Post: #1

I know I've been talking about becoming location independent as a freelancer, and I haven't even been browsing the job market at all.

I get about 2-3 emails a month from recruiters asking if I'm interested in this job or that job. I usually ignore them, or to keep on good terms with recruiters, I send them a brief thank you note saying that I'm happy where I am and not really looking for other jobs at this point.

But today, an email one recruiter gave me pause. He said this company has operations not only in the US, but also in Chile as well as a joint venture in Japan. I told him that "I'm looking for opportunities abroad", so that I would think about it and get back to him in a couple of days.

Off the top of my head - pros and cons.

Pros: If I get the overseas position, this is my ticket out of the U.S. and I'm still well paid. I'm not sure about Chile, although it's a short flight away from Colombia or Brazil. Japan could also be interesting.

Cons: I'd still be working for the Man, not for myself. It will slow me down in my business building, and also kind of defeats the purpose. Another con - it being a new job, means my vacation time would be more limited than what I have now and I may not be as free to travel as I'd like to be.

What do you think? Aye or Nay, and why?

Post: #2

Where in the US do they have offices? Not New York City or Vegas by any chance?

If the office in Chile is in Santiago De Chile that is certainly not the easiest place in South America, especially not until you've learned some Spanish.

The distance from Santiago to Colombia compared from the south of the U.S. is not significant. Brazil is obviously closer.

I don't know if your profession would allow you to work 'from home' but if you like Asian girls why not go for the Japan office and if possible try to negotiate that you can work 'outside of the office' maybe every four weeks. That way you could explore different parts of Asia while working.

As to the con list, as you probably have thought of already is that if you change jobs it wouldn't look good if you leave too soon. As to vacation if you get frequent offers from head hunters you should have some bargaining power as to the vacation?

As to working for yourself, have you tried this before? It's not for everyone, especially not if you sit there alone in a foreign country.

Post: #3

1) Does the job itself have any interest to you? It might sound great, but do you even want it?
2) Though I understand you want to set out on your own eventually, does this job have a career path? I.e. can it lead to another good job back in the US?
3) I have done job changes before using pro and cons, but sometimes it needs to be just a gut call - you can spreadsheet this all day long - but do you really want to do it? Does it excite you at all?
4) How long does this delay the master plan of location independence? Cost vs. Benefit - what do you gain from this? Connections? A free trip? When you have location independence you can go where ever you want to.
5) Ask Cobra - he probably has some good insights. Also, he will have insights on how people who have gone out of the country for experience - how that is viewed by companies. I know you want to be free - but you never know what the future holds.

Post: #4

Moving abroad is a big transition. There are so many things to do - figuring out what to do with your stuff in the US, setting up all your banking / credit cards / investments so they can be managed abroad, finding a new place to live, learning a new language, finding new friends, etc. It doesn't leave much time for building a business.

There might be a lot of value in taking a job abroad for a year and keeping a steady income while working out everything else.

Unfortunately Chile is one of the worst places to learn Spanish because their accents are terrible.

Post: #5

Go to Chile

You know the states isn't for you. You've said it over and over again. Accents shouldn't be a problem since you read lips.

Maybe I'll visit you there.

Post: #6

(07-28-2015 06:11 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  1) Does the job itself have any interest to you? It might sound great, but do you even want it?
2) Though I understand you want to set out on your own eventually, does this job have a career path? I.e. can it lead to another good job back in the US?
3) I have done job changes before using pro and cons, but sometimes it needs to be just a gut call - you can spreadsheet this all day long - but do you really want to do it? Does it excite you at all?
4) How long does this delay the master plan of location independence? Cost vs. Benefit - what do you gain from this? Connections? A free trip? When you have location independence you can go where ever you want to.
5) Ask Cobra - he probably has some good insights. Also, he will have insights on how people who have gone out of the country for experience - how that is viewed by companies. I know you want to be free - but you never know what the future holds.

Great points by sam^3.

Here's my two cents: why not do it for a year or two while you continue to get your businesses rolling? I'm sure there will be perks to relocation (language classes, visas, etc.) that will sweeten the deal.

Sounds like an awesome opportunity, as long as you do not let it consume your time and soul.

Post: #7

I don't know where you live now, but the climate in Chile is awesome. Also, the pisco.

Post: #8

If you plan on starting a business or freelancing Chile is a great place to be. The business climate is superb. Starting a business is cheap and easy. Opportunities abound, in fact people will want to do business with you just for being a gringo. Corruption is the lowest in Latin America. You don't have to pay bribes. Organized crime is nonexistent. Public services work well and its safe. Fines are low in business so you can work without the worry of the IRS shutting you down for missing a form. If you need more info on doing business in Chile just let me know.

Other than the language, there will not be that much culture shock. Chile is closer to being first world than third. What will come as a surpprise is the palpable feeling of freedom. Unless you are stealing, selling large quantity's of drugs or getting violent, the government could not care less what you are doing. Nobody is going to chide you for telling a politically incorrect joke at work. No affirmative action quotas. No sensitivity BS. No sexual harassment claims. etc.

Chilean women tend to be sweet and feminine but also jealous and clingy. A girl you bring home for the night is liable to make your bed and wash the dishes before leaving in the morning. They also don't have as much ass as Brazilean or colombian girls.

Living is cheap. You can live comfortably on $600/month once you get to know the place. That makes it easier to support yourself independently.

All in all, moving to Chile was the best choice I ever made.

