An international career doesn't
happen overnight. Author Jean-Marc Hachey offers some tips
to get you going.
Do you ever imagine yourself working abroad as a professional
in Paris, London, or Singapore? You are earning a competitive
salary, living in a great apartment, and taking short vacations
to nearby exotic travel destinations. Your life is full of
interesting conversations. You are meeting people and making
friends from around the world.
International careers don't just happen! They are carefully
planned and built up over a period of time. It is a fundamental
fact that international employers want you to have international
experience before sending you to work abroad. So, you need
to plan ahead.
The key to gaining international experience is to dive into
"all things international" while you are at school
and university and by taking a gap year. This can happen both
in Canada and overseas. You need to build up a host of international
experiences before you are ready to start applying for professional
international jobs. And the great thing about building these
experiences is that you can have a blast doing it!
The Ideal International Profile
International careers are built on experience in various areas.
Here is a list of things you should be doing during your time
as a university student to improve your odds of getting a
full-time, professional international job after you graduate.
More than in a domestic career, you must have a long-term
strategy for building your international career, block by
block.
Academic Studies
Broaden your skills inventory by taking outside electives
during your studies. For example, a science student should
take internationally focused social science courses; a history
major should consider finance or management courses. Language
skills are extremely valuable in international work, regardless
of your academic discipline.
Consider an MA if you are aiming for professional positions.
In some professional fields, an MA is a prerequisite for international
work. This is especially true in the social sciences, pure
sciences and business, though it is less important in health
careers, engineering and computer science. No matter what
your field, include courses with an international component
or investigate subject matter with an international focus
for major research projects.
Get other academic experience. Attend or help organize an
international conference; participate in a professor-led research
project; work as a teaching assistant; become a tutor; make
public presentations; actively seek to work on team projects
and preferably teams with foreign students.
Networking and Cross-Cultural
Experience
Create opportunities to network with international experts.
For example, write a paper that requires you to speak directly
to someone working internationally in your field.
Find opportunities to meet and learn about people from different
parts of the world. You can assist with foreign student orientation;
act as a tour guide for visiting professors; work with refugees;
or teach English as a second language.
Become socially active and knowledgeable in cultures other
than your own. Befriend foreign students; become familiar
with their food and social behaviour; try to pay a visit to
them and their families in their home country (you will love
it); actively participate in foreign student associations;
hang out at ethnic social clubs.
Overseas Experience
Gain international work experience as an intern, co-op student
or volunteer, preferably in your field of expertise. Try for
two internships over the course of your years of study. Strongly
consider taking a gap year to gain international experience.
In Canada, there are thousands of international internships
positions available each year, allowing you to live and work
in all parts of the world.
Study abroad for one or more semesters. Study abroad in
your field or to learn a new language. Almost every university
and many colleges in Canada have exchange programmes that
help you study abroad for credit.
Get out and see the world. Do not underestimate the value
of backpacking and travelling the world. You need to interact
closely with people from other countries in order to learn
the skills required by international employers. Extend your
stay while abroad to study, volunteer or intern. Consider
travelling in Africa, Asia, South and Central America, the
Middle East or Eastern Europe, rather than the traditional
choices of Western Europe, Australia or New Zealand.
Be Creative. Increase the value of all your international
travel by combining two or more objectives while abroad. For
example, take four months off and learn Spanish full time
in Guatemala. Living with a local family and having a full
time one-on-one instructor could cost less than the cost of
going to school in Canada. Extend your stay there by giving
computer courses to local charity groups or volunteering to
write English language brochures for eco-tourism groups. Travel
in the region and practice your new Spanish skills while visiting
with professionals in your field of work looking for short-term
internships.
Hard Skills
Be functional in a new language. Be able to speak and read
a language other than your mother tongue. In Canada, consider
learning French or Spanish. In all cases, be an active listener
and learn to pick up 20 or 30 words in any country you visit
for more than two weeks.
Improve your economic and geographic knowledge of the world.
Have a solid knowledge of the political and social forces
shaping the planet. Get a well-rounded start on this by regularly
reading news magazines such as The Economist.
Acquire some business skills. The most sought-after employees
are those with multidisciplinary backgrounds, including business
backgrounds and strong people skills. Employers seek scientists
who can understand market research, engineers who can manage
research teams and help commercialize products, and political
scientists who can work in trade promotion. There is a need
to assess the business aspect in almost every field, such
as strategic planning, financial management and systems analysis.
Work on developing other management skills such as project
management, accounting, training, research.
Develop your writing and analytical skills. Demonstrate
these skills outside of course work by participating in a
research project, writing a brochure, publishing an article
in a magazine, or writing for a web site.
Strengthen your computer skills. Acquire strong word processing
skills; be comfortable using spreadsheets and relational databases;
hone your internet research abilities.
Soft Skills
Develop organizational, people, and leadership skills. Demonstrate
these through work or volunteer experience, preferably with
an international group. Organize an event or get involved
as an executive member of a committee.
Intercultural communications abilities. Demonstrate these
by being conversant in describing patterns of behaviour in
cross-cultural work and social environments. Learn to professionally
describe these real-life experiences.
Show that you have strong coping and adapting abilities.
Demonstrate these with examples of how you coped when living
away from your support structure of family and friends.
International Job Hunting Skills
Experience has shown that many people who are successful at
finding international work have done something extraordinary
to land their first job. They have gone out on a limb, acted
boldly (but politely), have been entrepreneurial, have sacrificed
certainty and taken risks to gain international experience
and land that first job. International employers are looking
for individuals who are fully committed to international work
and living, and your job hunting methods should reflect this.
A Last Word
International jobs require a long-term commitment - you
need to invest in yourself to build an international IQ. This
process eventually becomes a lifestyle, an outlook on life,
and a commitment to internationalism and cross-cultural learning.
It is a very interesting and creative process. Go forth - the
world is your teacher. And have fun with the exploration!
