Technically Communicating Internationally

Authors:Teresa Talbot Time: Session:http://docs.writethedocs.org/en/2013/conference/talks.html#nisha-george-elaine-tsai-translating-customer-interactions-to-documentation Link:

Wanted to travel, wanted to live in different countries, and abosrb great food and great wine. She got a husband and two kids (sometimes not getting want you want isn’t all that bad). So how did she get the opportunity to live all around the world (nine countries) for a good part of her career? She realized that there are lots of technical writing jobs around the world. And English is the most widely spoken second language in the world. You want a translator to be working in their primary/native language, and that means lots of companies want English speakers to author their initial documents.

So how? Five ways.

• Company sponsor where the company handles all of the paperwork, permits, etc, and usually helps get the visa. Talbot lived in Amsterdam this way, and the company took care of the details.
• After she had to leave the company, she decided to start her own company in Holland.
• Tax situation was difficult in Holland – 70% taxed for companies – so Talbot went to work for Lionbridge in Japan. This only worked because Lionbridge paid for room and transportation; basically everything but food.
• Decided to start another company abroad in Bulgaria. The work visa was simple in this case, but the living visa was difficult. Bulgaria has reciprocal visa policies with the US, which means not many US citizens are issued visas.

Strongly encourages people to explore working internationally if they have the desire: it was easier than she anticipated.