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By Teresa Simone

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When you move abroad, work stops being just work

When you move to work in another country, work stops being just work. 听

Work isn鈥檛 just what you do.

• It鈥檚 where you feel competent.
• It鈥檚 where you know who you are.
• It鈥檚 where your place in the world feels clear.

When you move to another country, that structure breaks down.

• Not because you鈥檝e lost your skills.
• But because the context that made them visible, legible, and valuable is gone.

Anthropology reminds us:

• Every culture has its unique approach to work.
• What 鈥減rofessional鈥� looks like.
• How power is expressed.
• What gets rewarded.
• How you handle time, silence, conflict, and success.

Psychology adds:

• Work is part of your identity.
• It鈥檚 not just where you perform 鈥� it鈥檚 where you鈥檙e seen.

And suddenly, abroad, you鈥檙e not seen in the same way.

• You feel off, but not wrong.
• Capable, but not recognized.

The role fits, but the stage has shifted.

• It鈥檚 not incompetence.
• It鈥檚 cultural misalignment.

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So, what can you do when this happens?

Here are three grounded steps to find your bearings again:

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1. Decode the hidden rules

• Every culture has unspoken workplace codes:
• How to give feedback,
• how direct to be,
• what counts as 鈥渋nitiative鈥�.
• Watch. Listen. Take notes.

Ask yourself:

• 鈥淲hat鈥檚 seen as confident here?
• What鈥檚 too much?鈥�

Don鈥檛 adapt immediately. Understand first, then choose

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2. Rework your 鈥榲alue鈥� language

• Sometimes your skills don鈥檛 鈥渓and鈥� because the surrounding story doesn鈥檛 translate.
• Write down 5 of your strongest traits.
• Then rewrite them using the local symbolic language. (If you鈥檙e seen as 鈥渢oo emotional,鈥� maybe that鈥檚 relational leadership in this context.)

Translation isn鈥檛 enough, you need reinterpretation.

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3. Redefine your professional stance, on purpose.

• You don鈥檛 need to be the same person you were before moving.
• You鈥檙e allowed to change, not because you鈥檙e scared, but because you鈥檙e growing and choosing differently

Ask yourself:

• 鈥淗ow do I want to present myself here?鈥�
• 鈥淲hich part of me do I want to show in this new professional context?鈥�

Sometimes, moving abroad gives you the freedom to leave behind roles or labels that never really felt like you, they just happened to stick.

Now, you get to decide who you want to be.

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You鈥檙e not losing your identity. You鈥檙e choosing how to evolve it

Moving to a new country can disrupt your work identity, too. But in that disruption, there鈥檚 space to rebuild, not just your r茅sum茅, but your relationship to who you are when you work.

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Teresa Simone is an international sales and export coordination professional with over 15 years of experience helping companies expand across European markets. Originally from Italy and now based in Denmark, she offers a unique perspective that blends strategic execution with cultural psychology, understanding not just how business works across borders, but why people behave the way they do in global contexts. Her LinkedIn profile is

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Views expressed on 无忧传媒 Voices are those of the writer and may not represent those of the wider membership or 无忧传媒.

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