Building a Career Far from Home, Part 2: Jeff MacGuidwin, MBA
Why do people leave their home country and build their career in a distant locale? Since I’ve never done this, I wanted to learn from people who have. In Part 1, I described the experiences of Diane Bouis, who moved from Europe to the US, finding new opportunities to mold her career to better fit her interests.
Diane’s story resonated with me as a prime example of the American Dream. But then I wondered about the other side of my original question: what leads an American to leave the US to build a career on another continent? I know some Americans who leave the US to work in a foreign country, but these experiences are often temporary, much like how European scientists often come to the US to do a stint in an American research lab before returning to Europe. While these experiences are valuable for career and personal development, I was eager to learn from an American who decided to not just work overseas, but to establish a career abroad.
Jeff MacGuidwin, MBA
I had the opportunity to talk with Jeff MacGuidwin, an American who’s now a consultant at PwC in Australia. Jeff grew up in metro Detroit and went to college at the University of Michigan, earning a degree in industrial and operations engineering. While in college, Jeff felt the itch to learn more about the world. Growing up in American suburbia, he hadn’t experienced enough of other cultures, as most of his thoughts about the world were viewed through the lens of Disney’s Epcot. To get a taste of foreign cultures, Jeff took advantage of a study abroad program while in college, participating in a six-week program in Australia. The experience was enlightening. He promptly decided that he wanted a job that had international opportunities.
Jeff found his ticket to international adventure with Schlumberger, the international energy services company. The company offered global opportunities, including international field operations, a good fit for Jeff’s engineering background. Knowing that he could be located in an oil field in the middle of nowhere intrigued Jeff, stoking his sense of adventure.
Originally, he was told that had a choice of working Oman, Kuwait, or Egypt, but visa hurdles surrounding his original choice led to him being placed in the oil fields of Saudi Arabia.
While in Saudi Arabia, Jeff worked in small teams of 4-5 people where he was often the only non-Arab on the team. The nature of the work meant that the teams had to quickly learn how to work together, as they were handling complicated equipment in the middle of the barren desert. In his mind, Jeff’s background in engineering was valuable in these interactions because math and science are global languages, providing a common foundation for cultural exchange. He loved this type of learning environment and being constantly exposed to new things. He learned some Arabic and got to learn from people from different cultural backgrounds. His time in Saudi Arabia also coincided with major global events, providing a unique window to the world: Jeff was in the Kingdom when the Arab Spring occurred. While many of us learned about these events through news broadcasts and internet stories, Jeff was working with Syrians and Tunisians who shared firsthand stories of how the events impacted their lives and the lives of their families. It’s doubtful that Jeff would have experienced this type of exchange had he stayed in the US.
During our conversation, I asked Jeff what it was like being an American in Saudi Arabia. Jeff experienced some advantages of being an American, likely due to the long history between the two countries. He found that having a US passport helped him quickly and easily pass through security checkpoints, unlike some of his coworkers who had less familiar foreign passports. His experience in Middle East also helped him realize how far-reaching American culture truly is: Marvel movies were playing in theaters, and Rihanna was on the radio. Jeff was even able to enjoy Christmas and Thanksgiving meals in the work camp’s mess hall. But these elements of American culture didn’t prevent the culture shock that Jeff still experienced, which even extended to some of the most American of institutions. One day, Jeff went to a McDonald’s and saw only men. While the restaurant generally resembled the appearance of any other McDonald’s around the world, there was a wall down the middle of the building. Appearing somewhat confused, Jeff was told that women and children were only allowed in the area beyond the wall. This episode reflected his experience in Saudi Arabia, where he never once worked with a woman. The treatment of women was the biggest cultural shock that Jeff experienced while in that country.
Being so far from home, I wondered if Jeff or other Americans would try to self-assemble with one another. Jeff, surprisingly enough, had a college friend who was working in Saudi Arabia at the same time, but they generally didn’t end up working together, nor did they regularly work with the dozen or so other Americans living in the wider work camp. Instead, Jeff built stronger friendships with the people on his field team, including people from India and Malaysia, and these relationships were often stronger than those he had with the other Americans in the camp.
Jeff formed a lot of friendships in Saudi Arabia, but after spending four and a half years in Saudi Arabia, he moved on. Jeff did a quick stint in Denmark in the North Sea, before leaving Schlumberger to pursue an MBA in Australia. After completing his degree, he joined PwC as a consultant and is currently based out of Australia.
During our conversation, I noticed how Jeff used Australian words and phrases. There was a generous use of “mate” and the occasional “whilst” sprinkled throughout the discussion. He still has his American accent, but, like Diane, Jeff has made a concerted effort to adopt the language customs of his new home. Jeff started doing this while he was in Saudi Arabia, buying a fancy language program to learn some Arabic, though he quickly found that his lessons in formal Arabic were almost useless – most of his co-workers spoke an informal Arabic that wasn’t in his program. However, he still made the effort to learn a passing level of Arabic in order to build connections with his team. In addition to learning new words and phrases, he evolved his speech patterns to better communicate with his colleagues, slowing his speech and adjusting how he used sarcasm. Like we saw in Diane’s story, these actions reflect Jeff’s belief that a fundamental way to show respect for people is to make the effort to learn their language. He found that this was invaluable throughout his journey as he formed strong connections in each new location.
Working far from home means being far from relatives. Like Diane and her family back in Europe, Jeff takes a proactive approach and regularly keeps in contact with his family back in the US. He has set up a family chat in WhatsApp and uses FaceTime to call his various family members. He also tries to travel back to the US, aiming for at least once a year. Technology has helped ease the impact distance has on family connections.
While Jeff may one day decide to come back permanently to the US, he believes that his experiences have given him incredibly valuable lessons that have helped him thrive in his career. Through his experiences, Jeff learned how to work with people from different backgrounds, including different cultures, classes, and religions. He attributes this ability get along with different people through his curiosity. His curiosity allowed him to forge connections with new friends and coworkers by finding common ground and learn from their experiences. His curiosity was accompanied with a humility and open mindedness to learn new things. Fundamentally, the key lesson Jeff has acquired is that of perspective. He’s been exposed to new cultures and ways of thinking and has learned that people around the world are more similar than he originally thought. No matter where they are, Jeff has found that people want to be happy, enjoy time with their families, and have a sense of community. His embrace of new perspectives has continued in his work as a consultant, as he gets exposure to a variety of industries beyond oil and energy. Being abroad has helped him see the interconnectedness of the global economy, and his unique viewpoints have helped him bridge gaps between people, cultures, and industries. Jeff’s experiences abroad and the lessons he’s learned from them have been instrumental in shaping his thriving career.
Jeff and Diane have traveled their own paths to get where they are today. But their stories share key features: a willingness to take chances on new experiences, an openness to new cultures and ideas, and a willingness to use language to show respect and build connections. Having listened to them both, I’ve found that Jeff and Diane have a certain attitude toward life, an optimism and an infectious positivity. I believe that this outlook on life has helped them make the most out of the opportunities in front of them, allowing them to assemble unique skill sets, experience new things, and build better careers. While many of us won’t follow in their exact footsteps or be willing to live so far from home, perhaps we can still learn from their stories and be more open to new ideas and be more willing to open the door when opportunity knocks.
Special thanks to:
Jeff MacGuidwin, MBA, Manager, PwC Australia, (jeff.macguidwin@pwc.com)