Conducting a Successful Cross Border Job Search

Anita Brick: Hi, I’m Anita Brick. And welcome to CareerCast at Chicago Booth to help you advance in your career. Today we're delighted to be speaking to Dr. Boyd Falconer. He is a partner at Korn Ferry International and covers commercial, private equity, and not-for-profit clients and works directly with CEOs, directors, divisional presidents, general managers, and department heads across numerous geographies.

Boyd is a guest lecturer at Northwestern University and the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, where he has his PhD and his undergraduate degree. He also serves as director and nomination co-chair for the associate board of the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Illinois. Boyd, thank you so much for doing this. Obviously, you've had lots of cross-border searches yourself, both from the side of the searcher and also as executive recruiter.

Boyd Falconer: Indeed, Anita, thank you for having me. I'm delighted to be able to contribute.

Anita Brick: It's interesting, because sometimes we get a few questions. Sometimes we get a lot of questions. This time we got a lot of questions. And I don't know that we'll cover all of them, but I think we'll cover the main topics.

One of the biggest questions was really, how do you start? And one of the weekend students—actually a weekend student and an Executive MBA student both asked this question: what are some good resources for helping you understand the types of opportunities available in a country where maybe you don't have a network, especially those at an executive level?

Boyd Falconer: That's a great question and a common one, I would say. Anita, the key to reaching into that new market, that untapped market for an aspiring international executive, is probably the key problem. Once you've traversed that issue, that boundary once, you'll never come up against that impediment again. Let me say it's worth the effort.

In terms of what resources are available, let me say this as a caveat that there's no magical goldmine. There's no nirvana that exists where an aspiring international executive—and by that I mean someone that's currently domestically based but wants to go overseas—where an aspiring international exec can go and have all these things happen for him or her in a short amount of time. It's actually quite a challenging task to set yourself.

Now, with that caveat in mind, there are two places that I would strongly recommend the candidate initially goes. One is to start getting to know executive recruiters, and particularly retained executive recruiters. So those that are in the top five global firms. Get to know your industry expert locally. So if you're in Chicago, get to know your tech guy in Chicago, get to know your industrial guy in Chicago, and likewise, make contact with the peer in the location that you're seeking to go.

Because as much as we are all—and by we, I mean we in executive search—we are very much interconnected and in constant contact with one another, it doesn't hurt to make the connection directly yourself. And then the second area is to go internal. Speak to your HR lead. Speak to your immediate supervisor, your report up, if you like, and have a chat about what your aspiration is.

That can open many doors that you wouldn't otherwise know existed. That could be a very useful way for you to start that move across the ocean.

Anita Brick: I think those are very good suggestions. And I guess for a little plug for Chicago police, there are job postings in GTS, which is Global Talent Solutions. They are cross-regionally focused positions, and that would be a great place to look as well.

One of the things that someone asks, and I think it's a follow-on question, this is an Exec MBA student. He said, what are the cultural nuances of networking from country to country, and how do I make connections with institutions outside of my home country, which is the US? So networking, I mean, I know that there's been some leveling of that playing field with things like LinkedIn, but it's still not the same. I mean, networking in Tokyo is very different than networking in London.

Boyd Falconer: Oh, absolutely. And indeed from, you know, one side of London to the other side of London.

Anita Brick: Yeah. Good point, good point.

Boyd Falconer: You're absolutely right. It's changing. Entities like LinkedIn are changing the landscape. They really are. Indeed, to the chagrin of many of my colleagues, but that's just the way the world is evolving. One thing that LinkedIn will never, never do, however, is that personal touch. No online resource will ever, ever do that. So whilst that is useful—and I would in fact actively encourage any executive that wants to see something like this, to look on LinkedIn, get into those online networks as professional networks and make yourself known.

