Hurray! The Stuttgarter Zeitung wrote a little article about my expat business www.taschenhalter.at
Taschenhalter in the Stuttgartner Zeitung
Archive for the 'Working in Vienna' Category
I submitted one of my blog posts, got it published, and got paid for it! Wow!
Check out the article, titled “Surviving the Office Jungle Abroad”
Well this is exciting. My little expat business, Taschenhalter, just got another blog mention
For more info about Taschenhalter please go to www.taschenhalter.at They are great gifts because they are cheap and easy to ship to friends and family! =)
I constantly find working in an Austrian corporation fascinating. Things are so many differences, but in a fun way.
For example. In Outlook, my spell check runs through the text in my emails twice. Once in German, then again in English. How cool is that! This is a very nice feature for me because I do write my emails in both languages (though not in one email). Of course as a native English speaker I would find it a bit embarrassing to have typos in my emails. Writing in German isn’t one of my strengths, so I like to have at least the spell check running to be half way understandable.
Excel on the other hand, is a bear. Grrr…. The German system of writing numbers is exactly opposite of writing English numbers. Example: In English we write numbers like 2,456.98 and in German the same number is written like 2.456,98 Argh! As if that’s not hard enough, the American Microsoft Office system (Excel) doesn’t like this. So when I am running an analysis of numbers, both Excel and I freak out. I have to be very very careful when running reports. I swear I almost break out in a sweat. Whew!
Stepping away from the computer, I’d like to mention my co-workers. Right now it is vacation time. Everyone flees the summer heat and goes off on vacation all over the world. My co-workers have been going to Bali, Thailand, Japan, China, Ireland, India, everywhere. And you know what they do when they come back? Bring little gifts for everyone in the office. Isn’t that sweet!
Gift from co-worker who went to Bali
An American friend of mine works for this company and requested that I inform my readers. They did help her get a work visa and she said the work environment is very nice.
I now work for a corporation in Vienna that provides services throughout Europe. The experience is really amazing because of how international it is.
First, the company language is English. Understand that the company is headquartered in Austria, but despite that, the corporate language is English. That means all Austrians who work there must have an excellent command of English. And they do! I am so impressed with my co-workers. They pull out English vocabulary that I think some native speakers wouldn’t use.
The company also recruits internationally. One of my supervisors was recruited from Israel. A current position that is open is searching for candidates throughout Europe.
Working in the company is wonderfully interesting. Meetings are a mix of German and English, mainly because I am the only native English speaker and I am trying to improve my German. We start in German, and while the meeting is going on, I actually take notes in English. I don’t know how I do it really. The ear is accepting German, the pen is writing in English. Somewhere in between my brain is translating, but it doesn’t feel like that. If I over-think it, I am sure I would confuse myself. Because I get tired as the meeting progresses, I then start speaking in English. My co-workers don’t even blink an eye and switch right over to English without missing a beat. Very impressive!
I have to do some writing for my job. There is a fantastic process of writing what I want to write, submitting it to the company intranet, and within a week, getting my words translated into 25 different languages. Now that’s just cool.
I’ve never worked for an international company in the United States. Yes, I sold products to Canada and had to have text translated to French, but that’s about it. I find it difficult to imagine that an American company that calls itself global or international because it has multiple locations throughout the world, is as international as a company in Europe like the one that I am working for.
I started my first day as a product manager at bwin, a huge online gaming company in Vienna. I think this is going to be a great place to work.
I just want to say thank you to all of the people who were so wonderfully supportive when I was jobless. I want to give back a bit now. If you are an English speaker looking for a job in Vienna, post a comment requesting the list of companies that I gathered that operate in English. At the very least it will be a start to your job search. Unfortunately, I cannot answer any Visa questions, because I myself am an Austrian citizen.
I’ve been an expat in Austria now for a year and a half. I’ve been lucky, and have been working most of my time here. To my surprise, the biggest culture shock that I have experienced is working with Austrians. I go about being my American self and find that I have strong resistance from some (but not all) Austrian co-workers.
For example. I find Austrians are very quick to say, “That’s the problem, there’s no work around. I can’t help you.” I took offense to this. I thought, this co-worker is just trying to get out of being a team player and helping me with a problem. Barely hanging onto my temper I would talk my co-worker through different possible solution options. Unfortunately I found that some co-workers just didn’t want to hear it. They thought I was being pushy, demanding, or just telling them what to do and it would end in both sides being mad. I would go back to my desk and take up IT problems, graphic design problems, accounting problems, and so on and find solutions relatively quickly. Then I would think, what a jerk!
I’ve come away angry, confused, and feeling abused more times than I can count. At my last job in the United States, I was heavily praised by my co-workers and managers. I was labeled a rising star and a powerhouse. So it was tempting to fall into the, it’s not me, it’s them mind frame, but I know in my heart that will get me nowhere fast.
