How to Decide Which Jobs to Apply For Abroad: Set Job Search Goals from Your Past Experience

Everyone has a different reason for wanting a new job, but the point is always to move toward something better. If you’re wondering how to decide which jobs to apply for when job hunting abroad, this article picks up the “decision criteria” I mentioned before and shows how to use them in the early stage of sending applications.

Why setting job search goals matters

When you’re facing a long list of openings, setting goals matters a lot. Whether you’re torn about staying in your current industry or role, or thinking about a career change, clear goals help you find your direction. Without them, it’s easy to fire off applications at random and lose sight of what you want.

In this article, I’ll show how to use your past experience to uncover your own decision criteria, and then use those criteria to apply to jobs with precision.

I’ll use data examples and concrete methods to help you position yourself and find the direction that fits you best.

A common situation: should you stay in your industry or role?

“I kind of want to change industries, because my current industry has this or that limitation.” “I want to change jobs, because this job is like that.”

Around Lunar New Year each year, 90% of people want to change jobs. But once they start, the first question many of them face is: should I stay in my current industry, or move into a new field?

This question usually comes from how satisfied you are with your current job, the outlook for your industry, and how much room your role has to grow.

If you’re tired of your industry, or unsure where your career is heading, this is a good time to rethink your goals.

How to decide whether to switch fields

When you’re unsure whether to leave your industry, work through these steps:

• Review your past experience: list your main skills, achievements and challenges in your current industry, and assess whether that experience can help you succeed in another field.
• Analyze market demand: look up openings in your target field and gauge how much demand there is. If the new industry has more opportunities, that may be a sign the move is worth it.
• Test your own interest: ask yourself whether you have a long-term interest in the new field, and whether you’re ready for the challenge of learning new skills.

Challenges you’ll find while searching for jobs

Second thoughts after looking at openings

When you search for jobs in a specific area (business development, for example), you’ll often find that the work isn’t quite what you expected.

For example, while looking at business development roles, you might realize they come with heavy KPI pressure, which may not be the kind of work you most want to focus on.

Shifting to other roles: consulting-type jobs

When you’re unsure about a role’s day-to-day work, you can explore other areas that match your background but carry less pressure.

For example, someone who has doubts about business development might be drawn to consulting-type roles, because consulting puts more weight on problem solving and strategy than on pure KPI targets.

How to decide which jobs to apply for: uncover your decision criteria

Define your job search criteria: must-haves and nice-to-haves

Before you change careers or settle on a target role, list your decision criteria, split into must-haves and nice-to-haves.

These criteria help you filter across many roles so you don’t lose your way.

• Must-haves: your minimum salary, the type of work (consulting, full-time and so on), the industry direction, etc.
• Nice-to-haves: company size, flexibility, how much overtime there is, etc.
• Example: say you’re changing jobs. Your must-haves might be “salary of at least US$80,000” and “the job must have some flexibility,” and a nice-to-have might be “no frequent business travel.” These criteria narrow the field so you can spot suitable roles faster.

Mine your past experience for strengths and challenges

Your decision criteria don’t only come from researching the market. They also come from your past work experience.

List the challenges and successes you’ve had at work, and look at which experiences gave you the strongest sense of achievement. They’ll help you set goals for your next job.

• In practice: take time to sum up the challenges and successes from your past jobs. Do you enjoy working with data? Or are you better at talking with clients? Answers like these help you filter for suitable openings.
• Data example: Harvard Business Review found that among job seekers who successfully changed careers, 80% looked back at the previous 3 to 5 years of their career when setting goals, and set criteria for their new career based on their own strengths and challenges.

Tailor your resume

Revise your resume for the target role

Once you’ve decided to change roles or picked a new target position, tailoring your resume becomes essential.

Optimize your resume for the new role: highlight the skills and experience that relate to the opening and cut what doesn’t.

This kind of precise editing helps raise your response rate, especially when you’re changing careers.

Connect your strengths to your career change goal

On your resume, besides hard skills (technical expertise, project experience and so on), also highlight your soft skills. When you’re switching roles, these skills show that you can adapt to a new field.

For example, if you want to move into consulting, highlighting your problem-solving and teamwork skills will be valuable.

A note: I hope this article helps you think more clearly about your job search, find the direction that fits you best, and move step by step toward success in your career.