But keep in mind that it really does lack that in-person touch. My counterpoint to that would be, why not make it an in-person experience if you can spend time in that locality? If you know of a conference that is coming up in that locality, ensure that you get yourself onto a focus group or one of the breakout sessions. Get yourself on as a panelist and demonstrate your ability and passion and skills, live, in front of the very people that you're hoping will take interest in you. Because, let's face it, over the internet, you’re very much a faceless entity. And so much of a person's ability is expressed through their personal presence.

Anita Brick: That's a brilliant idea, the idea of a conference. And often they're looking for panelists, looking for speakers. And if you have a strong, solid message and you're able to demonstrate that, that's a great idea. What if you don't? Because one of the alumni said, my friends and colleagues tell me that I need to take a month and be on the ground. I'm looking at the UK, I'm looking at China, I speak Mandarin, I've only worked in the US. Is a month a good use of my time or a waste of my time?

Boyd Falconer: This person sounds like a fascinating individual. There's multiple language skills there. There's interest in a number of different areas. There's corporate experience here in the US, so overall, wow, what an interesting-sounding person. I would, however, express some caution with regard to spending time in a place, a foreign location where you would like to be, if you don't already have any connection there.

I think it's still worthwhile to go in general, but what I would strongly advise is that you spend some time planning and executing some networking before you go. Make sure that you have a packed agenda, a packed personal agenda, before you arrive. Now that will take some time, but what it will enable you to do is spend—if it is a month, spend a jam-packed month of very productive meetings, new face-to-face contact, and ongoing professional networks for you to leverage.

Even if you decide not to go—in the end, you come back from London and decide, look, it's not the place for me. It's just not going to happen for the next few years. But look at the result: a month's worth of fantastic new professional networks for you to stay in touch with.

Anita Brick: That’s true, and you may meet someone who needs your help.

Boyd Falconer: Absolutely.

Anita Brick: Yeah. And that's just an awesome way to solidify that bond. And, you know, some people say give back first—that even if you can't, you can be thinking about who can you help in your travels, whether anything emerges for you or not.

Boyd Falconer: You know what, Anita, that's such a key point. And it's frequently lost amongst executives when they're thinking about, you know, this international transition. They're thinking of it in terms of their own progress, which is fair; their own career development, their own advancement forward in evolution. OK, fine. That’s one chapter of this book. Another critical chapter is making sure that you understand how you're going to be able to serve and add value to whoever it is that you're seeking to join.

Boyd Falconer: I would encourage you to go back to our opening point. You're talking to your HR leader and your immediate boss. That's really the framework that you ought to be having that conversation. It's not so much, you know, hey, boss, I would really love to go overseas. How can you make that happen for me? But hey, boss, here's a plan or a couple of plans as to how my background, my experience, my skill set, my passions could be used to the greater benefit of this firm if I were to work in Auckland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Sydney, wherever it may be.

That perhaps, hey boss, you haven't thought of yet. That's the manner in which to have that conversation. You know, it's all about service. How can I better serve my company? And that's the conversation that will be received with open ears versus closed ones.

Anita Brick: I think you've got a good point, because if you're thinking about only you and what it's going to do for your career, well, OK, we need to be mindful of that. But if you're seeing where there's potential, where you could—you were maybe hinting at this—where you can certainly make an impact on whatever that overseas assignment is, and then if you think strategically about that assignment, what can you do to bring it back and bring back what you learned back to your home country?

Boyd Falconer: You're absolutely right. And that, Anita, is a killer punch. I mean, if you can advocate a great argument as to why that international chapter would have happened as a stand-alone, then that's fantastic. If you can improve a case for a chapter after that, when you return and how extra valuable you're going to be when that happens, then it's really a clear-cut case.

You know, you ought to be sent, you ought to take on that assignment. And I'm sure that management will see it exactly the same way: it is in the company's best interest for that to happen.

Anita Brick: There was a weekend student who asked the question when deciding whether to take an international assignment, are there key indicators that would allow the individual to assess that development, adaptability, to and from the assignment? Are there any things that you would add? I mean, obviously you need to know who you are and the value you bring, and certainly the value you can bring back.

