Leaving Singapore in 2005 to join her Australian husband, 32-year-old Grace Poon has lived and worked in Brisbane for over two years. She is a senior advisor with the Queensland State Government. Her husband, Phillip Dean, 35, is a forensics analyst with the Queensland Rail.

She shares with us her experience working and living in Brisbane, Australia, via email.

Q: Why did you choose to work abroad?

To see 'what's out there' was a big reason - to spread my wings a little more, to develop professionally and to gain a broader perspective. It was a 'stretch assignment' and confidence-builder that I wanted for myself.

It has always been very important to me that I remain adaptable and am able to find my footing quickly.

You need those skills to remain relevant as the world changes so rapidly today.

One either keeps up or gets left behind. I actively seek challenges; ever so often, I deliberately push myself out of my comfort zone.

Those who know me well joke that I create 'problems' just so that I can have something to fix. It's not very far from the truth.

The other reason is that working abroad gives me a chance to live in and travel throughout other parts of the world. It's a different sort of education.

Q: And why Australia?

My husband is Australian and so Australia is naturally a good starting point.

At Home Abroad This series focuses on how Singaporeans live, work and play away from home. If you would like to share your overseas story or know of someone who does, email us.

Q: What five things do you look out for when you relocate? At this point of my life, I'd look first at career opportunities. I will then consider cost of living, the lifestyle that city offers (which includes security / safety issues, whether it's a very 'city' sort of place or a quiet 'country town', etc), political stability and culture - for example, do I have to learn a new language, will I be able to blend in easily, if I'd be comfortable with the culture. Q: What advice or suggestions do you have for those moving abroad to work? Integrate and mix with the locals. It is important to respect their culture. When you are an expatriate, you automatically become an ambassador for your home country. If you make no effort to integrate, and behave in a socially unacceptable manner, then people are likely to think less of you. That reflects poorly on you as an individual, and gives the locals a negative impression of the people and country that you represent. It is unfortunate but people do tend to generalise and stereotype other people. Apart from that, remain flexible and be open to new ideas and changes. Have a sense of humour and take the experience as a great adventure. Take time out to travel around the region.

The bonus was that getting permanence residence (PR) - and therefore legal right to work - was a relatively straightforward process for me.

Having made this big move, I now have some experience behind me to do it again - maybe somewhere further and even more challenging!

Q: When you first went to Australia, how did you cope with the new environment?

It helped that, prior to moving to Brisbane, I had visited it a few times while on holiday so it wasn't a completely unfamiliar environment.

Having said that, though, I still suffered a 'shock' when I first arrived. It was a mixture of the realisation that I was far away from my family, friends and environment that I had lived in for the last 30 years of my life, and the inevitable disorientation. The unfamiliarity with the environment made me feel incompetent and reliant (on others), which was difficult because I've always been very independent and highly mobile.

I had to be very patient with the adjustment process. Staying busy was a good distraction - unpacking, walking around the neighbourhood, finding out the bus routes and how to get around, and most importantly, job hunting!

Q: Did you leave on your own or were you accompanied? Did that make a difference to your transition? How?

My husband Phil came over a couple of months before I did. I flew here alone but he was on this end waiting to pick me up from the airport. I think having Phil come over first made a big difference, although it probably benefited me more than it did him! He had everything set up beautifully and all I needed to do when I came over was unpack my suitcases.

I arrived on the morning of his birthday (couldn't possibly have him celebrate his birthday by his lonesome self, could I?). We came home, dropped my stuff and headed out to the city.

How much easier could a transition get?

Still, it felt really strange when I first stepped into the apartment, realising that this was it. From now on, this was 'home' for me.

Q: After settling down, what were your high and low moments?

Getting a job within two weeks of arriving here was definitely a high point.

Mind you though, I had started looking for a job even before I came over here and it was hard work!

It becomes a bit of a vicious cycle when you start thinking that you really would want a solid job offer before you made a big move, but then there's also the fact that you almost always stand a better chance in a face-to-face interview as opposed to a phone or teleconference interview.

So, at some point, I just had to take a leap of faith.

I had many low moments in the first two weeks when I didn't have a job.

The jobless rate here was high and that was scary. And when you've not even been 'tested' by the local industry, it's hard to compete with the locals.

Every employer wanted to do reference checks and while I had great referees, they were all in Singapore.

From an employer's perspective, they probably had questions about how well I would fit into the local workplace, and if I would have any problems adapting to the work culture in general, or even whether my recent arrival was going to have an impact on my work performance.

I had to convince them that I was on top of it all (and I really was!)

Another big moment was when we decided to purchase the apartment where we are living in now.

Q: Will you come back to Singapore? And what would be the reason?

Where I am working now, there are many professional and personal development opportunities with room to grow, so I am enjoying and embracing the wonderful experience.

My career here has gained considerable momentum, so there has to be a very, very good reason for me to want to return to Singapore!

If the right opportunity comes along, I will consider it of course. As I mentioned earlier, I like to be highly mobile and I'm at a place in my life where career is a very big priority.

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