You may not be able to take the inherent desi-ness out of an Indian but you can certainly take the Indian out of India, placed in a plum job abroad. Current records from the Ministry of External Affairs in India puts that particular expat number in the vicinity of 32 million.
USA claims the highest NRIs followed by the usual suspects like UK, Canada, UAE, etc. In fact, Indians comprise the largest number of migrants around the world.
And the driving reasons are employment opportunities, larger compensations, and for many a life abroad can be a promise for a better future for them and their families.
But this dream of settling abroad goes well beyond the intentions and means. The process of finding a job abroad to work as an international is enveloped in layers and layers of bureaucracy.
Work permits, legal proceedings, immigration policies, and global political climate, are some of the key drivers in determining whether you get to work abroad, despite your worthy credentials.
However, there are those who have accomplished this goal and the path towards international success is pretty well-defined.
Why is it difficult to get a job abroad?
Contrary to popular belief, employers actually need skilled employees of foreign origin to expand globally and increase international knowledge.
It gives them the opportunity to cast a wider net for a bigger talent pool and the competence often compensates well for the additional costs incurred – immigration and visa proceedings on behalf of them.
For instance, a recruitment survey by Deloitte conducted among 450 companies showed that companies with foreign workers are nearly twice as likely to be innovative, flexible and adaptive, as compared to others.
Diversity in workforce is also a plus in boosting competitiveness and productivity.
However, what usually puts a damper in international hiring are the employment and immigration laws defined by the host and home country governments. Compliance requires complete knowledge of all the processes.
Which means companies need to not only adhere to the policies, provide sponsorship as is necessary to the visa requirements, keep lawyers on retention to handle the legalities, but on top of everything else also show that the workforce available within the host country is inadequate to fill the position the foreign worker is being hired for.
In the US, for instance, the visa that allows skilled foreign workers to be employed is the H1B. The number of visas that can be approved each year has a cap at 65,000.
So, even though there are lakhs of petitions for work visas each year, the actual number cannot exceed this cap.
In practice, there are exemptions that pushes this cap to multiple times more than 65,000.
These exemptions include H1B visa renewal by employers for employees who are continuing employment, those that are under defence contracts, other specialized circumstances, and finally 20,000 separate approval cap for foreign students who have an advanced degree in the US.
What can you do to settle abroad with a job?
Skilled labor and advanced degree holders are certainly at an advantage when it comes to securing an overseas job offer. That is a key takeaway from the discussion above. Whether in the USA or anywhere else, the demand for specialized employees has been ever increasing.
In the US alone, between 2003 and 2021, over 62 lakh H1B petitions have been filed for H1B and nearly 57 lakh have been approved. In recent years, Indians have comprised well over 70% of those total approvals.
So, what can you do to be hired by a foreign company and settle abroad? Here are three most popular ways to do it.
Option 1. Obtain an international MBA degree
The special category of additional visa approvals for only those that have an advanced degree from the USA means that an American degree can be beneficial particularly if you are looking to settle abroad.
Almost all countries have a pretty well-defined way to convert a student visa into subsequent work authorization.
The period of said work visa varies but the facility in itself creates an excellent opportunity for international students to obtain gainful employment in their host country while kick-starting processes to convert their work visas to permanent residentship – vis Green Card, PR, etc.
Read Top study abroad destinations for Indian students
– Best MBA abroad countries for Indian students
The table below indicates the total number of H1B beneficiaries in the US and their average compensation by education type in the fiscal year 2021, according to USCIS.
| Education Level | Total (and %) number of first time H1B approvals | Average compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Less than a Bachelor’s degree | 130 | $110,000 |
| Bachelor’s degree | 37,829 | $97,000 |
| Master’s degree | 67,247 | $96,000 |
| Doctorate degree | 13,412 | $96,000 |
| Professional degree | 4,780 | $178,000 |
The share of Master’s graduates who get approved for H1B are multiple times the others. This reflects the need for skilled labor that is required for work visa approvals.
Now, when it comes to Master’s graduates, apart from niche categories like Sciences, Engineering, a large portion belongs to the international MBA graduates as well.
These are individuals with early to mid-career work experience who can apply from any background as long as they are able to demonstrate strong skillset in quantitative abilities, communication, and motivation to utilize their MBA for leadership and management roles in the future.
They are in demand in a wide variety of occupations, from finance, administrative, management consulting, technology, to even fields like education, law, etc.
Here is a glimpse at the major occupational groups that were awarded H1B in FY 2021.
| Occupational Group | Percent of total approvals |
|---|---|
| Computer Related | 68.8% |
| Architecture, Engineering and Surveying | 9.5% |
| Administrative Specializations | 5.1% |
| Education | 4.0% |
| Medicine and Health | 3.5% |
| Mathematics and Physical Sciences | 2.9% |
| Life Sciences | 1.7% |
| Managers and Officials | 1.3% |
| Miscellaneous Professional, Technical and Managerial | 1.0% |
| Social Sciences | 0.9% |
| Art | 0.5% |
| Law | 0.4% |
It can be inferred that a lot of the candidates in Administrative, Managerial and Technical professions have an MBA degree.