Boyd Falconer: Assuming that they know where their location is, or their likely posting is going to be, if they haven't spent a significant amount of time there, I would strongly encourage them to do so. Just as a fail-safe check. If you can afford to take some time off work and actually spend time in that location on your own dime, this is proving to yourself that the cultural differences and nuances aren't insurmountable for you, and you alone will have to work that out.

And quite frankly, it's too late once you're three months into the role. So don't hesitate to, you know, take that trip, take some time off. And, you know, let's face it, have some fun. Get under the skin, a little bit, of that city, that metropolis, that country, to be sure. The second thing that I think is critical and frequently overlooked is you are moving away. Assuming you're currently here in the domestic US, your family is probably there …

Anita Brick: Or anywhere, I mean, because our audience is global, but moving certainly from their home base.

Boyd Falconer: Exactly. You're moving from home. Think about that. You are moving from your established family networks. You're moving from your established alumni network, from your previous and current professional networks. You may even report to the same person, just from a different location. You're surrounded by different people. You need to give some pause for thought there as well. How easily have you adapted previously on a domestic transfer or promotion or change of locality versus a more significant one like international?

And again, it's not that it's insurmountable, but I would strongly advise, you know, think through the magnitude of change. It's not insignificant.

Anita Brick: You know, there was a follow-on question to that, actually a concrete example, an Executive MBA. He's been in two international postings over the last 12 years, and he's about to start a third. So his home base is Sydney and then London, Singapore. And then, as he said, soon to be Hong Kong. Now his question, which I thought was an interesting one—and there were a lot of questions within his question; he sort of packed it in.

So to streamline it a little bit, he asked, should he continue doing international assignments beyond Asia? Is there such a thing as too much? And I think underlying all of that, he has four children. I think the oldest child is 12. They're all these work life family issues. To synthesize that a little bit, is there too much? Should there be something outside of Asia? And then is there a point in your life when you stop doing that for family reasons? I know that's a handful.

Boyd Falconer: So I would love to know more in more detail about what this person has done in each of those locations. But what a fascinating overview. This is very much just a face value reaction: I would think that maybe he or she is at that nexus in their career where they're probably thinking about, you know, for want of a better expression, settling down and choosing to accumulate expertise in a geography or in a sector or in a function, as opposed to taking another international assignment? I think that's a fair question.

Anita Brick: I think you're right.

Boyd Falconer: And if they are thinking about, you know, saying—and maybe even for the first time—saying, no, I don't see that as a bad thing at all, in fact. And likewise, I don't think there's necessarily too much. But the danger that he or she would face if they continue to have, you know, international roles and are moving, is that they never will find that sweet spot.

They'll get to a point where they almost feel compelled to keep moving. And that's probably a position that you don't want to put yourself into but will likely happen if you continue to take all of those international roles—as interesting as they probably are, mind you. I mean, you know, I can certainly understand the attractiveness of that, but perhaps it's time, you know, if you're at that nexus to to take a deep, long breath and think about staying put.

Anita Brick: Yeah. And I think for a whole variety of reasons, including family, because obviously that was a little bit top of mind because he made that part of the question, too. Sometimes it can just be exciting to keep moving.

Boyd Falconer: Absolutely. I can see his predicament from both sides. But what a predicament to have.

Anita Brick: Well, and I think that, you know, in part when he sits down and he can do a bit of an analysis and maybe one of the questions that he needs to ask himself is: OK, this is all great. I've had these experiences. What's my long-term aspiration and what's actually going to fill that gap in terms of skills and knowledge and experience and positioning and network and maybe all of that? As opposed to just choosing another international assignment.

Boyd Falconer: Precisely. And by looking at it that way, the solution will reveal itself. You'll end up, you know, taking a step back and saying, oh, well, in fact, I should remain here in Hong Kong, or maybe I should be back in Sydney. It will, as a result of looking at it, I guess from a more functional expertise perspective, the location will work itself out.

