What an international career builds

The first release in this series asked why people start their careers abroad. The second looked at where. This one asks what it actually builds once you are there: the skills, the ambition, and a wider sense of what a career can look like.

Our previous piece focused on personal growth. This one turns to the professional side, through one story told in full. Dominic grew up in Singapore, studied at UCL, and is now a trainee solicitor in London. We asked him three things: what working in a global setting taught him, how it has shaped his direction, and what an international career is really worth.

In his own words

The words are his own, published in full.

Dominic

Trainee Solicitor, Mishcon de Reya · UCL alumnus

SingaporeUnited Kingdom

The fastest way to change yourself is to change your surroundings.

The skills

The fastest way to change yourself is to change your surroundings. Working abroad alongside people from various countries and upbringings taught me to adapt to different tempos, communicate across cultures, and to remain open-minded to both perspectives and possibilities. Above all, it taught me the value of a sponge-like curiosity. In a short time, I have grown enormously in IQ and EQ.

The direction

Working internationally showed me how much of my caution was inherited. Growing up in Singapore, my risk-tolerance was shaped by school and well-meaning naysayers. Surrounded by people who are creative, ambitious and unafraid to fail, I found my standards rising, and my belief in what I could achieve rose with them. That shift has pushed my career towards bolder decisions.

The value

An international career will not guarantee success, but it sets you up for it. Abroad, I met media lawyers, immersive theatre producers and founders of start-ups clearing space debris. These careers barely exist at home or exist on a smaller scale. Every conversation with the personalities around me widened my sense of what is possible.

That is the real value of working in a global setting. It will change what you dare to attempt, wherever you go next.

Your surroundings set your standards

Across all three releases, the same thing keeps coming up. The move itself is only the start. What it builds is quieter and lasts longer: fluency in more than one working culture, a different relationship with risk, and a wider sense of which careers exist at all. Dominic’s point is that most of this comes from the people around you. Work alongside people who are unafraid to fail, and your own standards rise to meet theirs.

That is why community matters as much in year five as in week one. The people who widen your sense of what is possible are rarely found by accident. They come through alumni groups, networks built around a city or a country, and introductions someone offered freely. If an international career is on your mind, start building those connections now, before you need them.

Our partners at Singapore Global Network

Singapore Global Network is a 250,000-strong community connecting Singaporeans and friends of Singapore across the world, through communities organised by city, sector and interest: exactly the kind of community this series is about. Join us at https://singaporeglobalnetwork.gov.sg/join-us/

Where to start

Whether the move is a year away or five, these are worth doing now.

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This is the final release in the series. Catch up on Release 1: starting your career abroad and Release 2: thinking about working abroad.