Post: #9

Flight times aren't that great to Colombia but are better for Brazil and Argentina

Santiago -> Medellin 6hours
->Buenos Aires 2hours
->Rio 4hours

However ease of doing business seems to be great in chile and it has the lowest crime rates in SA. I'd say go for it, just getting out of the US alone would increase your standard of living and your salary gets you so much more down there.

Here's some articles hyping up chile's business environment
http://www.internationalman.com/articles...a-business
http://www.sovereignman.com/expat/the-ea...ess-10765/
http://www.businessinsider.com/countries...in-2013-10

Post: #10

(07-28-2015 08:15 PM)Nalka Wrote:  Living is cheap. You can live comfortably on $600/month once you get to know the place. That makes it easier to support yourself independently.

All in all, moving to Chile was the best choice I ever made.

Could you break down your monthly costs in santiago? That seems absurdly cheap to me.

Post: #11

If you are interested in startups, Santiago is basically the Silicon Valley of Latin America. The Chilean government has been aggressive in making that happen. Example - Start-Up Chile is a seed accelerator created by the Chilean Government that provides equity free investment for qualified startups.

6 Global Alternative Cities to Silicon Valley to Start Your Company
1. Santiago, Chile
2. Shenzhen, China
3. Hong Kong
4. Cebu, Philippines
5. Berlin, Germany
6. Dubai, UAE

Post: #12

Thanks for the great responses. This forum never ceases to amaze me with all this knowledge about the globe we all share.

I'll explore this thing and see where this goes. In the end it may not even pan out anyway, but it won't hurt to poke around, check things out, and ask some questions.

Post: #13

I call couch! Unless you have a second bedroom, then I call second bedroom.

Post: #14

(07-28-2015 09:27 PM)lavidaloca Wrote:  

(07-28-2015 08:15 PM)Nalka Wrote:  Living is cheap. You can live comfortably on $600/month once you get to know the place. That makes it easier to support yourself independently.

All in all, moving to Chile was the best choice I ever made.

Could you break down your monthly costs in santiago? That seems absurdly cheap to me.

That is a rough estimate of the cost for a young single guy living in Santiago. My costs are a lot higher than that at the moment. For business reasons I rent an appartment in a nice neighborhood in Santiago that costs me 110,000CLP including electicity, wáter, cable tv and internet. The house in Puerto Montt is costing me 165,000CPL all included. I own the house in Chiloé so I only pay utilities and maintenence to the tune of 50,000CLP per month. Also no property taxes yay.

$600 x current exchange rate of 669 = 401,400CLP I have lived on as Little as 200,000CLP not that I recomend going that low.

110,000 apartment
30,000 transportation
90,000 food, all fresh good quality
10,000 personal higine
50,000 clothes
17,000 smart phone with internet and 600 min of calls x month
70,000 party every weekend eating out twice a week, movies etc
20,000 misc.
__________________________________________
397,000 total

That is just a baseline for confortable living. I did not include a car because in Santiago you really dont need one unless its for business purposes. For a car add another 80-100.
If you are at the club 4 nights per week or like fine dining or designer clothes you have to add costs for each. A mothly gym membership will cost you anywhere from 18,000 to 30,000CLP.

Airbnb is hellishly expensive compared to finding housing locally. Pick an área you want to rent in then walk around looking for papers in the window, pinwall postings and ask at corner convinience stores. You can get a place that way for a fraction of the Airbnb cost. generally from old owners who don't know how to internet and are using prices 10 years out of date. www.elrastro.cl is also a good place to look.

Post: #15

Yae (or should it be "Yay") if you have nothing better in the immediate pipeline. We all need to make our living somehow. The man will still be there, to be appeased or defied, next month, next year, next century...until the heat death of the Universe.

Have you lived and worked abroad before? Don't stress out too much (or really at all) about moving. If you move for a job your finances are sorted. The rest is pretty elementary. Take the leap.

Post: #16

I just talked to the recruiter, and he talked to the hiring manager. He said he only wants to hire someone in the US, and isn't interested in sending someone to Chile or Japan anytime soon.

Oh well. Onward with my original plan. But I'm going to tell this recruiter to keep his eyes open for overseas opportunities... who knows, something else may come by.

Post: #17

Sorry CS, but at least you checked it out. Without taking a swing, you never hit the ball.

Keep pressing forward, I am rooting for your success, well I am a goof I guess, I root for every guy on RVF to be successful.

@Nalka, 600 bucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man... I quoted your post here, hope it was ok to do that. This was good info. /thread-9729-page-3.html

Post: #18

That sucks to hear CS but you never know what this guy might have for you in the future, not everyone is willing to go abroad so you might be the first one to get a call if he has an opportunity come up. The very best of luck to you.

Post: #19

Hate to be any sort of downer, but now that the excitement is gone, I think you'll agree: you probably shouldn't have been too excited about the opportunity, at least off the bat. It would've been better to save most of your personal questions until you had a written offer in hand, especially if pursuing the job offer wouldn't have taken too much of your time.

It's kinda like how in Game, you don't get too excited about any one girl until you get close to, well, sealing the deal.

Don't get me wrong, the job could've been your cool ticket out, just saying so you don't let your emotions take you for a ride.

Post: #20

Make sure that you clearly understand the tax implications of working out of the country to remain in a tax exempt status. That one is one that is seldom talked about and can have a large shock value with it.

Post: #21

I have no advice for you brother, but if you go let me know so that Huwzhere and I can send you off proper! We also need to go riding again sometime soon if you are not too busy.