Anna Gagarina: Five Barriers to Landing Your Dream Job in the International Market

Career development expert Anna Gagarina shared how to overcome them and her personal experience.

The number of people willing to move to another country for their career is growing worldwide. This is according to Ipsos research: while 46% of survey participants expressed their willingness to move in 2017, by 2025, this figure had risen to 49%.

Migration helps some gain freedom from stereotypes, while it gives others the resources to fully realize their talents.

Anna Gagarina, a career development expert and founder of Job Mentor platform, shared how to succeed in a new country.

About Personal Experience

Anna began her professional journey as a career consultant. After a few years, she decided to go beyond the local market to gain access to modern technologies and better understand the principles of building a successful career in different countries. In 2020, Anna moved to Dublin, where she was introduced to the European approach to team development and strategic business growth. And since 2023, she has been living and working in California, helping startups in the fields of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and SaaS build effective teams and attract strong specialists.

Anna is known among career consultants as a co-author of the course “Job Search Technology Abroad” at the School of Career Management. Since 2022, more than 500 consultants working with clients worldwide have completed the training.

Anna herself has consulted over 350 clients from the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Ireland, the UAE, Australia, and other countries — both those who have already relocated and those planning to do so. She has worked not only with individual clients but also with corporate clients, including international companies with offices around the world or distributed teams. Among her practices was an interesting experience helping an IT company with staff outplacement and preparing the team for an international job search.

About Moving Scenarios

The expert emphasizes that those who come abroad with a job offer find it easier to adapt to the new reality: the employer helps resolve issues with documents, housing, income, and social integration.

“However, it's not that simple. Such a person is under constant pressure, which tests their emotional intelligence to its limits. Often, they are the sole breadwinner in the family, and others depend on them—both financially and legally. Losing your job in these circumstances is a disaster. But it's real: new projects, a new manager, working in a different language and culture. It's important to constantly remind yourself of your professionalism and learn to navigate the new environment," Anna adds.

It's harder for those who move without a job offer. Their specialty might be in demand in the new market, and to continue working, they need to obtain a local diploma and improve their language proficiency. Therefore, many people have to start with unskilled work or change professions. This can cause an acute sense of identity loss, exacerbated by the disruption of familiar connections, changes in status, and environment. In such circumstances, some people experience immigrant depression—a person loses their support system and feels vulnerable, even if everything seems to be going well on the surface.

“Any move is a journey toward yourself and your values. And situations where a previously successful director starts working in a coffee shop after moving, while still remaining happy, are proof of this. For some, this transition is easier because their current profession is in demand, while for others, it's more difficult, with a more turbulent start. Emigrant depression is common to both groups—it's a normal psychological phenomenon that you just have to get through. Although it is often mistaken for a sign of a wrong choice. Therefore, it's important to work through and formulate your motivation for moving so that in difficult moments you can return to the source—your goal," the expert noted.

About the challenges of finding work abroad

Anna identifies several barriers one might encounter when looking for work in a new country:

• education and experience are "written in a different language" and are incomprehensible to the employer;
• there is a lack of social capital, while many vacancies are filled by recommendations;
• there are no successful projects in the local market;
• language proficiency is lower than that of native speakers;
• cultural differences—what is considered a familiar norm of behavior, communication style, or appearance in one's home country may be perceived differently abroad.

“Certainly, an experienced career consultant can help an immigrant revise a resume, choose the right wording, and prepare for interviews. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. There are deeper processes at play that distinguish such a client from a typical local applicant,” says Anna.

In addition to professional challenges – such as a lack of hard skills, a lack of local experience, or a different logic employers use to evaluate candidates – it's important to consider two more aspects that require special preparation:
Cultural and social level — lack of networking and recommendations, ignorance of unspoken business etiquette, subtle differences in communication style, self-presentation, and decision-making.

Psychological level — loss of professional identity, decreased confidence, and internal conflict between past success and the new "beginner" role, which directly impacts market behavior strategy.
Anna believes that comprehensive support at each of these levels is important for successful employment – this is precisely the approach she follows in her work.

