The Foreign Service Journal, September 2015

52 SEPTEMBER 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL tant or start your own company. You have control of your situ- ation, and this can be an especially great option if you plan to move frequently. Work can be done over the phone and online, so you can manage clients in multiple countries regardless of where you live. If you’ve walked through these seven steps, you should be in a better position to begin your job search in earnest. For those of you who are reading this article prior to going overseas or still have a few years until you will be reentering the work- force, I have a few additional tips from people who have been in your shoes. If You Have Some Lead Time… Keep working, if you can. If there is any way for you to keep working, even if it is part-time, do it. If you can’t do that, consider working for yourself and starting your own business that you can operate while you are overseas. And, as I already mentioned, don’t pass up the opportunity to transform your current position into a telework opportunity, unless you really hate what you are doing. Keep improving yourself. Study a language, take online classes or continue using the skills related to your profession in a volunteer capacity. (See, for example, U.S. News & World Report ’ s “Best Online Programs,” or check out EFM Laurie Pickard’s website, No Pay MBA, for ideas on how to take classes for free.) Remember the fictional woman who donated her time as a cook at an orphanage? If she’s a chef by profession, that’s perfect. If she is in marketing, she should try to volunteer her time by designing a website or brochure for the orphan- age or perhaps helping with a fundraising event. The skills she employs or learns through this work are more applicable to her future in marketing. Stay connected to your profession. Don’t fall out of touch with your field by losing contact with your colleagues. Stay connected as well as you can. Also, consider joining a pro- fessional association in your field and read journals related to your field to keep up-to-date on new developments. For example, if you are a lawyer and you know you will not be prac- ticing law while overseas, join the American Bar Association and read their monthly journal. That way, when you are ready to go back to work you won’t feel as if you’ve missed out on the last couple of years. Don’t let licenses or certifications lapse. When you are overseas, it’s a challenge to figure out how to meet all the requirements to maintain licenses or certifications you may have. It’s worth it to figure this out. Maintaining a license while you are overseas puts you in a much better position to jump back into your field when you return. Being an expat spouse is hard, awesome, frustrating and incomparable to anything else—sometimes all at the same time. Most all of us emerge from this experience stronger and more understanding people. Don’t hide that when you are ready to go back to work. You’ve got something incredibly valuable to offer to any field. n The best place to mention the reason there is a hole in your resume is in your cover letter.