And MBA degrees have been known to encourage international student enrollment for increasing diversity, competence, and the marketing of the school’s brand name globally.
This can be seen through enrollment numbers in MBA programs in not only the stalwart b-schools in the USA, but European b-schools as well.
Here is a glimpse of some of the top b-school international student population in recent years.
| Business School | International Student (%) |
|---|---|
| INSEAD (France) | 94% |
| London Business School (UK) | 92% |
| University of Chicago Booth (USA) | 38.9% |
| Yale School of Management (USA) | 44.0% |
| IESE Business School (Spain) | 83.0% |
| Northwestern University Kellogg (USA) | 36.0% |
| HEC Paris (France) | 94.0% |
| Harvard Business School (USA) | 37.0% |
| University of Pennsylvania Wharton (USA) | 36.0% |
| MIT Sloan (USA) | 43.0% |
| Stanford GSB (USA) | 47.0% |
| Columbia Business School (USA) | 48.0% |
As compared to MBA, the other post graduate programs have fewer international students. For instance, Stanford has the most number of international students in MBA, with the rest of the MS programs like Engineering, Computer Science, Physical Sciences, etc. at 50% or less than that of MBA.
In fact, many international MBA applicants already have a previous MBA degree in their home country.
A second MBA for them is either a stepping stone to broaden their career horizons or to get into a reputed program to establish a career in the host country.
Second MBA abroad after MBA in India – Success Stories
Second MBA applications can be tricky. Typically, applicants already have more than the usual number of years of work experience. Plus, they have to justify the need for another MBA.
But often, a second MBA can also be the learnt response to compensate for what was lacking from the first time around – career opening, career growth, brand value, or the opportunity to use an international MBA to catapult ones’ career abroad.
Here are some of our success stories where applicants have gone on to get their second MBA, internationally.
Second MBA admit at Michigan Ross
This MDI Gurgaon MBA graduate with an HR specialization decided to pursue a second MBA for a career shift and progress abroad. Read his story of how he managed it.
11 years’ work experience and previous MBA from Symbiosis India
International MBA programs often don’t accept advanced professionals with an existing MBA in their resume.
But this Indian with 11 years of sales experience and an MBA from Symbiosis wanted to kick start an international career and wanted nothing less than a top MBA admit.
Find out how he managed an MIT Sloan MBA admit with scholarship.
Career growth and job security propelled this Indian MBA grad to go abroad
With only a few years of work experience, she tried her hand at international MBA.
She made it through Oxford and moved on to become a part of the Amazon family in Europe. Read her inspiring story here.
Here are more second MBA success stories that you can browse at your leisure.
Option 2. Get recruited by companies that send employees overseas
The other roundabout way to settle abroad with a job is to find a position in an industry and role that requires international posting.
A significant number of well-known tech companies with offices across the world – Amazon, Google, Salesforce, etc. – have provisions open for internal transfers within the company to other locations.
Employees looking for an international transfer can look for hiring managers in need of applicants and can apply, interview and get transferred internally.
Most of these companies cover the cost of visa processing. In the US, employees are usually sent under the exchange visa L1 category. One can look into altering it into H1B or permanent residency after.
The caveat is that these international transfers have stiff competition as most international positions will be pursued by a large number of candidates.
On top of that, there is often a basic requirement stipulated to be eligible such as seniority or experience in a similar role and team.
There is also the possibility that the compensation for an international transfer may not be commensurate with the typical salaries offered in other companies in similar roles.
But if you are willing to brave it through and work your way through the transition – relocation, immigration processes, salary dip, etc. – you may be able to fulfill your design to work and settle abroad after all.
Option 3. Get hired by an international firm
Finally, technically the quickest, but possibly the most steeped in competition is to get hired directly by an international firm located abroad.
You will need to keep track of international job postings on social media, job websites, or even look into getting hired through referral or placement.
The problem with such a route is the complication in getting sponsored for visa. To work legally, the hiring company will need to provide all the necessary sponsorship and paperwork. Therefore, it will come down to whether the company will be willing to bear the extra legwork and costs.
Read Top H1B Visa Sponsors: Statistics by companies and industry
Are you looking to settle abroad as well? Consider the various routes to a foreign zip code and let us know if you need any professional help with your first or second MBA degree. Write to us at: info [at] mbacrystalball [dot] com
Meanwhile, here are a few first hand experiences of life after MBA in a foreign country and other resources.
– Life and job in the UK after MBA from Oxford
– Job in China after MBA at Oxford
– Life at HEC Montreal and job placement experience in Canada
– Best MBA abroad countries for Indian students
– How international student exchange programs work
– Work permit process for international students in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Germany
H1B Alternatives- Work Visa Options
Sources: 1, 2, 3
