Want to travel abroad for work but no luck since last 5 years

[Praveen Sharma]

It's been 5 years I have been working as a Java/J2EE developer in an IT company in India. From day one of my career I had a certain fascination about travelling abroad and working but somehow I always lands in projects where there is no travel requirements or even if there is then more experienced employees get preference. This things has gone on and on and I have reached a certain level of frustration when I see my peers/friends travelling abroad but I keep meandering along with a mundane job life. I have also started losing confidence thinking that maybe I don't deserve the opportunity hence luck keeps evading me. I have also spoken with management to move me out of current project and put me somewhere where they believe travel would be visible. But they too have not been very cooperating.

Could someone help me out and suggest if there is a way out of this so that my aspirations can be fulfilled. Is there is any special skill or training or certification which can help me convince my company's management to send me abroad?

[Deepak Bala]

This just looks like bad luck. Like you already mentioned, if the project you are working on does not have opportunities to send you abroad it is unlikely that you will travel to another country. You can try a couple of solutions

1. Move to a project that sends you places
2. Equip yourself with the knowledge necessary to help companies in other countries. They would be willing to hire you if you posses niche skills.

What you want is not something you can control. So dont go seeking it you will only disappoint yourself. Just put your head down and concentrate on your work.

[Praveen Sharma]

Thanks Deepak for the reply. Can you suggest some niche skills which I can learn?

I have good working of knowledge of Struts, Spring, IBatis, Java. I have been thinking of learning IOS development of late but I don't have a MAC machine

[Deepak Bala]

Its not about learning a particular niche skill just so people will call you. What I meant to stress with #2 was that most companies expect developers to have worked in their area of specialization.

Say someone needs a DBA for mongo DB and local talent is sparse. If you were the DBA for mongo instances at your company, your resume would look attractive for a foreign employer and they will take pains to help you immigrate and employ you.

[Praveen Sharma]

Thanks Deepak. I get your point and I agree.

[Henry Wong]

Praveen Sharma wrote:It's been 5 years I have been working as a Java/J2EE developer in an IT company in India. From day one of my career I had a certain fascination about travelling abroad and working but somehow I always lands in projects where there is no travel requirements or even if there is then more experienced employees get preference. This things has gone on and on and I have reached a certain level of frustration when I see my peers/friends travelling abroad but I keep meandering along with a mundane job life. I have also started losing confidence thinking that maybe I don't deserve the opportunity hence luck keeps evading me. I have also spoken with management to move me out of current project and put me somewhere where they believe travel would be visible. But they too have not been very cooperating.

Could someone help me out and suggest if there is a way out of this so that my aspirations can be fulfilled. Is there is any special skill or training or certification which can help me convince my company's management to send me abroad?

Quite frankly, IMO, you are "selling" it wrong (or more likely, not selling it at all). The reasons of "because I want to travel" or "because everyone else is traveling" aren't really good reasons for them to assign you a project that requires travel. You have to "sell" it in a way that would help management get something out of it. You can still ask for the project, but do it in a way that gives them incentive. For example, you are learning German, and would like to practice, so as a favor, you would like an assignment in Europe. You are still asking for travel, but you are also helping management to choose you over someone else.

Henry