Dual Career Solutions

A Real Dual Solution
Interview with Nathalie Brotchi of NetExpat

Debra Winger, a freelance journalist, talks to Nathalie Brotchi, Managing Director of Brussels-based Net Expat, a thriving company which she runs with her husband, Alain.

Debra Winger: Could you say few words about your profession ?

Nathalie Brotchi: I am the co-founder of Net Expat, the principal function of which is to help expatriate partners find a job in their new host country - a problem traditionally known as the dual-career issue.

For some partners this means picking up their career, for others it means finding a job after some years away from the workplace. In every case the challenge - and a big one at that - is the same. How do you position yourself for a job market which is not ready for you, while you are not prepared for it either - with a lack of languages and no existing network ? I am now in a position to be able to talk from the experience about thousands of candidates in similar circumstances, whom we have helped to find a job.

Debra Winger: What do Net Expat candidates have in common?

Nathalie Brotchi: I would say that every candidate is unique in terms of his or her personal history, experience and expectations - and it is this that makes our work so fascinating. In broader terms we find that, faced with the dual-career problem, our candidates can be ranked in terms of four dimensions.

The first is their expatriation experience. First-timers are often like children: they respond to everything with excitement and astonishment, they react to little things and get all fired up about their opportunities. They are particularly sensitive to the reception they get from the host-country as well as the welcome they get from their neighbours. By comparison, hardened expatriates facing their fourth posting go straight to the basics and are quicker in posing the fundamental questions. It's fairly easy to tell with them whether or not the preceding expatriations were a success.

The second dimension is the mobility of the candidate, not just geographical mobility but mental mobility too. Some of our candidates know very well what they want to do and have no intention of deviating. Others are open to any professional opportunity that will help them find their feet in the new host-country. But it is not unusual for candidates to stay in their 'home country' until a job has been found for them.

The third dimension is the marketability of the candidate, based on his or her previous professional experience, education, linguistic ability and so on.

Finally, we come to the fourth dimension and the most important. This is the candidate's personality, his or her level of motivation, sense of initiative and the things that prompt the decision to come and talk to us. The coaching and techniques we use for the partner who simply wants to work part-time to keep busy are totally different from those we apply in the case of the candidate who is absolutely determined to pick up his or her career.

Debra Winger: When expatriate partners come to you, how do you see them developing?

Nathalie Brotchi: We generally meet candidates very shortly after their arrival or even before they arrive. In the early days the mood is one of excitement. Rightly known as the 'honeymoon' period, this can last from one to two months depending on the country and the person.

Things generally go quite well during this period, the fascination of the voyage blinds people a bit, and the headiness of the new experience can cause them to overlook a lot of things. This period is followed by a more or less brutal return to reality. All the little things that can go wrong, like getting a telephone or opening the electricity meter, start to poison the lives of the new arrivals. Even worse, there may be problems with the residence permits - or the furniture may have joined the fishes mid-Atlantic.

The partner is particularly exposed to stress during this phase of the expatriation. While the whole family has been sharing the joys of the 'honeymoon', the return to reality generally hits the partner particularly hard. The principal expatriate - the transferee - has been fully absorbed with his or her new job from Day One and in many cases is rapidly swamped by the workload. But, even when working hard, the professional environment from one subsidiary to another is very similar. If there are children, their powers of adaptation are extraordinary and, even if there are tears, they rapidly make friends and find a 'sheet anchor' in their school environment.

So, in the final analysis, the partners are the only ones to be totally isolated from friends, family and the previous job. This is when the real ordeal starts, something that can last a few weeks or months, or even years. It is the prospect of a job that will help them re-establish themselves, progressively recover their identity and find themselves back in emotional step with the rest of their family. There can be no question that the professional 'rehabilitation' of the partner contributes directly to family stability and to the success of relocation.

It is a great satisfaction for me to follow our candidates on this challenging journey and see them come back smiling and happy after some weeks in their new job!

Debra Winger: How do you see the respective roles of the company and the family in all this?

Nathalie Brotchi: That is an excellent question and one that almost every multinational company is trying to find the answer to today. I think the role of both depends, among other things, on the company culture, its resources and its size. On the other hand, the role of the family also varies enormously depending on whether one is dealing with a young and first-time expatriate couple or a family with three children facing its fifth relocation.

What we tend to say is that, regardless of the exact situation, effective communication between the different parties will always facilitate expatriation. But ensuring effective and even-handed communication between the employer, the transferee and his or her partner is anything but easy!

Several barriers still exist: some of the preconceptions about mobility are well entrenched and encourage stereotyped attitudes. Even the most demanding future expatriates might not express their need for partner support in order to preserve their image and their career opportunities. The inevitable consequence is a dangerous lack of communication that can have a dramatic impact on both the transferee concerned and his company.

