So You Want to Work Overseas?

There's a surge in acquiring foreign experience among young people these days. Not just gaining a new perspective or acquiring a new language, working overseas can mean putting your skills to better use, and getting the respect that you normally wouldn't get if you're working back home and in most cases, usually bring financial rewards.

How do you plan for an international career? Where do you go to find an international job?

College Placement Offices

If you're still in school and clear about your career goals, your university's placement office should be your first stop. They usually have information in the form of brochures or bulletins about teaching opportunities overseas or international companies looking for young people with entrepreneurial zeal. Counselors can give you advise regarding your career decision.

Student Organizations

There's a student organization that match student-members with international corporations for a summer or year of working. This is the International Association of Students in Economics and Business Management or AISEC. Established in 1948, AISEC has been developing professional, management skills and leadership potential of its 60,000 members in 87 countries. Many of its graduates ultimately obtain excellent positions in international management.

Another organization that provides internship to young people in the field of technology is the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience or IAESTE. Among the areas it covers are: Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Natural/Physical Science, Architecture and Agricultural Science. Training lasts from eight to 12 weeks although longer terms are available. Trainees are paid and placed in research institutes, universities, consulting firms and laboratories.

Classified Ads and Online Job Search

The easiest way of finding a job overseas is looking through publications. My friend, Liz at the Bangkok-based The Nation newspaper got her Hong Kong job with Miller-Freeman by perusing through the online edition of the classified ads of the South China Morning Post.

The print and online editions of the Economist, an international weekly journal of news, opinion and analysis is a good place to look for positions worldwide.

Try the unconventional. Online job search engines are also good starting points. To find one, visit iAgora.com. This virtual community of international people features Country Guides which list job links per country. With offices in New York, Barcelona and Melbourne, iAgora also offers internships at any of their offices.

International Companies

If you work for an international company in your home country, chances are you'll have the opportunity of traveling abroad not just on business trips but serving at an overseas branch. That's how I landed in Hong Kong. After working for four years at the Manila office of Asian Sources, I was sent to Hong Kong when the company created an Offshore Interactive Media Department. With more than 60 offices worldwide, our staff have been sent to offices in the US, Europe, China, Singapore and Taiwan.

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