Meet: Stuart Jay Raj, Trans-Cultural Interfacer

Age: 33

The Job: Works as a buffer between local and foreign teams, resolving conflicts and analyzing current work practices. Also coaches foreign staff on language, cultural and other communication issues when working with particular cultures and societies.
Starting salary: No salary here. It all depends on what value you bring to the client and how you negotiate with them. In many instances, you’re looking at rates of between B4,500-15,500 per hour.

What makes the job hot: Getting to travel all over the globe and becoming versed in a wide range of industries—from the Miss Universe pageant to Sustainable Development and on the other side of the fence, Oil and Gas—from FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) and Modern Trade to Press Freedom and Natural Disasters. This job allows you to rub shoulders with some of the hottest and most powerful people on the planet.

Required skills: Cultural and linguistic fluency in multiple languages and cultures plus great human relationship skills. You also have to love to travel and be willing to be put in unusual situations. “One week you might be dining with Miss Universe and the next week sitting on an Oil Rig off the coast of Indonesia with a bunch of riggers ,” recalls Stu.

Most challenging thing about the job: Finding the right solutions that will put a smile of the client’s face and ensure future business. You can’t just use one cookie-cut solution for every problem.

The big reward: Stu says it’s hearing great feedback from clients and the people he mixes with. “The payoff is after doing it for many years, I have built up a network of literally tens of thousands of people from every imaginable walk of life,” he says, “I’m pretty certain that if I meet someone at random, chances are I know someone that would be of value to them.” Good Karma!