The career benefits of international experience 

By Siavosh Moshiri, Staff Writer

via experience.aiesec.ca/

It is safe to say that the current job climate is anything but hospitable for recent graduates. With youth unemployment hovering around 14 percent, current Canadian students in their final years of study are becoming more and more concerned about their financial future.  This is not a novel issue either; in the U.S. the rate has neared 20 percent while in the UK the rate has pushed past 20 and is now closer to 22. Spain, which in the past has boasted one of the strongest economies in Europe, faces a youth unemployment rate of well over 40.

What is the solution? Some career counsellors argue that students should pursue graduate degrees as a way to differentiate themselves from fellow students.  Professional degrees such as an MBA and JD are regularly associated with financial security and social respectability. The issue with this is one of timing; many students have already had this idea.

Graduate schools across the country are reporting a marked increase in the number of applications they have received in the past 4 years. To be admitted into a graduate school has always been a tough challenge; most require high GPAs and respectable scores in standardized tests. But with such an influx of new applicants one can expect that the challenge to make oneself attractive to admission boards will be that much harder.

At the same time, the financial costs are another issue that stops this from being a viable solution for many. A lot of students already face significant debt due to their undergraduate degree. If one is accepted to a higher level program, this debt shall only rise further, even with scholarships and bursaries.

So what can one do? Simple. Go where the jobs are: the developing world. While the advanced nations have struggled during the past few years, other lesser advanced nations have used it as a time to progress rapidly. Nations like Brazil and Peru in South America or China and India in Asia have seen tremendous growth.

Brazil, for example, is a major producer of such staple goods like chicken, beef and sugar. By being such an important provider, Brazil has managed to attract billions of investment dollars for major projects. The boom has been so impressive that graduates from universities in Portugal (the colonizer and former ruler of Brazil) are starting to immigrate to take advantage of opportunities.

However, these countries still lack the development standards seen in the west and many local firms are interested in hiring western educated graduates to help them. AIESEC, a worldwide student run organization that matches students with internships abroad is one party that helps to fill this void. Created in 1948, the organization’s beginning objective was to promote cross country partnerships in Europe. They attempted to accomplish this by helping economics and business students find internships in fellow European nations.

One should note that one of the founding members of the organization was Germany. In a post-World War era, this was rather controversial. But this is one of the main qualities the group has always stressed: it is non-political and non-religious, and stresses that its main purpose is to help bring countries together instead of ostracizing them. The internships they match students with can really help a person expand their current skill set in many different ways. Languages and social skills can be learned while picking up some practical knowledge regarding important industries.

Presently, AIESEC has become the world’s largest student run organization, boasting memberships in over 100 countries. “Not only has the organization grown in size but it has become more inclusive as well” said Aissa Boodhoo-Leegsma, local president of the McMaster chapter. While originally created to service business and economics students, participants now come from a diverse set of backgrounds including chemistry, art and engineering. The available internships are correspondingly varied; a member could work in the banking industry in Hong Kong, for a Brazilian advertising firm in Sau Paulo or as an Engineer in Germany.