Australian
education providers have an outstanding reputation for teaching,
learning and innovative research. Course content reflects the needs of
students and employers and prepares students well for employment.
Throughout your course you will have developed the personal skills and
attributes that are attractive to employers. These include
independence, oral and written communication skills, teamwork, cultural
awareness and a high level of ability in English.
In
today's global economy, employers greatly value the skills and
experience that students gain from an international education. It
demonstrates that you have the experience and maturity to extend
yourself out of your comfort zone and communicate with a wide variety
of people.
A
Hobsons study found that employers recognised the advantages of
employing students who have studied overseas. They are seen to have
desirable traits such as:
It
also means that employers can gain the benefits of international
knowledge and expertise without having to recruit in other countries.
Your experience allows employers to gain the best of both worlds.
On top of these advantages, there are other factors that you need to contribute to build a successful career. These include: Being
successful also requires hard work. You need to take the advantages
that your Australian qualification gives you and make them work for you. “My
decision to complete a Master of Business Administration in Australia
was influenced by my desire for a degree that would be relevant in the
Asian business arena. The
course was terrific in terms of content and exposure. However, due to
the recruitment downswing post September 11, opportunities back home
were limited. Finding a job that I wanted was a challenge and I had to
settle for whatever was available. Once things started looking up, I
made a move and am now in a position and industry where I enjoy my work
and do the kind of work I wanted. In
my case, I feel that the benefits of an international degree accrue
more when it comes to career enhancement rather than in the actual job
search. I find that I am given more interesting and challenging
opportunities, as well as more career development, than my coworkers
with domestic degrees of the same standard. All in all, for returning graduates, I feel that focus is important—focus
on what sort of career one would like and how to go about it. Patience
is also important. Quality education is an investment and sometimes
takes time to show returns.” Ms Shera Mukherjee, India “A
degree obtained overseas will always help but it is not the only key to
success. It gives a foot in the door, but performance is the key to
sustainability. Too many times I see people with false expectations
because of their background. It is not the degree per se but it is the
combination of a whole host of factors. A positive attitude,
persistence, emotional intelligence, leadership and influencing skills
are just some of the characteristics needed for success. Hopefully the
degree you earned overseas will have prepared you for this. Another
piece of advice is for those returning to home countries that are not
doing well economically. In my case it was the Philippines. Getting
accustomed to local salary packages takes some time. Disappointing?
Sadly it will be, especially if you have spent a fortune for your
educations overseas only to find out that the mathematics do not work
out. My advice is to always look at the big picture. Once
you have identified your goals, get as much experience and learning as
possible. Take advantage of your overseas experience to excel in your
chosen field of work. This, in turn, will further differentiate you
from the crowd and open up more doors for you later. Or, if you are
still not convinced, just think of it this way—you can afford to study overseas, so I am sure you can afford to sacrifice a bit financially in the initial years!” Eugene Saw, Philippines “In my experience one of the most important parts of getting a professional job is looking at yourself objectively. My
job involves recruitment and selection for an organisation. I find that
many graduates can't evaluate themselves objectively in terms of their
job competence. Many new gradates do not carefully consider whether
their qualifications match the jobs they are applying for before
submitting their CV. Putting the right people in the right jobs at the
right time is a constant struggle for business. For those new
graduates, do you consider that you are Mr./Ms. Right?” Robert Tao Wu, China
