Hey Anonym,
In my career I had two transfers:
- From the Financial Services practice to Automotive within the same region
- From Munich to Dubai office
I need to say that transfers are a pretty tricky thing and require a lot of sensitive political skills.
Different companies offer three types of transfers:
- Temporary project assignment abroad (for the duration of the project)
- Short-term office exchange programms (usually between 3 and 12 months depending on the company)
- Permanent office transfer
All of them are different in terms of difficulty to get. While project assignments abroad are quite common and easy to get, permanent office transfers are very challenging and require hard work from your end and a bit of luck.
In any way you would need the support of your mentor, the staffing manager in your region as well as partner in the targeted office, who will push your transfer.
If you want to live on the west coast or Europe why don't you apply directly there?
If you need any help, just drop me a PM.
Happy to share my experience.
Best,
André
Work Permit Issue mostly. Probably go for ME office
Working Visa is just a matter of money. What really matters - is the willingness of the local partner to lobby your transfer from the domestic office! And it could be really nasty political game ;)