Imagine your dream job calling from 5,000 miles away! Landing it will not be easy. After all, you will be competing with job seekers from around the world. So, how do you give yourself an edge over your competition?
‘Global intelligence’, or the ability to work in culturally-diverse situations, has become a big topic in recruiting. An increasing number of future jobs will require the ability to network, collaborate and influence people across countries and cultures. A business may be universal, but there’s no universal way of doing it. After all, how you do business in the US., the U.K. or Australia is different from how it is done in India.
Benefits
A multi-city model of learning — across several countries — is a wonderful way to prepare for the challenge of a global career. By immersing oneself in several new cultures in quick succession, one develops excellent cross-cultural skills, builds a strong network of friends and professional contacts, and gains ‘human skills’ such as the ability to communicate with confidence, empathise, solve problems, think critically, and creatively, and influence people. It also teaches one to work in global teams, make better decisions and expand local boundaries to global ones. All of this make the applicant stand out.
Suppose a student did the first year of an undergraduate degree in Singapore, the second in Dubai, and the third in Sydney, Australia. At each location, he/she can pursue projects and internships, interact with business leaders and thinkers, build contacts within the community, and embrace the diversity in business, languages, and ethics. As a result, he/she develops essential skills and perspectives, experiences new cultures, learns new languages, makes friends from around the world, and expands professional networks required in today’s competitive business environment.
Today, business is all about embracing diversity in cultures, languages, and people, and adapting to varied market forces, all of which are taught in business classrooms but never fully understood unless experienced first-hand. Stepping out of one’s own culture and into several others provides an in-depth look at how different cultures compare.
Studying in multiple countries is undoubtedly one of the most transformational experiences a student can pursue. Apart from building a global network, you never know who may share your interests and become an investor in your business.
The writer is the President of S.P. Jain School of Global Management.
