Working outside the UK

Laying the foundations for your global career

There are a number of ways to develop your global competency and the international aspects of your career while studying at Imperial, so it’s important to first define exactly what a global career means to you.

International experience may be personally interesting to you or worth gaining to add an additional dimension to your CV. Alternatively, it may be essential for your longer term career ambitions if you want a career that involves travelling internationally on a regular basis but from a home base (e.g. professional service work, banking or logistics), or you want a truly global career, involving several long-term expatriate assignments where you relocated for a significant period of time to a new location.

Your CV can be strengthened by any exposure to experiences of other cultures through learning foreign languages, practising self-reliance or demonstrating resilience and adaptability.

What are employers looking for?

Research carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has identified the following key attributes that are required of a globally competent employee:

• Strong intercultural and communication skills;
• Resilience - working abroad can mean losing the usual support structures of friends and family;
• Flexibility to adapt to new situations and ways of doing things as well as ability to cope with ambiguity;
• Ability to handle diversity and to understand, respect and adapt to cultural differences;
• Knowledge of local conditions;
• Awareness of the strategic aims of your employer and an understanding of the international environment in which they operate;
• A working knowledge of the local language plus a good level of skill in both written and verbal English. It is common for English to be the working language within many business environments, but a good working knowledge of the local language will help you to communicate effectively and develop good relationships both at work and socially.

Add to these the range of skills normally required for graduate-level work such as problem-solving, analytical thinking, numeracy, team working, leadership, self-motivation, self-reliance and business/commercial awareness and you have a formidable task in preparing yourself for selection.

Developing your competencies at Imperial

Studying at Imperial College London provides direct experience of cultural difference and diversity.

Imperial provides a first-rate environment in which to develop and enhance your global competency and, in particular, your intercultural effectiveness. The diversity of the staff and student population, the international perspective of teaching and research and the extensive programme of public lectures, events and opportunities for travel provide access to an unusually diverse range of ideas and perspectives.

This experience can be augmented through a varitey of opportunities. Many programmes of study have an undergraduate year abroad and other student exchanges can be great starting points. You may also want to explore funding for placements including the Turing Scheme. A summer internship or work experience (be it paid or unpaid) outside the UK during the vacation periods is also a great way to develop international skills.

Researching labour market conditions, work permit requirements and having a clear understanding of any constraints, as well as planning and preparation, are all important for success. You can use GoinGlobal to help explore your options.

Furthermore, if you have left your country to study at Imperial you will already have experience of living independently in a different culture and the opportunity to develop the flexibility and resilience that living and working abroad requires.