it is critical to be on the same page – literally. A written contract is vital in protecting everyone involved, avoiding dirty court battles, minimizing legal fees, and making it easier to end the relationship fairly and amicably.

For more information on protecting yourself in business partnerships, read Work.com’s Guide to Ending a Business Partnership. It also discusses the seven tell-tale signs that you are about to fly solo, including changing vision and competitive interaction.

For a sample roommate agreement, click here (pdf file).

Read this article from Divorce magazine about the “Myths and Realities of Marriage Contracts.”

And, of course, for a sample prenuptial agreement, please click here.

Jovie Baclayon is a communications associate for the Young Presidents’ Organization and a freelance writer based in Santa Monica, California.

Be Sure to Check Out the Entire Series!

Live By Your Own Rules: YSN’s Tips for Having it All in Your Career, Life and Love (Part 1)

Get Over It! YSN’s Tips for Having it All in Your Career, Life and Love (Part 2)

It’s Time to Find Love: YSN’s Tips for Having it All in Your Career, Life and Love (Part 3)

It’s all in the Contract: YSN’s Tips for Having it All in Your Career, Life and Love (Part 4)

Everywhere I go lately, small business owners, company execs and everyone in sales is preoccupied with closing deals.  The economy has certainly made business a lot more difficult to succeed in, and more than ever, we all need to constantly be analyzing how we’re doing things to keep getting smarter, better, more efficient and more effective.  And at the top of everyone’s list: making more money.

That all said, I want to share some hard earned insight that will hopefully save many of you a lot of time, money and aggravation.

When you’re courting a new company or client, the sales process can easily get dragged out over a matter of weeks, months, or worse, never really result in an answer at all – be it yes or no.  So, how do you cut to the chase and find out whether there’s really even a deal to be done in the first place?

A few simple questions can make all the difference.

1.  What exactly are you looking to have done?

2.  What does success look like for this project?

3.  Where does this fall on your overall priority list?

4.  Are you exploring solutions with other prospective consultants/contractors?

5.  What questions do you have about me/us/our work?

6.  What’s the time frame you’re looking to start and execute this in?

7.  What does your budget look like?

8.  Who is the ultimate decision maker? (Who controls the checkbook?)

9.  Do you have a specific process for closing deals like this?

10.  As for next steps, would you like me to send you a recap of our conversation and a proposal on how we might be able to help you/best serve you?

They say yes, and you have yourself a hot lead.

It may take a meeting or so to build rapport and get comfortable enough to ask these questions, but rest assured you’ll start closing deals a heck of a lot faster when you get answers to these questions early on.