Impact of Education Abroad on Career Development, Vol I - AIFS

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Effective Marketing <strong>of</strong> InternationalExperiences to Employersby Cheryl MatherlyAssistant Dean <strong>of</strong> Student Affairs for Career Services, Scholarships and FellowshipsRice UniversityThe key to understanding how employers view a student’sinternational experience—and in turn, how best to marketthat experience when job searching—is understanding whatthe term “global workplace” really means. Despite theirromantic visions <strong>of</strong> jetting from country to country, the fact isthat most new graduates will join the ranks <strong>of</strong> the so-called“domestic internationals,” employees whose internationalcareers are based in their home countries. In a global workplace,most employees will continue to live and work at home,but will use technology to customize products and services forclients worldwide, communicate with suppliers, and collaborateon projects with overseas <strong>of</strong>fices. New graduates will beimmersed in many foreign cultures as part <strong>of</strong> their jobs—without ever setting foot overseas.More than a decade ago, the Rand Corporation and theNational Association <strong>of</strong> Colleges and Employers (then theCollege Placement Council) conducted one <strong>of</strong> the first studiesto consider the implications <strong>of</strong> the global economy for newcollege graduates. According to the report, hiring managerssought out new graduates, who demonstrated “domainknowledge” or expertise in a specific field; who possessedinterpersonal skills, including problem solving, decision-making,and communications skills; and previous work experience.Of course, these are the same attributes companies haverequired <strong>of</strong> their employees since the dawn <strong>of</strong> the humanresources department. The managers, however, cited a criticalnew requirement: cross-cultural competency, defined as anability to work in a multicultural environment that may ormay not be located in the U.S. Interestingly, hiring managersdid not place value on the particular international experience<strong>of</strong> the student, as much as they valued the skills that the studenthad developed in order to adapt to a new culture. Inother words, employers were interested in the personal as wellas pr<strong>of</strong>essional skills that a student employed to successfullyadapt to living, studying or working in France, because theycould be applied, for example, to working with a multinationalteam based in Latin America.So why, in a global economy, then, do many campus recruitersrank studying abroad so low in the list <strong>of</strong> experiences that theyseek among new graduates? Very few companies specificallyset out to hire students with international study, work, or volunteerexperience, for example, although it seems they shouldbe the group best prepared for the demands <strong>of</strong> a multinationaland multiethnic work force. The attitudes <strong>of</strong> hiring managersregarding foreign language skills, expressed in the 2003Rand Corporation study, “What Makes a Successful CareerPr<strong>of</strong>essional in an International Organization,” helps explainthis seeming contradiction. The Rand researchers asked hiringmanagers to rank nineteen different qualifications in terms <strong>of</strong>their importance for their organization. The managers rankedlanguage fluency last (nineteenth), while cross-cultural competence,defined as an ability to work well in different culturesand with people <strong>of</strong> different origins, placed fifth. Relatedcompetencies such as “interpersonal and relationship skills”and “ambiguity tolerance and adaptability” ranked second andthird, respectively. This study did not conclude that foreignlanguage skills were not important—not least because fluencyin a foreign language was considered a predictor <strong>of</strong> cross-culturalcompetency. Rather, the respondents made clear that aforeign language acquired in an academic setting, which usuallyemphasizes literary rather than applied uses <strong>of</strong> a language,was by itself not sufficient to produce cross-cultural competency.Further, the managers leveled criticisms at study abroadprograms in which students lived with other Americans, tookcourses from U.S. pr<strong>of</strong>essors and socialized mostly amongthemselves. What the managers in this study did value, wereprograms in which students had substantial and meaningful“real world experience” with another culture.The implication for the college job seeker is clear. It is simplynot enough to seek an international experience—the experienceitself has little value for an employer. The savvy job seekermust be able to speak about this experience in terms <strong>of</strong> thetransferable skills that he or she developed while abroad andhow they can be applied to the workplace. For many students,this can be an enormous challenge.The 2003 Rand report concluded that, to effectively exerciseleadership in the global workplace, employees must demonstratethe following: a “multidimensional and well-integrated”repertoire <strong>of</strong> skills that includes substantial pr<strong>of</strong>essional ortechnical knowledge related to the organization’s core business;managerial ability that includes effective interpersonaland teamwork skills; a strategic understanding <strong>of</strong> their organizationand industry in a global context; and, once again,cross-cultural experience.Advisors can help prepare students to articulate how theirtime spent studying, working, or volunteering abroad preparedthem with these skills by asking them to identify specificexamples that they might use to illustrate to an employerwhat they learned. The following is a check list <strong>of</strong> specificcompetencies that may be developed by international experiences,and is a good starting place for students to identify theirtransferable skills.9
