Relocating as a Minority
My business focuses, as you may have gathered, on helping professionals use their career as leverage for an international move. To open doors, effectively.
Whether from London to Australia or Canada to Singapore, we connect people around the globe and assist them with the interview process, offer negotiations, immigration processes, relocation and settling into their new lives.
However, this journey is not always the same experience for everybody. Your gender, sexuality, skin tone, and ethnicity can all have an impact on the success of setting up in your new location so these things must be taken into consideration when choosing where to go.
As a gay man, when I was planning my first move abroad, I considered not just what I was looking for in terms of climate and opportunities at the other end of the line, but also how accepted I would be in my new environment. I knew I wanted to move to the sunshine, having grown up in the UK without it for the most part. That was my main ‘Want’. And I did not want to live somewhere where I would have to learn a new language before I could make new friends. I am a man who needs to socialise and whilst I could struggle by in school level French and German, I didn’t feel like I would set myself up for success in France or Germany. I wanted to have the fewest barriers possible to me finding my way, and for me, that meant making friends, fast!
It is important to weigh up all the factors when shortlisting where you would like to live.
Australia - the land down under
I settled on Australia – for a number of reasons, but not least, as Sydney hosts the annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, which at the time was the event in the Australian calendar that attracted the most people into the country every year. So – not only did I get to throw some shapes with my global siblings every year, I knew that I was landing in a place that celebrated diversity. At least on the LGBT front.
Not everyone I have known over the years has had the same fortune. I have alluded in a previous blog that a former company I worked with relocated someone once to rural Eastern Russia, from Malaysia - and he experienced some horrific racial abuse when he landed. He was shouted at in the streets and had his car broken into and even set alight, and his apartment was often attacked. This was a nightmare for him as you would expect and we made it a priority to get him out of there and somewhere where he could feel safe again.
It is saddening to see that not everyone everywhere in the world sees all other people as equal.
Some countries still have a way to go
Despite recent decades showing vast improvements for women in the Middle East – even in Saudi (where until recently it was illegal for women to drive, or even leave the house without being accompanied by a husband, brother or father) there are still improvements needed to ensure women across the region can enjoy the same freedoms and opportunities as their male counterparts. Saudi plans to evolve over coming years - toward a future dubbed ‘Saudi Vision 2030’, which includes steps to give women more rights, but they are a long way from equality.
One can never be sure if you step out of the known and into the blue, what one will face in day to day challenges.
There are still several parts of the world where it is illegal to be gay. These include the ones we all know about like the Middle East, large parts of Africa or Russia, but also some surprise inclusions like Malaysia and Barbados.
Expect challenges
Making sure you factor in as many things as you can think of – not just the obvious like language and climate and how much of a challenge you are seeking can help improve your overall experience of setting up in a new home. For the most part, the challenges can be fun. However, there are serious things to think of such as the above.
If you are interested in making an international move but are unsure as to where the right place for you around the globe is, for whatever reason, talk to us! Have your international job search handled by people who care and understand that everyone needs to find their perfect match in order to thrive in their new environment.
We are all a minority, somewhere! Let’s work to make sure we are safe, as are those around us.
Have a great week everyone!
