Getting a Job Abroad (India, specifically)

METAzraeL · September 2008

I finished college this summer with the realization that I have no strong interest in my degree of Wildlife Ecology. Since then, I've been looking for customer service jobs as a means to try new things and see what I do like, but apparently the current job market here has no interest if I don't have prior experience (and four years of lab/science work means nothing in the real world :P).

One of my only goals is to move out of Reno, NV, the city that I have lived in for most of my life. Seeing as my options here are limited at best, I figure I might as well be struggling somewhere that is at the very least new and interesting to me. This coincides with another desire of mine - namely, to live in India. I'll leave out the details on that one, but it's something that really intrigues me. And no, I don't really know much about language besides English.

So the question is: what's the best way to approach getting a job over there? I've been looking at India job sites, but I'm wondering if that's a good choice. Do I have any other options, like finding an agency here that will find me a job and take care of the fineprint? I don't have any experience with travelling abroad, basically I have no idea how to approach this. I don't really care what I do as a job as long as it's not telecommunications (I'm more than willing to do some chump science work if that'll help), so that's not a limiting factor on my end.

Cryogen · September 2008

Are you Indian yourself? Do you speak hindi, or another major indian language?

My girlfriend is Indian, i'll try to remember to ask her for her 2c worth tonight.

METAzraeL · September 2008

Nope, I am German/Irish with no worldly skills or knowledge of the place. This is more or less a blind jump into it, which I'm sure isn't recommended, but I want to look into anyways.

And yeah, if she knows anything at all that would help me, that would be fantastic.

wasted pixels · September 2008

One thing to bear in mind:

I work as a web designer. A typical US-based web designer with my qualifications and experience earns around $48,000/yr USD. A typical India-based web designer with the same qualifications and experience earns around $4,200/yr USD. If you aren't in a specialized, high-demand field, you'll be making a fair bit less.

If you plan on spending the rest of your life in India, hey, you'll probably do fine. But don't get any crazy ideas about working in India to save up a nest egg.

METAzraeL · September 2008

oh no, I'm definitely not looking to go there to save up money. I'm merely looking to find something that will get me by and let me enjoy my time there.

NotYou · September 2008

I believe one of the best jobs you can get over in India (without special experience etc) is one of those big phone centers where they either telemarket or do IT work for America. So, good english will probably get you a job there. At least, that is what some PBS program told me a few years back.

Edit: I have an idea. Try the Peace Corps. You might not end up in India, but it might suit what youre looking for.

METAzraeL · September 2008

My original plan out of college was to join the Peace Corps, but I don't really want to put myself into another program at this point, especially since I'd almost certainly be doing wildlife work if I did. I'm burned out enough as it is :P that's a good point about the phone centers, might have to keep that as a fall-back. I've been looking into teaching english or volunteering on a permaculture farm, with marginal results.

I'm wondering if I'd be better off just moving up to the NW US, then visiting India later, but I figure if I'm going to do a change then I might as well make it worth it.

NotYou · September 2008

To me at least, I don't think moving to India would be all that good an idea. It seems like you'd wind up spending 10 hours a day doing a job that in all likliehood you wouldn't like, returning to an empty apartment, unable to meet people because they don't speak the same language as you, and in the end unhappy.

By all means, go visit India sometime. Maybe go backpacking through it for a few months even. But I can't see settling down in India for a solid period of time for no particular reason as a great idea...

Your thing though.

Cauld · September 2008

Target hires Americans to work in India. I looked into it. They're mainly IT jobs, but there's some others. Check out their website.

Edit: The wages are based on American wages too, so they're relatively good. I was planning to do it, until I realized it would screw up some stupid immigration rules.

corcorigan · September 2008

If you just want a general job in India, you're probably out of luck. They have a huge supply of well educated people willing to work crazy hours for nothing. I'm not even sure you'd ever manage to get a visa.

(Excluding getting a job in America that happens to be based in India like above.)

Considered volunteering and taking a gap year?

Cryogen · September 2008

Ok, had a chat to the g/f. Unfortunately, she didnt have as much info as i'd hoped, largely because she has no intention of working in India ever :P. Also she's already a citizen, as is everyone she knows that has worked there, so she didnt have any info on getting a working visa.

She did mention the same thing that corcorigan mentions though. There is no shortage of well educated people in the cities you'd most likely be best able to settle yourself in, so it may be more difficult than you expect.

The best advice she was able to offer was to look for jobs in Delhi, Bangalore or Mumbai, as english is widely spoken in those cities so you'll have few problems with language barriers.

METAzraeL · October 2008

Thanks for the Target mention, Cauld. It looks like there are slim options for someone with my experience, but I'll keep checking them and look for other companies that are similar.

Volunteering would probably be my best bet aside from just visiting. I'll have to keep that in mind for when I have some money.

and thanks for checking with her, Cryogen. Ah well, I guess I'll just have to try a more casual approach to going over there.

useless4 · October 2008

METAzraeL wrote: »

Thanks for the Target mention, Cauld. It looks like there are slim options for someone with my experience, but I'll keep checking them and look for other companies that are similar.

Volunteering would probably be my best bet aside from just visiting. I'll have to keep that in mind for when I have some money.

and thanks for checking with her, Cryogen. Ah well, I guess I'll just have to try a more casual approach to going over there.

Doesn't hurt to call up Target Corporate to ask if you could get more info on these indian jobs. Let me tell you something in all seriousness - people who want to work in india haven't been to india. Strangely I have known at least five people who have worked for different entities (few us government, one a non us bank, one telecom company) and none of them would go back. That very fact leads me to believe that a us-filled position in india would be considered a hard to fill position.

FirstComradeStalin · October 2008

Hm. I would definitely try to go to India first before trying to move there for an extended period of time. As someone who's been there many times, it's a different lifestyle. Shoot for Mumbai or Bangalore if you do try to go over there, as those two cities are certainly much more "ahead" and have great expat communities

corcorigan · October 2008

FirstComradeStalin wrote: »

Hm. I would definitely try to go to India first before trying to move there for an extended period of time. As someone who's been there many times, it's a different lifestyle. Shoot for Mumbai or Bangalore if you do try to go over there, as those two cities are certainly much more "ahead" and have great expat communities

You should go to Madras for a few days, particularly a couple of weeks before the monsoon comes in. It makes everywhere else in the world seem so pleasant.

GungHo · October 2008

Train your vocal cords and ears to get used to constant screaming.

Kidding. I would suggest you go there first, though. India's an interesting place and is entertaining, but going from Reno to Delhi is going to be one hell of a culture shock. You'll be popular with the women, though.

Oh, you know the air conditioner thing you like in the Nevada summer? Yeah, they don't have that there.

METAzraeL · October 2008

Haha, India isn't very popular in these parts, I see. You've all convinced me to check it out first.

I prefer a nice box fan to a/c, so maybe I could hire some lovelies to cool me off with palm fronds :P

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