INTERNATIONAL CAREERS : A World of Opportunity : Southern Strategy : As more Americans seek work in Latin America, here’s how some are staying ahead of the competition.

With Latin American trade on the increase because of lower tariff barriers and the new North American Free Trade Agreement, more Americans are seeking jobs south of the border. And although the job market can be a tough one to crack, U.S. job hunters with the right training and language skills can prevail.

It’s a difficult job market because U.S. companies and Latin American firms are not as eager to hire Americans as they once were. With rising educational standards and the expanding labor pool in most Latin American countries, companies there can hire well-qualified locals for much less costly compensation packages than what most U.S workers demand.

Still, there is strong need for the skills of U.S professionals, particularly those who are either bilingual in English and Spanish or Portuguese, or those who have Latino heritage or who have lived in Latin America. That kind of background makes the job candidate a much better prospect to withstand the culture shock of working south of the border, and thus much more attractive.

“Companies doing business overseas want more than just the language. They are looking for people with an ability to be culturally comfortable” in Latin America, said Jerry Houser, director of USC’s Career Development Center.

Telecommunications, finance, computers and energy head the list of fields in which there are the greatest number of opportunities for U.S. expatriates, said Marjorie Kean, head of Korn/Ferry International’s office in Caracas, Venezuela.

Telecommunications firms such as Northern Telecom and Motorola are expanding rapidly as Latin American countries modernize and privatize their telephone systems and set up satellite and cellular communications systems, said Eduardo D. Gonzalez, tax manager in the international practice of Arthur Andersen accountants and consultants.

Consumer products firms such as 3M, Procter & Gamble and drug companies such as Johnson & Johnson and ICN Pharmaceuticals are also staffing up.

Edith R. Perez, an attorney at the Latham & Watkins law firm in Los Angeles who worked in Mexico City for two years, said there is a vast need for American high-technology and investment capital professionals with good Spanish skills because “the infrastructure in Mexico and other Latin American countries needs to be improved.”

But U.S. applicants are increasingly losing out in the competition for top jobs with native executives, said Kean, whose company is an executive search firm that is typically retained by large employers. Seven of the 25 top executives at pharmaceutical companies in Venezuela, for example, are Brazilian nationals, Kean said.

“The trend I’m seeing is that the U.S companies are replacing expatriates of U.S. or European nationality with Latins, whether they be local or third country nationals,” Kean said.

“U.S. or European hires typically want a housing allowance, financial help for the kids’ private school tuition and at least one paid trip to the States per year. That’s not usually necessary with local hires,” Kean said. “The salary level may not be any higher than the national’s, but all the other perks that come along with it tend to be higher.”

Even so, employment opportunities do exist, especially for job-seekers with a firm grasp of international finance--how devaluations, inflation and currency exchange affect business decisions. That’s the single most valuable skill for a U.S. job candidate because it is critical to operating a business in an unstable Latin American economy, Kean said.

“This is all second nature for Brazilians and Argentinians, but managers who have lived only in the U.S. typically don’t know what a roller coaster Latin America can be,” Kean said.

Computer skills are also highly attractive in a job candidate, particularly when combined with finance and investment expertise, said Ron Johansson, partner in charge of Mexico and Latin American operations for Ernst & Young accountants and consultants.

Bilingual computer professionals are in big demand in Mexico City, where Ernst & Young has a large affiliate office.

“Programmers in advanced computer languages, in local area networks, financial management and inventory control are in demand,” Johansson said. “The world is getting smaller. Accounting will change along with the necessity to understand information in various countries so that investors in the United States can understand it too.”

Job-seekers are well-advised to research the U.S. companies that have operations in Latin America and “go through the recruiting process with American firms,” rather than go to South America and apply with employers there, said Gonzalez of Arthur Andersen. Job-seekers should also check help-wanted ads in newspapers in big U.S. cities as well as in newspapers from the countries where work is desired.

It is also important that job-seekers talk to executives who have worked in Latin America to obtain first-person accounts of the pitfalls and pleasures of working overseas, said Perez, of Latham & Watkins.

“Don’t go knocking on doors down there; knock on them up here,” said Blaine Roberts, a La Jolla-based business consultant who owned and managed a franchise operation in Mexico.

General Electric, Chrysler and Motorola “pay well and have a familiar rule set with an American retirement plan and American legal recourse. If you go to a Brazilian company or a Colombian company, you are subject to their laws and their retirement plans, which in many cases don’t exist,” Roberts said.

Working in Latin America can be a good career move because it demonstrates flexibility, an adventuresome spirit and an ability to operate in a new environment, Gonzalez said.

But before getting carried away by the adventure of working overseas, be aware of the strong cultural differences that can make adjustment difficult, and how certain factors may be essential in adjusting to a new country, said Morgan Miller, a San Diego banker who has worked in several Bank of America offices in Latin America.

“My word of wisdom is to take care of your family. Make sure that you can find a place to live where wife and kids can make friends, where there are good schools and a good local church--to tie into all that so that they can have a smooth adjustment.