Anita Brick: A very good point. There were some questions around is there an ideal configuration for candidates of skills, knowledge, experience, and personal qualities? But one of the Exec MBAs was concerned about that. He said, I have 15 years of extensive global strategy, strategy, execution, new product development, and operations experience. I have worked across various functional areas in consulting, venture capital, and technology.

What is the best way to describe this somewhat generalist experience? It's very broad and very global. And would this even be attractive to executive recruiters? Also, where are the best places to search for companies who would understand this globally experienced executive talent? And would someone like that be eliminated from a search because they're too broad and they've had a lot of maybe not so deep experiences across a lot of different areas?

Boyd Falconer: The short answer is no, not at all. In fact, clearly his experience is diverse, certainly by what you've just described. And there may be some multi geographic dispersion there as well, which is perfectly fine. To his point about search firms understanding or not understanding, I would push back on that point actually, and say we understand—it may seem paradoxical, but there's an expertise in being quite broad. OK, we do get that. And there are certainly mandates from clients that seek that type of executive.

So my advice, you know, in terms of do companies understand? Yes, they do. Not all companies do. But not all companies are interested in that type of DNA. Make contact with your local search guys or your international … Again, looking for that overseas experience. But yeah, we get it. We understand, and we know the value in that broader expertise.

Anita Brick: At the beginning you said, well, you know, if you're a tech person, get to know the tech person at the search firm and the tech organizations in the country that you're targeting and all of that. How do you identify the person who'd be interested in this really broad experience level? If you went to Korn Ferry, how would you even find them on the site?

Boyd Falconer: There has to be a starting point, and I would recommend that that starting point be where your sector expertise lies. You know, forget about the different functional roles that you've had. But if your experience is predominantly with Procter & Gamble and then with Pepsi and that, then you need to be talking to the CPG guys in any office.

But with Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, then you need to be speaking to your aerospace and defense or even just industrial, healthcare, medical devices. You know, there's sector expertise that you'll find listed pretty much in any of the top search firms with each office. So go ahead and look for that.

Anita Brick: And it sounds like if you're looking for networking groups or associations or industry groups, you'd follow the same path.

Boyd Falconer: Absolutely. That is an untapped stream of leads: really sticking to a professional sector, focusing on a sector—or, conversely, a function—and getting yourself into that group if not already. And that's what a lot of executives don't actually realize is—they're seeking new networks, but the reality is they probably know an awful lot of people already. They need to reach back into that existing network and see what doors can't be opened.

Anita Brick: It's a good point. So it sounds like it's not necessarily that you have to have one skill set or one industry level of experience, or one deep dive in knowledge or personal qualities, but to understand what's valued and to be able to convey your story in a very compelling way.

Boyd Falconer: Yeah, absolutely. That’s such a critical issue—domestic or international, you need to know what your strengths are. You need to know what your true, true motivations are. You need to know about your values and principles. You need to know about your support network, to what extent you actually leverage that. Some people don't leverage it to an awful extent, and they're happy to get by that way, in which case they will probably find it less of a change to take that international role.

There's a lot that is common to someone conducting a search domestically and internationally, and that shouldn't be lost on our audience. You know, knowing yourself and your strengths and areas for development is key to both of those circumstances.

Anita Brick: So know yourself, know the market, and then create a message that takes your strengths and the things you want to bring forward and capitalizes on what is going on in the market.

Boyd Falconer: Yes. And you know what? That won't happen overnight. I mean, have a little patience as well as you build that credibility in the marketplace. That's going to take a little effort, and it's going to take a little time. But if you continue to work at it, it will happen. The world is becoming more interconnected, and it will happen.

Anita Brick: It's interesting. A few months ago, I had a conversation with someone, and he was telling me—we were actually talking about how to develop stories in January, and he was talking about a study that was done at the University of Texas at Austin and people who are in a job search mode. And I know this isn't necessarily what people want to do, but they kept a journal.