Before an assignment, when a young and ambitious manager is asked 'are you prepared to move?', the obvious answer - to preserve his or her chances of getting to the top - is inevitably 'yes'. As a result, the manager is not giving voice to the problems he or she foresees and the company is not in a position to identify them without a fuller discussion in-depth. This dialogue of the deaf can pose a real threat to the project.

From the transferee candidate's point of view, the prospect of being excluded from the 'best in class' can freeze the discussion with his or her partner in order to avoid any personal problems. This can also lead to active resistance from the accompanying partner to the prospect of sacrificing his or her career when an international assignment proposal is made. At this stage, the pressure is on the accompanying partner's shoulders.

Meanwhile, from the company's point of view, the perceived pool of mobile managers will not be in line with reality. This will lead to additional hesitations and scenarios when developing careers and making restructuring plans. It all adds up to a loss of time and money, and wasted effort, for the expatriating HR department.

Ultimately, once the assignment is accepted and assuming that the dual-career issue has not been addressed, another danger now threatens the couple and the company: the non-integration of the accompanying partner. Indeed, this can bring inevitable tensions and conflicts within the couple that can suddenly explode and lead to separation or the decision to cut short the relocation experience.

Young mobile managers will leave it too late to talk about these personal problems with their employers, in order to keep their image intact and be consistent with their commitment toward the company. So the burden is now on their shoulders. This will have an impact on their performance and the viability of the international assignment, and may even compromise their future with the company. This clearly shows the need to address fully issues properly when considering an international assignment.

Debra Winger: So what conclusions can you draw from your experience of overseeing expatriations from beginning to end?

Nathalie Brotchi: Both personally and as a specialist with Net Expat I would absolutely insist that, despite the numerous challenges that relocation presents, expatriation is a wonderful thing. Fortunately the quality of the supporting services now available to multinationals in ensuring the success of their relocations is no longer limited to a few privileged families. I have just one piece of advice to offer: do everything you can to accept the challenge but, before taking the plunge, talk about it openly with the whole family and frankly address all their fears and doubts. There's always an answer.

Debra Winger: Could you share with us a testimony of an expatriate partner coached by Net Expat ?

'Before arriving in Belgium from the United States, I knew that Belgium was full of major companies from around the world. So I thought that it would be fairly easy to find a position as a recruiter for an IT group. I was in for a surprise.

I was introduced to Alain and his team at Net Expat and was immediately impressed by their expertise on what it was like to be an expat and what steps it would take for me to find that ideal position. Just as important, the 'personality' of the group was very warm and genuine. This was extremely valuable, especially for moral support of which I would need a lot during the process of finding a job.

After getting my CV written and translated into French and Dutch, it was time to get ready for a 'hopeful' interview. I was to do a mock interview. And that can only mean one thing - 'The Torture Chamber, And yes, Alain was ready to make me sweat. While facing a camera, he delivered question after question, while the camera was watching every nervous gesture as I squirmed around in my chair.

I did find the experience very beneficial, although horrific, especially after we watched the video and I saw the habits, both positive and negative, that I had never seen before. This gave me both confidence in some of my interview skills and helped me notice what I needed to correct for future live interviews.

Eventually, after many meetings with my coach, Sally, I began to get feedback from companies about my CV. I was told that I lacked the language skills or knowledge of the European market. It was true. But this was the surprise that I least suspected. I was at least hoping that US and British companies, who must surely use English, were interested in me. This was a difficult challenge.

This is where the moral support of Net Expat came in. They continued to push, told me to be patient and kept me focused. There were plenty of other companies out there.

I eventually did find that ideal position.

I am very grateful to my wife's employers who provided access to Net Expat. They realize that the support given to an expatriate partner is extremely important. If the partner is happy, the employee is happy and will be productive and therefore, in return, the employer will be happy. In the end . . . everyone is happy.'

About NetExpat
Net Expat is the first company in Europe to offer a professional solution to the growing issue of dual-careers. The objective of the programs is to make expatriation more successful, by ensuring the expat spouse is better integrated in the host country. These programs are designed to offer specific support to non-nationals who will be confronted to a different job market in the new host country. The programs are run by people familiar with local recruitment techniques and who are sensitive to the challenge of an expatriation.

Net Expat is operating in 42 countries and has offices in London, Paris, Dublin, The Hague and Brussels - Information: info@netexpat.com or http://www.netexpat.com.

About Nathalie Brotchi
Nathalie holds and Bachelor Degree in Biochemistry and an MBA. In 1991, she joined a major pharmaceutical company and rapidly obtained international managerial positions. During 8 years Nathalie has lead effectively various European teams, and has gained a valuable experience in managing cultural diversity.

She was directly confronted with the dual-career issue when her position was relocated overseas and she eventually refused the assignment.

Today Nathalie is Co-founder and Managing Partner at Net Expat working to find the most effective solutions to help expat partners pursue their career abroad and she is contributing to the geographical expansion of the company. She is also participating to various international conferences as a speaker on Dual Career issues