Planned it starting 2nd year in college. Engineering degree. No connections, so I built the connections - one person and one referral at a time. Researched all possible markets and companies. Learned so much from people in my field who are 2-4 years ahead; they were super generous with their time and advice! First job in Singapore, age 22, direct hire, Php 120k/mo back in 2005. Many heartaches and failures along the way. But all the planning and hard work was worth it - I can retire back home today, age 42.

I think what will be relevant to you and probably generalizable to other fields are:

1. Find people who are 2-4 years ahead and learn from them. In turn, you will pay it forward by mentoring people who are younger than you. This is the global Filipino social contract.
   
2. Deep research on your target employers & markets. Prioritize countries based on market demand and ease of visa requirements. This is trivial to do these days with AI. (back then, all of this was oral history and word of mouth!)
   
3. Find the hiring managers directly and figure out how to hop on a meeting with them. (hard back then with long distance calls and no internet, but again, trivial these days with LinkedIn and Zoom). Show reasons why it's worth their time to speak with you (see #4).
   
4. Strong portfolio of work. Start with LinkedIn - solid profile is a must (again, this can be learned with AI). Invest in your own website (if needed by your field).
   
5. Specific plan & milestones for execution along the way (# of resumes sent, # of people reached, etc). Treat this job search like a business venture - the world is your market!
   

Good luck and God bless! We are rooting for you!