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The Effect of International Work Experience on the Career Success of Expatriates: A Comparison of Assigned and Self‐Initiated Expatriates

Vesa Suutari¹; Chris Brewster^2,3; Liisa Mäkelä¹; Michael Dickmann⁴; Christelle Tornikoski⁵

¹ University of Vaasa P.O. Box 700, 65101 Vaasa Finland · ² International Human Resource Management University of Vaasa P.O. Box 700, 65101 Vaasa Finland · ³ Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK ISCTE,‐UIL, Lisbon, Portugal Radboud University Netherlands · ⁴ Cranfield University, School of Management, College Road, Cranfield MK43 0AL United Kingdom · ⁵ Grenoble Ecole de Management People, Organizations & Society Department Grenoble France

This article is one of the first to examine the long‐term effect of expatriation on careers, comparing the impact of international work experience on the career success of assigned and self‐initiated expatriates. Our sample consists of employees who were working abroad in 2004, and we examine their subjective and objective career success eight years later. Despite the “dark side of international careers” arguments associated with the repatriation literature, we find that the long‐term impacts of international work experience on career success are generally positive and mainly unrelated to whether the work experience was acquired as an assigned or self‐initiated expatriate. Companies recruit employees with international experience externally but are much more likely to offer further internal jobs to assigned expatriates. This reinforces the need for further research and for companies to see all those with international experience as important elements of the workforce. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

DOI

10.1002/hrm.21827

Volume

57 (1)

Pages

37-54

Language

en

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