Coaching for expats: building your life and work in another country

Is coaching right for me if I’ve moved abroad?

Coaching is for you if you’ve moved to another country, or are about to, and want to find your footing professionally and personally. Maybe you’re looking for work that matches your experience, adjusting to a new work culture, or feeling that you’re between two places. Whether you moved for a job, a partner, studies or a fresh start, coaching gives you space to think about what you want your life here to look like.

What makes starting over in another country so demanding?

Moving abroad brings many changes at once. You may be working in a second language, without the network you built at home, and finding that your experience isn’t recognised the way it was before. Unwritten rules at work can be different, and everyday tasks take more energy than they used to. At the same time, relationships with family and friends back home change too. It’s normal for this to feel demanding, even when the move was your own choice.

How does systemic coaching help after a move?

Systemic coaching looks at the whole picture: you, your partner or family, the people you left behind and your new workplace. A move changes your role in all of these systems at once. Together we look at what each of them expects from you, where there’s tension, and what support you have, both here and back home. This helps you make decisions that fit your life as a whole, not just your next job.

What do we work on?

In our sessions we work on questions such as:

• How do I present my experience in a way employers in my new country understand?
• Which steps help me build a professional network here?
• How do I deal with a work culture that works differently from what I know?
• How do I balance my life here with my ties back home?

We set a clear goal at the start and work towards it step by step, at your own pace.

Why work with someone who has moved countries himself?

João Jardim moved from Madeira to Germany and built a new professional life there, so he knows the challenges of starting over abroad first-hand. At TELUS Digital, he supported a team working across 16 languages and cultures. He offers sessions in English, Portuguese and Spanish, so you can talk about your experience in the language that feels most natural to you.

Questions