So after every networking conversation, after every interview, they debriefed. And they put down what went well, what didn't work, what they learned, and they followed it through. And at the end of the study—I think it went on for 90 days or for six months—they found three things. Number one, the job that they landed, it took them less time. After being there for a year, they were more satisfied than people who did not do this, and their compensation was higher. So it sounds like you're confirming that too, that you really need to know who you are so that you're able to convey and keep taking in new information so that you're able to update those perceptions too.

Boyd Falconer: Yes, absolutely. There's certainly an element of authenticity to an executive that develops over time. And I think that knowing yourself, that authenticity is more critical in a potential international transfer or posting, and it's more critical—for better or worse, you will be at least initially operating from a weaker family support, friend support, from a weaker perspective there. And therefore knowing yourself and who you truly are, what your value set is, your principles, your authenticity as a leader—that is definitely more important in an international assignment. And those results that you just mentioned are fascinating.

Anita Brick: Yeah, I thought it was fascinating to hear. When we do programming here, we do a lot of debriefing so that information can be incorporated. And when someone is self-evaluating after an interview or networking, it may not be pretty to look at, but it certainly can be helpful.

Boyd Falconer: Yeah, you're precisely right. It's not always pretty, but you do need to know.

Anita Brick: And you do need to know because everybody else knows, right? Yeah, a couple questions, talking about potential barriers. There were a few questions around that. One was from an alum. Leaving aside using immigration lawyers, how does one break the work authorization barrier if one does not have work authorization in the area that a person is seeking a job?

Boyd Falconer: I would say probably everything I've said up until this point, and that is you will need to establish and evolve your own networks further. You will need to, if not already, be in professional groups, whether that be conference groups, whether that be the CPA network, whatever it may be, you will need to be in those groups and active.

You'll need to be demonstrating yourself as a passionate global citizen, a wannabe global citizen. You will want to make contact with your local search group, your foreign search group, and you will want to also take that step back and look at your existing networks. You know, even as obtuse as they may be. I mean, we might be talking about, you know, a not-for-profit that you're involved in that has large chapters here in the US, and guess what? They've also got large chapters in Belgium and France and the UK. You think, fantastic! That's something that I never, you know, leveraged. But I should spend time and effort pursuing, you know, some new relationships there.

But keep in mind it won't happen overnight. So they committed … What executives don't really realize is that the doors are right in front of you, and perhaps you just need to take that little step back and look at what you've got before you, who you have existing relationships with and garner those.

Anita Brick: I mean, I think that's a great idea, but how does that help with work authorization?

Boyd Falconer: My—and I've been through this myself. So I feel like, you know, at least the personal experience will add a little bit of color here. But I do think that unless you're going to some truly far-flung part of the world, the work authorization will actually sort itself out as a result of your professional networking and the desire of the gaining company to want to bring on someone like you.

It really doesn't happen in reverse as much as you would like it to, as much as you as the individual executive would like to drive that, you know, international exciting assignment. The reality is it probably won't happen that way and it will be driven by your professional networking, then driving the work authorization. When that happens, the work authorization is not an issue at all. I mean, it really comes down to some paperwork.

Anita Brick: I've heard that, and I know some people just try to barrel through in that, especially in some areas I know, like in the UK and in Singapore, the stated barriers have gotten higher. But you're saying that a lot of the networking mitigates that.

Boyd Falconer: Absolutely. It's supply and demand. I mean, there's a market for you. Someone there, if you're using your network, probably will realize that they want you. You've demonstrated nicely that you will add value to that company or to your sister company or even to another arm, an international arm of your current firm. So they're convinced of that. And guess what? The work authorization will take place. But you won't do it in reverse.

Anita Brick: Got it. Is it different …? There was an evening student, an evening MBA student, who asked the question, how would you recommend going about pursuing a career in a startup company? And let's define a startup as not a micro company, but maybe they've at least gotten their first round of funding versus a large company across the border. And in this case, the person was saying US to Canada. But there is no prior international work experience. So is it different if it's a really young, smaller company?

