Go Global

Go Global Susannah Day is a Global Employability Consultant (currently on secondment), based on the Streatham Campus. She gave us the low-down on getting work experience outside the UK.   Susannah Day, Global Employability Consultant Students often ask me how they should start looking for work overseas, or if I know of any organisations in a certain sector or country which may be hiring. As my remit is to help you find work outside of the UK that’s an awful lot of sectors and an awful lot of countries, not to mention immigration requirements and employment laws I’m expected to know.   In most cases, as I’m sure you can imagine, I don’t know the answer but this I do know: I think there are two approaches to finding work overseas; one is focussing on your sector of choice and seeing where it is on the rise globally, and the other is focussing on which country you want to go and then seeing how you can get there. They arent always the same thing. Sometimes this alone is enough to help people get started as it gives some purpose to the research. There are two approaches to finding work overseas; one is focussing on your sector of choiceand the other is focussing on which country you want to go and then seeing how you can get there. Don’t Google “How to find work overseas”. You’ll be inundated by articles, advice and offers of perfect internships in return for large sums of money. Be strategic in your job hunt. The Global Employability website has a load of information about working overseas. It’s well worth looking at Target Jobs Working Abroad as well and Prospects. The Country Information section is divided into continents so you can look at North and South America, Middle East, Europe etc. separately. In most cases each country section provides information on sectors on rise and decline, chances of getting work (including visas)  and some in country job websites. Understand that immigration rules and visa restrictions exist and are implacable. There are no work arounds or quick fixes (not legal ones anyway). Understand the feasibility and likelihood of gaining work in that country based on their immigration rules, then decide whether you really truly want to invest all that time and emotion into it with potentially little chance of success. We have alumni networks all over the world, you can find out who you may want to contact here:  http://www.exeter.ac.uk/alumnisupporters/networks/international/ . They’ve volunteered to be country contacts so it’s fine to email them asking for advice and insights on how to find work in the sector/county. I’d also encourage you to use LinkedIn, you can see where alumni are working around the world, so actively expand your network by connecting with University alumni and ask them also for ideas and tips on how to find work in your chosen sector and location. You can also see the career path theyve taken to get where they are. Dont expect to jump straight to your  dream job. Often its a series of steps involving smaller internships to gain experience in your sector, or because that’s the only visa available for that country. From there you can build up. On the flip side, dont let this stop you applying for ‘proper jobs’ but choose these wisely and be sure you’ve answered the questions in the application form and absolutely highlighted how your skills meet their requirements. Always  consider teaching English through TEFL or TESOL. This is one of the easiest ways to work in a non-English speaking country; once you’ve a “foot in the door” you can start looking for work and networking in your preferred sector. Always think; how am I going to make this application stand out from others, especially as Im applying from overseas? Target Jobs also has a really good article on Writing Speculative Applications. Lots of students find international internships through speculative applications made via LinkedIn research. Always  consider teaching English through TEFL or TESOL. This is one of the easiest ways to work in a non-English speaking country; once you’ve a “foot in the door” you can start looking for work and networking in your preferred sector. Finally, don’t worry if you don’t speak another language. Of course it helps, but many organisations are looking for English speakers so you can either pick up the language as you go, or enrol in tandem language classes, evening classes or use many of the online apps to help with this. Language is not a barrier. Finding work overseas is a top down process; start at the top with the macro view researching countries, visas, sectors,  companies etc. and then work down towards the micro level identifying who you may want to work for then applying speculatively to that organisation if theyre not advertising. This can make it seem like a longer process but ultimately when you do start applying to places you should be making more targeted applications with (hopefully) a higher chance of success. If you’d like any further help you can book an appointment with the Global Careers Team by contacting the Career Zone