There was a time when working for an ad agency overseas was considered about as challenging as tying your own shoes.

The general sentiment was that while it wasn’t a bad way to see the world, nobody with any real talent would dream of leaving a place where strategic decisions were being made to head for what was, for all intents and purposes, an outpost.

‘It used to be `Go to Hong Kong and you’ll be forgotten,” says Ray Kruszynski, president of Grapevine Executive Recruiters in Toronto.

‘There really were no major strategic decisions made overseas. They were all pretty much coming out of Canada, the States and England,’ he says. ‘You were doing a lot of pick-up and adaptation.’

But that’s no longer the case.

Driven largely by their clients’ regional approach to global marketing, agencies are often sending their best people overseas. And, if they can’t get their best people, they’ll look outside for talent.

‘When you step out of Canada now, you’re in the global advertising community,’ says Kruszynski. ‘It’s a totally different league.’

In fact, so appealing can the move to global advertising be these days that, oftentimes, there’s no turning back. ‘I’ve been told that once you taste the global environment, Canada seems to be much smaller in its role.’

He says the majority of those placed overseas are under 35, bright and ambitious. And they’re likely to have the most impact in the under-served countries of Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. ‘If you go to a France, or a Germany or an England, you’re one of many,’ he says. ‘If you go to Moscow, your profile is so much higher.’

Take the 30-something art director who accepted a posting at McCann-Erickson in Moscow over a similar position in Paris. Kryszynksi says she knew where she could make her mark.

He also cites the case of the 27-year-old account executive who, after working in Toronto for only two years, also went to Moscow’s McCann. That was a little over a year ago, and now the young upstart is a key strategic planner, working on the Coca-Cola account. There is no way, says Kruszynski, the young man would have had such an opportunity in Canada with such a light resume.

Of course, the downside to having greater responsibilities than one would have on Canadian soil is having to deal with somewhat uncomfortable living conditions. And, particularly with the Moscow example, personal danger.

‘I wouldn’t want to go to work in Moscow – even with my bodyguard,’ says Richard Foster of The Richard Foster Company in Toronto, who has placed four ad executives overseas in the past three years. However, he says, there are rewards for those who take risks.

‘It can be very, very lucrative,’ he says, citing add-ons such as housing, spousal- and private education allowances, all of which have long made the expatriate life comfortable for Canadian families.

Of course, the only problem with the international marketplace attracting the cream of the crop is that Canada loses out on some very real talent, according to Foster.

‘My major point of frustration is that these are not second-and third-class citizens. These are really talented individuals,’ he says. ‘I try to guard the quality of the talent in this community and I don’t like to see them go away.’

Foster doesn’t have to worry too much, according to Kruszynski. He says the window of opportunity which was thrown open a few years ago is closing – albeit slowly – as local ad execs become better-trained.

‘The intent has always been for the internationals to train their local people,’ he says. ‘That’s the long-term goal.’

Sylvia MacArthur, co-owner of Madison MacArthur in Toronto, says European agencies may seek out Canadians because, quite simply, we’re cheaper. Because many positions offer salaries in u.s. dollars, a higher-calibre Canadian will often be happy to take the salary that an American counterpart would consider beneath them.

However, MacArthur says there is still a price to pay in taking an international posting. While Europeans might value North American experience, she says the reverse is not necessarily true. ‘I have found repeatedly that people coming back to Canada who have been overseas for quite some time have one heck of a time landing again here,’ she says. Once an expat returns to Canada, it can be a struggle finding a job that matches experience, she says.