Boyd Falconer: Not really. The reason for that is the startup, as small as the firm may be, and perhaps it doesn't even exist yet, but there's some capital somewhere, and it all coming together will largely be driven by the private equity backers or the guys bringing the venture capital. They're the guys that you want to be in contact with now, who are those guys in contact with, or they're in contact with all the venture capital groups that exist out there internationally and domestically.

And then likewise, they're in contact with us. Many, many of our clients are VC firms, private equity firms, and looking for, you know, people for some of the startup companies.

Anita Brick: So interesting.

Boyd Falconer: Yeah, it's not that different. It's not as different as you might expect it to be.

Anita Brick: Well, that's good. And I think that some ways of teasing some of that out is to actually go in and look at some of the guides, like the …. Guide or Capital IQ, those kinds of things which you can find certainly here, but you can find locally or going to The Deal and find out who's doing what. And then that may give you some clues as well.

Boyd Falconer: Yeah, it's back to that fundamental rule. You know, being in the market, being connected, something that you need to spend time working on. So if you do feel like right here, right now you're at square one, then you need to spend some effort getting yourself into that space: getting to know the relevant people.

Anita Brick: OK, good. No, that's very good. That's a very good insight. So another evening student, and do you have time for a couple more questions?

Boyd Falconer: Absolutely.

Anita Brick: OK. So this was a very interesting question to me. It says there seems to be a strong trend to hire locally for positions that a number of years ago would have gone to expats. Another trend is the use of virtual teams in various locations around the world. How do you see global work evolving over the next few years, and how will this impact cross-border searching?

Boyd Falconer: Great questions. Very insightful. Who is this person? Well, you know, I should say quite openly that it picked up to very strong trends, and they’re trends that I don't see abating any time soon. The global community one is an interesting one, because as much as we are becoming more and more interconnected, we are also, you know, hunkering down in our own regions and in our own economies and really are starting to hire local people more and more.

It's a noticeable change, a change of pace even, is a good way to describe it. And that exists in developing economies—China, India—as much as it does here in the US, in Europe, in Asia–Pacific. There seems to be a more concerted effort to hire locally. That has a number of reasons attached to it. One is, you know, expats are expensive. One is expats are not always successful for reasons that we've already talked about, as things can derail, you know, if they don't thoroughly explore one another, then it won't go well.

And then to the second point about that virtual team changing or growing, I absolutely think it's growing. That's just the nature of the business landscape changing at the moment. We will work more with one another, across the globe, you know, as that interconnectedness increases.

Anita Brick: Well, let's say I really want to have an experience outside of my home country, outside of my home region. Is there hope for me? What do I do?

Boyd Falconer: There is hope. It's perhaps just got a little more challenging and will continue to do so as those two factors continue to evolve. But I certainly don't see, you know, none of my colleagues see international exchanges and assignments going the way of the dodo. I mean, it's around for a long time yet. Depending on the stage of the business and its growth, there is good reason to have international expertise, whether it be for, you know, market scale that the person has already had—they can bring in that type of perspective, whether it's related to a deep technical expertise, a sort of biotech expertise that someone is bringing in from the US that this other area hasn't had yet.

So there's still and always will be reasons for it. But I think, yeah, the volume switch has come down a little on the likelihood that it's going to happen as easily as it may have happened previously, but absolutely don't give up if it's something that you want to have as part of your career, then absolutely worth the time pursuing.

Anita Brick: I think it goes back to something you said earlier: that you need to know as you're approaching your company or another company, what you bring, and then what you'll bring back.

Boyd Falconer: Absolutely.

Anita Brick: So it sounds like that's even more important.

Boyd Falconer: Yes. You know, and the fact that this person, you know, by their question, is aware of trends in the human capital marketplace right now, suggests that they're aware of what's going on and they can plan accordingly to get on top of those two potential impediments. Well done to them. Great, great trends that they've picked up on.

Anita Brick: Good. So there was a question and an alum now said, she said, I actually landed a job in a new region. What advice would you give me as I am about to embark on this? I'm going to be starting in about a month.

Boyd Falconer: Oh, wow.

Anita Brick: OK, this was actually Europe to Asia.

