Working abroad: what your first weeks are really like

Quick Answer

• The first weeks abroad feel unsettled for almost everyone, including people who stay for years

• Homesickness and a training period are part of it, and both get easier as you learn the job

• By around week six most people have a week that feels normal, with familiar faces and places

• In week one, focus on your room, exploring your neighbourhood and one social activity

• You can always move to another country or go home later, so nothing has to be decided now

Is it normal to feel unsettled in your first weeks abroad?

Yes, and it is closer to the rule than to the exception. Everything takes more energy than it does at home: the shopping, the commute, a conversation in a language you are still adjusting to. It helps to know in advance what an ordinary week looks like and what a typical day in Spain involves. That says more than any reel.

Homesickness is part of that. Missing your family, your own kitchen or a friend you would normally see on a Friday does not mean you are in the wrong place. It means you left behind things that were worth having, and that is true for everyone who moves abroad.

How long does it take to feel confident in a new job abroad?

Most people need about four to six weeks before they can do the work on their own. The first days are mainly new information: systems, procedures, names, a way of working that is not the one you knew. Training is there so you can practise, so mistakes are part of it rather than a problem.

Expect to be tired as well, and not only from the job. A new room, a new routine and new people all take energy at the same time. Go easy on yourself.

After that first stretch it builds quickly. The moment you answer a question without checking anything first, the work stops being stressful and starts being a normal day.

In my first week I apologised for every second question. By week five I was the one explaining things to someone newer than me. 💪

How long does it take to feel at home in a new city?

Time, mostly, and a bit of deliberate effort. Landing somewhere is a starting point, not the finished picture. The life you had at home, with a regular gym, people you see without arranging it and a supermarket you can navigate blindly, took time to build. Abroad you start that again from zero.

Some things you will simply keep missing, and that never fully goes away. It is a normal part of living abroad, not a sign that you are in the wrong place.

What can you do in week one to settle in faster?

Start with your room. Bring a few photos from home and buy something small for your desk or your wall in the first days, because a room that looks like a hotel room keeps feeling like one.

Then walk around your neighbourhood without a plan. Knowing where the nearest supermarket is, where to get coffee and which route you take to work already makes week two easier.

And then the people. Go to the work drinks in week one even if you know nobody, and stay in touch with your training group, since that is the only group where everyone is new at exactly the same time. If the whole idea makes you nervous, the nerves most people feel before moving abroad are more common than you would guess.

How do you build a life outside work?

Pick something that repeats weekly. A sports group, a running club, a language exchange, anything with a fixed time and the same faces. The repetition does the work, not the event itself.

Small routines do the same job. The same supermarket on Saturday morning, the same coffee spot before a shift, the same walk after a late night. A city starts feeling like yours through repetition, not through big plans. And if your whole social life comes from your shift, it stops the moment your rota changes, so it is worth knowing how people actually meet friends abroad.

I joined a language exchange in my third week mostly to practise Spanish. Six months later, two of those people are the ones I travel with.🌍

There is always someone to call

Call home. Contact with the people you know often settles things faster than anything else, and even from a distance they stay close. One video call on a Sunday evening does more than you would expect.

You can also always bring your doubts to your recruiter at Yobbers. We speak to people in exactly this week every single week, so nothing you say will be new, and we usually have practical advice from people who have been there. You really are not the only one.

You also do not have to act on the feeling straight away. It is allowed to just sit with it for a while and see what the next weeks feel like. Your training group and your colleagues know exactly what this feels like, because most of them were in the same boat. Talk to them too.

And what if you still want to go home?

You can, and that is precisely why it does not have to be today. The door stays open, so giving it a few more weeks costs you very little. Plenty of people who thought about leaving early tell it differently a few months on, as you can read in the stories of other candidates.

If after a few months it still is not right, moving to another city or another country is a real option, and so is going home. Neither one is a failure. You are the one living this, so you get to choose what works for you.

If you have just started and you are doubting everything, send your recruiter a message today. You do not have to decide anything, but one short call can make a world of difference.

There is plenty to choose from. Have a look at all vacancies for working abroad and see which country fits the life you actually want to build. ✈️