Organizaciones y Cultura Alejandro Peláez S.: Expatriates Assignments And Overseas Experience

Expatriate assignments is defined as the type of people who go to another country, hired in most cases by transnational companies, in order to work successfully in a international environment. After a period of working outside of its domestic environment, the individual might return home working with the same transnational company and share all his acquired knowledge and skills in order to improve the company at the domestic market. This phenomenon has been powered during the last years by the globalization the world has experienced during the XX century. Although, thanks to technology and internet, the number of expatriates in the world tends to reduce.

The key objective of expatriate placements is to encourage professional development. It is also used for knowledge transfer and in particular for long-term knowledge transfer, for example when it is necessary to transfer culture, values, and particular technical experiences in specific competence areas.

Expatriate assignments is not the same as Overseas experience. An oversea experience is when a individual decides to go abroad, in this case the individual isn't sent by a company. Usually the indivudual has saved money, have quitted his job, and had settled itself overseas alone. People under overseas experience usually leave and look for different kind of jobs and areas. Sometimes they look for not qualified jobs, like temporary jobs, in order to pay their needs. During their vacation they use to spend time traveling. After months or years of doing this they return to their home in order to resume their carreer.

One of the most critical processes for an expatriate assignment is the selection of the person who is going abroad. Choosing the wrong person to be an expat could make the assignment fail and will have a huge impact in the company's costs. in order to prevent mistakes in the selection process, the company must ensure a classified and punctual selection criteria. They have to look for a person that is flexible to changes or adaptable and they have to look for a person who has the capabilities learn and adjust to the environment quickly. It would be better if they hire people with traveling experience.