How to expat myself and my family?

May 19, 2009 7:06 PM

I'm 35, an attorney, and married with 3 children, and want to move myself and my family to Europe (preferably Germany) for the experience. My preference is to work for the U.S. Government overseas, as that seems the easiest transition, but positions are not easy to come by. Any ideas?
posted by gm2007 to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

Have you thought about become a Foreign Service Officer?
posted by Lillitatiana at 7:16 PM on May 19

My dad moved my entire family to Germany for a couple of years when I was in elementary school. He was a research scientist. Any chance you are interested in academia?
posted by halogen at 7:32 PM on May 19

You could be a Judge Advocate for the US military. According to Wikipedia, there are judge advocates stationed in Germany and it requires a law degree.
posted by ryanissuper at 7:39 PM on May 19

Not sure if this helps in your case but Obama's management agenda will soon include hiring a couple hundred thousand federal employees (he'll want to reduce outsourcing/ contracting) so maybe more opportunities will present themselves in the near future.
posted by hellboundforcheddar at 6:42 AM on May 20

You didn't mention the type of legal work you have experience in or what your foreign language proficiencies are, but you might try investigating legal positions at the Hague and its many tribunals. Not Germany, but you can almost see it from there. They have postings online and job requirements.
posted by webhund at 7:53 AM on May 20

Thought about FSO, and am looking into taking the exam.
Interested in academia, but will have to look into the available market for teaching/research with a JD form an American University in Europe or in American Universities offering classes in Europe.
Judge Advocate: Been there; done that.
Hope that the Obama agenda does open more up!
Thanks for the info on the Hague; I'll look into this.
posted by gm2007 at 8:17 PM on May 20

try working for a consulting firm that has contracts in German. I know there are several with contracts in Stuutgard at the army base.
posted by dmbfan93 at 12:16 PM on August 6