One such guest was Jan McGrath<\/a> who ended up in the Fintech space after her 20-year experience in card technology wasn\u2019t of interest to the big four banks.<\/p>\nLike Jan, many repatriates I have spoken with have found success in these communities. So what makes this path an increasingly common one for expats?\u00a0 And why aren\u2019t more Australian companies who \u201csay\u201d they are striving for innovation, not looking at this group of skilled entrepreneurs more seriously?<\/p>\n
Whilst there’s no denying that the Australian market is considerably smaller and the number of senior opportunities are less obvious, many are finding the start up community and private sector welcoming their offshore experience. Global\u00a0 knowledge, international networks and first hand offshore market experience is proving to be the ‘golden ticket’ for many.<\/p>\n
There is a long list as to why I think our returning expats are the key to unlocking Australia’s competitive edge and why they are so well suited to innovation cultures. The following top five skills and attributes include:<\/p>\n
Measured risk takers<\/strong><\/p>\nTo move your life overseas, to navigate not only a new job but the day-to-day challenges of setting up home in a culturally different environment, making new friends, and simply ordering a beer in another language \u2013 takes a bit of guts and a whole lot of effort.\u00a0 Experienced expats are by nature, measured risk takers.\u00a0 Balancing both a desire for a career with the experience and challenges of living in another country, they rarely take the easy option and can weigh up short term pain for long term gain.<\/p>\n
Culturally adaptive<\/strong><\/p>\nSomeone who lives and works in another culture, is required to be culturally adaptive. They are aware of the need to be open and curious, to observe and enquire and know that different business cultures require different things. Returning expats bring insights, knowledge and experience of not only what to do or say (or not to) but when and how. It is this knowledge that not only helps organisations identify opportunities but how to do it in a timely and culturally inclusive manner that builds trust and buy in.<\/p>\n
Resilient<\/strong><\/p>\nPeople who successfully manage the complex transition of life abroad know how to step outside of their comfort zone, reframe challenges and solve problems. Optimistic by nature, they invariably bring a high level of self awareness, strong sense of curiosity and are well equipped to remain calm under pressure. It is this high degree of resilience that sees many repatriates confidently navigating rapidly changing environments and cultures of uncertainty and volatility.<\/p>\n
Overseas networks<\/strong><\/p>\nLike anyone with a significant career, expats and repats have networks and global ones. After they return home, most repatriates try hard to maintain friends and contacts overseas. For companies looking at growing in markets outside of Australia, these existing international networks often prove to be invaluable with local intelligence, connection and speed of entry to market,<\/p>\n
Still Australian<\/strong><\/p>\nExpats are still Australian \u2013 it doesn\u2019t matter how long they spend overseas.\u00a0 The notion that an expat who has spent years overseas won\u2019t fit in to the Australian market because they have been out of it for a period of time is nonsense.\u00a0 Australians living overseas maintain regular contact not only with Australia through friends, family and colleagues but with the Australian community in their overseas country.\u00a0 Expats become more global as they live overseas, they don\u2019t become less Australian.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For those who have listened to our new podcast, Boomeranging: From Expat to Repat, you may have noticed an emerging theme amongst our guests. That being, how many repats have found their place back in Australia’s start up community. Be it starting their own business or in entrepreneurial rapid high growth ventures. This is either […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Why Expats Make Great Hires For Innovative Cultures - InSync Network Group<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n