So finally in my befuddlement, I turned to a good friend of mine, Dr. Mike Moodian. He is a professor at Chapman University. He holds a doctorate in organizational leadership from Pepperdine University. He is the author of Contemporary Leadership and Intercultural Competence: Exploring the Cross-Cultural Dynamics Within Organizations. You can find the book on Amazon here
Okay, so I’ve established that Mike is qualified to answer a cultural difference question. Below is his response to me.
Hi Britta,
Let me give you the academic answer followed by the simple answer because that’s the best way for me to process my thoughts. And yes, feel free to use any of this in your blog.
The Academic Answer
First, let’s look at the major organizational/cultural differences between Austria and the U.S. To do this, I will refer to the work of Dr. Geert Hofstede, a Dutch writer and professor. Hofstede is the thought leader in the field of cultural differences in organizations (you can see that he is cited throughout my book). He quantitatively ranked the countries of the world based on numerous cultural dimensions, including uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and individualism.
I believe that the dimension where is the biggest problem may lie for you is in the Power Distance. This dimension is defined as the extent to which those without power in the organization accept the unequal distribution of power. For example, Malaysia, Guatemala, and Mexico rank very highly in Power Distance. Thus, a common cultural practice in those countries would be to “do as your told” and not question directives, even if they are unreasonable. It turns out that Austria ranks the lowest in Power Distance (score of 11). Therefore, it is unlikely for people to overwork themselves (much like some union environments in the U.S.) because they would perceive it as exploitation by those who are running things. The Power Distance score of the U.S. is 40, which is in Germany’s ballpark of 35.
You come from the country which ranks highest in Individualism (score of 91). The American system is based on a free-market economy where people are expected to work hard, compete, pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and live the “American Dream.” Austria (like Poland, Hungary, and Israel) has a middle-of-the-road ranking of 55.
Of course, we are speaking in general terms. For example, the environment that we are discussing could also apply to American organizations, especially public agencies. You often find fear, distrust, poor communication, and a high level of bureaucracy in federal or state-run organizations in the U.S. Vienna is a big city, and the right fit for you exists (it’s just yet to be discovered).
The Simple Answer
At the end of the day, adapting to a new environment is simply going to take a lot of practice. You are aware of the differences, and your ability to work across cultures will only make you a stronger candidate for future jobs.
When I first read Mike’s email to me, I have to confess, it didn’t really sink in. I was still in the mad mode. But then I read it a second time. Then I read it a third time. And I guess the third time really is the charm, because then it sank in.
Look at the Power Distance in Austria. It’s really true. They are all about do-as-you’re-told. In an environment like that, you are not rewarded for thinking outside of the box. You get screamed at. I should know, it has happened to me. So therefore the co-worker who says to me, “Sorry can’t help you” really means it. They can’t help me. They’ve been brought up in a culture that smacks them for thinking outside of the box and coming up with unique solutions to a problem. Now I feel sorry for them instead of being mad!
Mike also made a good point. I repeat one of his paragraphs below.
Of course, we are speaking in general terms. For example, the environment that we are discussing could also apply to American organizations, especially public agencies. You often find fear, distrust, poor communication, and a high level of bureaucracy in federal or state-run organizations in the U.S.
This is so true! How many times have you been abused by the DMV people for example!
The above point that Mike made was the most important to me. Once this paragraph really sank in, I remembered all the great Austrians that I worked with who are more like me. Solution orientated. Fast-paced. Hard working. I can name a lot more like that than I can name those who said to me, “That’s the problem, sorry, can’t help you.” So now I admire these Austrian co-workers who have rejected their own cultural pressures and who insist in thinking outside of the box.
Okay, I can go on dissecting Mike’s words, but it’s much more effective if you do it yourself.
So listen expats, I know it’s frustrating being abroad. I know it’s hard. I’m as guilty as anyone out there about complaining about those Austrians. But whenever I open my mouth, there is a little whisper in the back of my head that always says, “You know it isn’t always the case. You know you’re being unfair to a lot of great people. Why don’t you just stop complaining.”
I haven’t yet managed to keep my mouth shut, but the complaining is getting less frequent. At least it’s a step forward.
I have to give my Austrian co-workers some recognition here. They can choose to work any place in Vienna where the company language is German. Instead, they willingly work for a company that uses English as the main form of communication. We all know work can be hard enough; stress, deadlines, miscommunications, and in my case, the struggle to find the perfect text to market our products. Okay, now take your normal day at the office with all that baggage and do it in a language that you aren’t fluent in. Now willingly stick with it, even though there are thousands of other opportunites out there. Yeah, I take my hat off to my Austrian co-workers daily.
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