PRUDENTIAL INTERCULTURAL SERVICES HELPS EX-PAT AND RE-PAT.

With an increasing number of multinational firms taking advantage of Colorado's booming economy and mild climate, finding an overseas job is easier than ever.

What often isn't easy is coping overseas--and coming back.

Westminster-based Prudential Relocation International offers a full-circle approach to preparing workers to work abroad. That includes pre-departure planning, preparing and supporting families after the move, and repatriation assistance.

For the corporation, the first step is to determine which staffer is best suited for the challenge. While most businesses rely on informal procedures -- and connections -- to select candidates, some use Prudential's Overseas Assignment Inventory. The assessment, based on the experiences of roughly 10,000 expatriates, measures 14 attributes needed for cross-cultural effectiveness, including expectations, open-mindedness, flexibility and personal control.

The second step in pre-departure training is an intensive series of seminars and personal training to prepare the worker and his or her family for life abroad. "The preparation seminars are highly customized to individual families. From the OAI results, we design a program around their strengths and potential adjustment needs," said Training Director Ruth Bleuze.

Once the worker is on assignment, Prudential provides ongoing logistical support. That includes finding a home and even getting its utilities up and running, as well as other family support services.

Nowadays, "Corporations outsource almost all of those," Bleuze said. "All you have to do is go to work."

Once the assignment is completed, Prudential aids in the repatriation process. That includes a two-day program that provides time for reflection, assessment and plan development.

"We usually do these programs after people are back in their home country for a month or two, and they've started to notice things are not what they expected," Bleuze said.

After a year, Prudential administers an "expatriate experiences survey" that measures the quality of adjustment on six scales. We use these results to judge how difficult their repatriation adjustment might be," Bleuze added.