When you move to a new country, you and your family will need to build up a new life piece by piece. For expat partner Laura Bujac there were two clear priorities.
A smooth transition
“Before and after we relocated to Copenhagen, concerned about how my son would cope with the change. We’d never lived anywhere else other than Sibiu, Romania. Fortunately, Denmark has reception classes, which are part of the public school system, to help non-Danish kids integrate. My son picked up the language so quickly that he was transferred to the regular public school well ahead of schedule,” says Laura. “I was very relieved to see how easily he adjusted to this new life. But there was one more piece of the jigsaw missing…”
Period of uncertainty
“I had quit my job in procurement before we left. For nearly 20 years, I had a career, without any break, and I was not comfortable with being out of work. When I began my job search, I also had to confront certain realities: I didn’t speak Danish; my Romanian qualifications were not so relevant to potential employers; networking is also very important in Denmark but I knew no one – I’m also rather introverted, so putting myself out there doesn’t come easily. So, I applied for jobs, but only received rejections. It was the end of the year and I felt quite down, especially when I was aware the job market is very slow through the winter months…”
Moral support
“I had taken some courses to stay up-to-date with my industry and learned to assimilate and accommodate. Global Connection introduced me to a coach who told me I’d ticked most of the boxes in terms of my LinkedIn profile, CV, et cetera. She gave me great moral support as well as good insights into the culture. My friends and family back home haven’t experienced relocation so it was very valuable to have someone who knew what I was going through and who could give me an objective view. After a period of uncertainty, I found a job in my field sooner than I had expected,” says Laura. “On my first day, I took the metro to work and I felt so happy. My son’s well-being was a priority. But re-establishing my career was another major piece of the jigsaw for us as a family building a new life in Copenhagen. Moving here has opened so many doors for each of us.”
Photo: Laura’s son by the sea in Denmark
This article was originally published for the thousands of expat partners that Global Connection supports around the globe. It is reproduced here in its original form.
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