Boyd Falconer: She's on her way in a month's time.

Anita Brick: She's on her way in a month.

Boyd Falconer: Wow. OK. Exciting times. There's a number of things that will probably be occurring to her already, but I would go back to an earlier comment of mine regarding the support network, and I would do three things. I would spend time cementing those relationships that exist where you are right now so that when you're gone, in the absence of your physical presence, you can do a better job at leveraging your experience both ways.

In other words, you can start feeding some of that international experience and exposure back to your home company. You know, at a rate, perhaps, that the company wasn't even expecting. So spend some time to sort of, you know, invest in those relationships that you're physically leaving behind. The second thing is, if not already, you should absolutely be making phone calls and introducing yourself to the team that you'll be working with.

It's not a moment too soon, ever, to start doing that once you know that you're going. And I would assume that she already has that under control. But that's a really, really critical thing. You know, you are someone coming in from the outside as welcoming humans as we all, we can sometimes be put off by a stranger turning up at the doorstep.

So, yeah. And then the third aspect is, and it's a far more focused one, spend time talking to your leadership—HR and otherwise—about what happens beyond that assignment. And again, the framework for that conversation is around how your experience that you will garner overseas can best be leveraged to the company's benefit. That will put you in good stead for your return.

It's going to put you in good stead with management for the fact that you're being sent in the first place. That will keep communication lines open. I can't put enough emphasis on that: the three phases of communication, particularly since this assignment is only four weeks away.

Anita Brick: Yeah. No, no. That's good. That's very, very good advice. Finally, let's pretend that you were embarking on … I want to do a cross-border job change. What are three things that you would be doing and you'd begin doing right now?

Boyd Falconer: I would pick up the phone. I would speak to my current boss and say, is there the possibility of me being able to add value to this firm in some other role, in some other place? I am interested in serving beyond how I'm serving now. I am interested in serving in another country. So I'd like to, you know, explore your thoughts around that and see if there's the opportunity to do so.

Only after being beaten around the head and saying, there's absolutely no way we're sending you anywhere would I put serious effort into trying to circumvent that and go direct. I think it's in the executive's best interest to explore fully an internal posting before they, you know, get known to be searching outside.

The next thing that I would do, assuming that wasn't happening, I would network with my close colleagues—those that I trust, those that are in my professional spheres, so that you can certainly include not-for-profit circles that that I'm involved in; certainly includes my alumni network, and it certainly includes my professional network.

In other words, other executive search professionals that are not necessarily with my firm but are going to be able to help me. And if you look back at my answer, you would notice each one of those things is very people related. I haven't said, you know, go home tonight and jump online and see who you can send an email to. But it's a very, very human, personal-touch-driven endeavor. And I think that's truly where you'll get maximum impact in the shortest amount of time.

Anita Brick: I agree. Even with LinkedIn, if someone asks for an introduction, I usually pick up the phone and ask the person, is it OK to introduce this person? And I find that it happens much faster than if I just forward the introduction.

Boyd Falconer: Yes, absolutely.

Anita Brick: Any other insight that you'd like to share before we end?

Boyd Falconer: I would simply close by reminding the aspirational international exec that it is worth time really thinking through and having conversations with trusted colleagues and peers and friends and family about whether it's truly you or not. Because international assignments can end up as a black mark on someone's career when it was really never … that was the last thing from anyone's mind.

So be patient. Think it through. Get to know yourself a little better. As facile advice as that might sound, it's worth exploring fully. And then when you have explored it again … and just be certain that what you're doing not only advances your personal career, your personal evolution, but adds a great deal of value to the firm as well.

Anita Brick: Great. Thank you so much. I know that you're very, very busy, and I appreciate your taking the time because you added a really, really very important perspective because not only are you an expert in this area, you've also lived it.

Boyd Falconer: And it's my absolute pleasure. My pleasure.

Anita Brick: Great, and thank you all for listening. This is Anita Brick with CareerCast at Chicago Booth. Keep advancing.