Advisors can ask students to identify an experience that woulddemonstrate that they can:• Creatively solve problems by applying familiar concepts tounfamiliar situations• Contribute to an ethnically diverse team• Be self-confident, yet able to listen and learn from peoplewhose value systems are different• Take personal risks and act independently• Be flexible and adaptable to rapidly changing situations• Have a basic command <strong>of</strong> the local language, and be ableuse it in practical situations or• Imagine, forecast, analyze or address business situationsfrom a different cultural frame <strong>of</strong> reference.This simple exercise is a critical first step for helping studentsto make their international experience relevant to employers.The students’ next task is to determine how to present theirtransferable skills via the traditional job search marketingtools: the resume and the job interview.A well-designed resume is not simply a laundry list <strong>of</strong> experiences,but a thoughtfully designed document that markets astudent’s best experiences. The nature <strong>of</strong> the internationalexperience will determine how a student presents it on his orher resume. Most students will include time spent studyingabroad in the “<strong>Education</strong>” block on their resume, listing it justafter their primary institution. An international internship orjob will be included in the “Work Experience” block. Yet students,especially those who held jobs that are not related totheir academic major, should be encouraged to think in terms<strong>of</strong> transferable skills, rather than simply listing their jobduties. An adviser, for example, can ask a student, “What is itabout your experience as a bartender in London that a futureemployer will find valuable?” This question can help studentsshift from writing about serving beer to describing their rolein negotiating cultural differences, training new employees,and trouble shooting customer complaints. Students who arepursuing an international career may also choose to create aseparate block on their resume called “InternationalExperience,” and include within it all relevant informationabout their work abroad, study abroad and foreign languageexperiences.To effectively present an international experience on his or herresume, students should ask themselves the following questions:• What am I trying to communicate to a potential employerabout my international experience? About its relationshipto my academic major?• What skills did I learn abroad? What cross-cultural competenciesdid I develop?• How much detail do I need to provide on my resume toensure that this experience has meaning to a potentialemployer?• Where should I include this experience on my resume sothat it will have the most impact and support what I amtrying to communicate?The second place that students will present their internationalexperience to employers is during the job interview. Mostcollege recruiters use behavioral interview questions, whichassume that how a student handled a situation in the past predictshow he or she will handle a similar situation in thefuture. For example, a very common behavioral interviewquestion is, “Tell me about your most challenging situationwhile in college and how you handled it.” Employers usingbehavior interview questions attempt to get students to tell astory about themselves and relate it to the job for which theyare applying. The behavioral interview presents a very goodvenue in which a student can make his or her internationalexperience relevant for the employer. A student who is able todiscuss what he or she learned from a particular challengeassociated with studying or working abroad will, in this example,demonstrate to the employer how the experience helpeddevelop his or her problem solving skills.Most career centers have materials that include typical jobinterview questions, and it is a useful exercise for students toprepare answers using experiences from their time abroad asexamples. As a starting place, students who are preparing forinterviews should ask themselves the following questions:• What key competencies is the employer seeking for thisposition?• Aside from technical skills, what are the other interpersonalqualities the company desires? An ability to work inteams? Flexibility? Creative problem solving?• What are the two or three best stories from my time abroadthat will illustrate that I have these qualities? Can I tell thisstory in a compelling manner? How will I relate this experienceto the job for which I am applying?Students who have spent time abroad should have an advantagewhen looking for jobs in the global job market. Theirability to capitalize on that advantage depends on how wellthey make their international experience meaningful to themanager who makes the final hiring decision.10
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Page 4: Introductionby William L. GertzPres
Page 10 and 11: A World of Possibi
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Page 14 and 15: The Role of Experi
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Page 20 and 21: The University of
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Page 24 and 25: More than a Certificate:The Effect
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Page 28 and 29: “Hiroshi’s” goals changed fol
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Impact of Education Abroad on Career Development, Vol I - AIFS

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