Backstage: Expatriation

"‘A day in the life of an expatriate is never the same. You can only grow, both professionally and privately!"

Astrid, Expatriate | Anton Paar Malaysia Sdn Bhd

During my studies, I was always interested in foreign cultures and business approaches. Therefore, I studied in Singapore and gained my first work experiences in Australia and the UK afterwards. 

When Anton Paar announced an open position as Regional Coordinator for the Asia Pacific Region, based in Malaysia, I was immediately interested, and it did not take long to get my career with Anton Paar started. After a short onboarding period in Graz, I moved to Malaysia to take care of the Regional Office and support our by-now-already 11 sales and service subsidiaries in the Asia Pacific region. 

The responsibility of the subsidiaries is to be close to our customers in the respective countries and provide the best support and service. The applications and needs of our global customers are as varied as Anton Paar’s product lines. 

As an expatriate who is curious and willing and able to take over responsibility, a lot of opportunities await you at Anton Paar. In my case, additional tasks quickly followed and now I am responsible for the whole Asia-Pacific region as a Regional Director. 

Expats with intercultural experience, who can facilitate communication and cooperation between headquarters and the subsidiaries, are in high demand. As an expat at Anton Paar, you get to know the business, and you are responsible for shaping different business areas. 

Expatriate roles, especially in a subsidiary, include having a clear picture of the whole organization, ensuring that processes are maintained, and communicating with the headquarters on various matters. This is necessary as the cultural aspects and legal requirements often differ in countries. 

Typical business area expatriates are responsible for financial management, logistics, order processing, and marketing, all the way to strategic management, IT, and HR, and this, of course, involves a lot of different topics and challenges. As an expatriate, you gain management experience - which in another culture can be sometimes very demanding with a steep learning curve. 
On my Anton Paar career path, I gained my first experience with managing the Regional Office, followed by the reorganisation and management of a sales and service subsidiary. Now, I manage the whole region. 

Since Anton Paar is a very dynamic company, is growing quickly, and is constantly developing its processes and product portfolio, a day in the life of an expatriate is never the same. Constantly new topics come up. Being abroad and working in a different country and culture widens the horizon and helps you to grow privately and professionally. 

It is important to be brave – curious – to take responsibility – and ‘get the things on the road.’