Spouses or partners moving with an international assignee may want to continue or begin careers. In many cases, finding paid employment for the spouse or partner of an international assignee is challenging.

Here are some tips for a spouse or partner who wishes to pursue paid employment:

• Apply for a work permit at the same time as the international assignee
• Take copies of transcripts from all academic institutions attended
• Take plenty of copies of an up-to-date resume and business references/letters of introduction
• Investigate the tax implications in your particular destination country
• Contact companies in your home country that do business in the destination country, and attempt to arrange interviews before you leave
• Check with your current employer for useful customer or supplier contacts
• Ask if the embassy or consulate can provide a list of companies doing business in your new area
• Explore military installations that may hire local civilians

The possibilities for launching a new career are limited only by your imagination and the laws in your destination country. Here are some ideas you may want to explore:

• Teach your native language as a second language, either privately or in a commercial language school
• Offer translation services (if you are bilingual)
• Export products from your new country to retailers back in your home country
• Start a co-operative to supply goods and/or services to the expatriate community in your new country
• Teach skills, such as painting, sewing, or photography
• Look for a tourism-related job in hotels and tourist-service companies
• Write for publications or other media
• Consider volunteer work