According to the expert, the most effective job search strategy is to bridge the gap between your usual positioning and the expectations of the new market: “We are literally changing the packaging: the words, names, and structures used to describe the experience. We organize networking to gain access to the hidden job market. We learn to understand culture and communication styles—including in interviews and correspondence. The second part is the most difficult. While a career consultant can polish a curriculum vitae, only the person themselves can discern and cultivate a genuine affinity for a position. To do this, at the beginning of a journey, we always study the reasons for the move and, if applicable, try to formulate the motivation to continue despite the difficulties."

About finding yourself in the international market

Anna emphasizes that it's important to consider the specifics of each labor market. For example, specialists in global finance go to London or New York, those in robotics go to Chicago, and startup founders go to San Francisco. Therefore, you first need to identify where the key employers are located, and then understand their actual needs.

“For example, in many CIS countries, almost every employee is a multi-skilled specialist. I can consult, teach, and also build HR as a function within a company. However, in the U.S. market, that kind of broad experience is often perceived as unconventional and even undesirable rather than intriguing. It's a highly saturated and specialized labor market. Just the candidate search function can be split among several roles: sourcer, talent acquisition partner, coordinator, and recruiter.

Your task is to deconstruct your own role through this local lens. Identify the core function and value each of these specialists provides. Then, pinpoint where your unique strength lies. You have the experience, the proven track record, and the unique expertise—this is your secret weapon. This is precisely what gives you a critical edge over local candidates. They never had the opportunity to learn how to do what you do!"

Integration into the corporate world can be hindered by a high ego, perfectionism, fear of mistakes, and snobbery. Ultimately, it's all about the inability to cope with the new, to understand it, and to accept it. Anna emphasizes that accepting doesn't mean loving: "Accepting means considering and acting in accordance with the context of the situation. You don't necessarily have to lose your individuality and roots, but if you want to be accepted, you need to understand the rules of the game in someone else's house and interact with others on their terms. This is the most serious blocker—it leads to denial, and it obscures possibilities."

Only after a person opens up to new experiences can they move on to the technical stages:

Crafting a resume in a new format;
Mastering a new approach to job interviews;
Making decisions and articulating their rationale;
Building relationships with diverse stakeholders.

Answering the question of what is needed to build an international career nowadays, Anna Gagarina gave three pieces of universal advice:

“First, choose a profession oriented toward the global market: banking, logistics, large-scale manufacturing, IT—any field that cannot exist without access to international resources. Secondly, to develop an expert career and become a unique specialist in a skill that is in demand on the international market. It's always easier for experts to find work than for managers. Thirdly, be part of the international professional community: meet, communicate, present, write on professional topics so that you always have people who know you and can recommend you, and your knowledge meets international standards."

About Job Prospects for Immigrants in the USA in the Coming Years
Responding to a question about the prospects for hiring foreign specialists, Anna notes that much will depend on how the US navigates a possible economic downturn – a slowdown in business activity caused by both the government's and the Federal Reserve's domestic policies, as well as external global factors.

“During such cycles, the economy slows down, the number of deals and investment volumes decrease. This leads to business closures and job cuts. In these periods, governments usually strengthen protectionism, prioritize their own citizens, and launch programs to redistribute labor resources,” explains the expert.

At the same time, Anna is confident that over the next ten years, the world will face large-scale retraining and the development of new competencies in the context of the digital economy. Emigrants are particularly in demand in growing markets where there is a lack of expertise and specialists domestically.
“When exactly the next growth phase will begin is something economists can predict more accurately. Our task is to monitor the trends and focus on specific sectors. For example, AI is already a key tool for boosting productivity and accelerating the economy. The largest investment flows today are directed there, as well as into cybersecurity and healthcare — in all these areas, there is fierce competition for talent. Companies continue to actively hire immigrants: even with stricter regulations and rising mandatory costs, their contribution and potential profit for the business still significantly outweigh these expenses,” concludes Anna Gagarina.