How to be a 'cosmopolite'
Brittany Lane | Features Editor
Last Updated:11/17/09 Section: News
Last Tuesday, the Career Center presented a live webinar called "From Study Abroad to Career Abroad," featuring America's "job search guru" Donald Asher. An internationally acclaimed author and speaker specializing in careers, Mr. Asher centered his thesis on globalization and how the current challenge for American and Canadian students is to acquire a "bridge experience."
He discussed three waves of globalization, with the most recent recognizing the power of multinational corporations rather than state governments. The most highly skilled and talented people have the privilege of traveling to the most highly paid assignments in the world. Such borderless careers define the future, or the "golden age," for the most capable workers.
In the past, expatriates spent 1-3 years abroad with their whole families, attained social standing proportionate to their status, owned club memberships, and traveled first class back to the States a few times a year. Because of the high expense and failure rate, the new model involves young people without families. Rather than expats (a term with negative connotation), the new term is International Service Employee. Workers are based in one country but travel to other countries several times a year for a few weeks at a time to conduct business.
However, it does not follow that borderless careers are always jobs abroad. According to Mr. Asher, "employers want workers who can prove their internationalist skills." These skills include the ability to negotiate norms for interaction. Languages, the flow of ideas, treatment of ranks and roles, what time means, what "yes" means, what a deadline means, and what a deal means are all particular to the society. It is vital to understand, yet also hard to ask and find out, questions like what is success, who has power, whom do you trust, and what is the role of the rule of law. Making these global skills intuitive translates into a more successful career wherever you work.
He discussed three waves of globalization, with the most recent recognizing the power of multinational corporations rather than state governments. The most highly skilled and talented people have the privilege of traveling to the most highly paid assignments in the world. Such borderless careers define the future, or the "golden age," for the most capable workers.
In the past, expatriates spent 1-3 years abroad with their whole families, attained social standing proportionate to their status, owned club memberships, and traveled first class back to the States a few times a year. Because of the high expense and failure rate, the new model involves young people without families. Rather than expats (a term with negative connotation), the new term is International Service Employee. Workers are based in one country but travel to other countries several times a year for a few weeks at a time to conduct business.
However, it does not follow that borderless careers are always jobs abroad. According to Mr. Asher, "employers want workers who can prove their internationalist skills." These skills include the ability to negotiate norms for interaction. Languages, the flow of ideas, treatment of ranks and roles, what time means, what "yes" means, what a deadline means, and what a deal means are all particular to the society. It is vital to understand, yet also hard to ask and find out, questions like what is success, who has power, whom do you trust, and what is the role of the rule of law. Making these global skills intuitive translates into a more successful career wherever you work.
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