Pre-Expat Navel Gazing Part 1: Winning the Lottery.

It all started with this:  

Von: Jay Boynton <jay.boynton@razorfish.com>
Datum: Freitag, 12. Dezember 2014 08:28
An: Alexander Czernay <alexander.czernay@razorfish.de>
Betreff: social listening/data work in RF Germany

Hi Alexander-

I wanted to get your advice on something. I’m researching a move to Europe (Berlin ideally) and working an expat position for a couple years in the Razorfish office there.

Right now I am concentrating on seeking a client need that I can map my skill set to in order to build the case for a transfer. As you know, my interest area is social media strategy and listening. I also am interested in the deeper analytical side of paid social campaigns and data visualization.

Do you know if there is a client need in Razorfish Germany for social strategy/listening or data analysis? Or could you refer me to someone for an additional conversation?

Thank you so much for your help. Talk to you soon!

Cheers, Jay

From: Alexander Czernay
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2014 1:36 AM
To: Jay Boynton
Subject: Re: social listening/data work in RF Germany

Hi Jay,

to me this sounds like a perfect match to our current needs. I’ll speak with my colleagues in the social and strategy teams and could also imagine you being a big help in my team, as we’re searching for a data visualization specialist, who can tell the data stories. My only concern is on how to handle this in terms of currently open positions over here, but I will find this out.

Could you send me your CV, so I have some more info while talking with my colleagues?

Cheers

Alexander

From that point, a strange and wonderful momentum started building as we worked our contacts at the job-level (Jay) and at the CMO-level (Cassandra, who reports indirectly to the RF Global CMO in London):

I hammered them for a couple months and finally secured a Skype interview with the recruiter and then the rest of the Business Intelligence/Strategy/Social team and was offered a position on February 27:

Antje Heile	Mar 2
to me

Hi Jay,

attached please find your DRAFT contract. I am very happy that we could create a new position for you. 

March was spent letting the knowledge of it all sink gradually in, while communicating out the news. By April we had started to get some handle on how the relo was going to work and what the requirements were for Cassandra's contract and both work visas.

From our standpoint, the process has been slow, but in the big picture this is rather like winning the lottery. We'd raised our hands to go to China earlier in 2014 when there was a big push to open RF office in Shanghai, but luckily that didn't work out.

A posting in Germany is right in the sweet spot of Europe which has always been the Hail - Mary of expat dreams: culture, history, accessible languages and friends in Italy and London.

The rest of our energy is going into selling our stuff on Craigslist, structuring the house for rental and learning German on Rosetta Stone after kid bedtimes. And watching Rick Steves Berlin travel videos.