Best Practices: Collaborating Across
Departments to Enhance Student Job
Opportunities at Home & Abroad
Melanie Funken, Education Abroad, Suffolk University
Amy Sanford, Career Services, Harvard University
Susan Shea, International Student Advising, Boston College
Career Services: Snapshot
Advising F-1 international students:
 40 % international from PhD/master’s pop.
 STEM students, heavy users of OCS
 Lack of US students in these majors as of
2010, recruiting from Asia!
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3rd country interest for international
students who may not go home country,
but to BRIC, MAVINS (Mexico, Australia,
Vietnam, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa),
PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain)
Career Services: Collaborations with
the International Office
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Partner with Harvard International Office (HIO) each summer
to welcome international students to Harvard and highlight
importance of starting job search early and communicating
with HIO.
“The International Job Search: US and Abroad”: International
student specific job search programs at Career Services: in
collaboration with international office (at Harvard), Oct. 2010
Cultural presentations for U.S. students interested in working
overseas (Power Ties)
H1B and Green card sessions with Immigration Attorney/HIO.
Send all F-1 students to HIO as part of career counseling
session …also, specific cultural handouts and books/reading
recommend
Career Services: Collaborations with
Education Abroad
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CRIOS: Office of Careers, Research, and
International Opportunities for students
(I-phone Apps. Icon to explain)
Education Abroad and Career Services are
part of the same team at Harvard
Collaborating across offices: career services
education abroad and international student
advising
Education Abroad: Assessing & Translating the
Student Study Abroad Experience
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Employer Perspective on Education Abroad can range
drastically
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Student Perspective on Education Abroad can also vary
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A positive global experience that can prepare students for the
global marketplace
Academic Tourism
A way to build a resume: expand global business and political
perspectives, acquire cross cultural skills, learn a second language
A fun way to spend the semester, but unsure of job related skills
acquired
Our Challenge
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Bridge the gap between the Student/Employer Disconnect
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Help translate skills learned during study abroad to students and
employers through program assessment, reflective workshops and
quality programming
Education Abroad: Assessing & Translating the
Study Abroad Experience
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Analysis
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CIE Study Abroad Assessment Tool
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Program Development
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What do students expect to learn while abroad?
What do students actually learn while abroad?
Improve programming around assessment outcomes
Translating Skills for Employers
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Collaborate with Career Services
Work with Recruiters
Education Abroad: Assessing & Translating the
Study Abroad Experience
Working Together: Career Services & Study Abroad
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Translating Skills for Employers
 Review Assessment from Career Perspective
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What skills are students learning while abroad that are translatable for
employment in the US?
Develop Re-entry Workshops
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Help students to translate the skills they acquired studying abroad
experience into a language employers can understand
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Interviewing skills
Resume writing techniques and key words
Build Awareness
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Quality Programs
Employer Outreach
Alumni Network- Success Stories!
Education Abroad: Increasing Job
Opportunities
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Building Partnerships with Providers
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International Internship Opportunities
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EPA (Educational Programmes Abroad)
EUSA- Academic Internship Programs
Increase Employability for Returning Students
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Use Assessment Tools
Continue Re-entry Workshops with Career Services
Follow up with Alumni Programs
International Student Advising:
Collaborations with Career Services
Employment Workshops for International
Students (series in the fall and spring)
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Working in the U.S.: What you need to know
about immigration (immigration lawyer)
Resume Workshops- Separate sessions for
undergraduate and graduate students
Interviewing in the U.S.
Alumni Panel
International Advising: Education
Abroad and Career Services
Global Proficiency Program:
 Created in 1998 by Adrienne Nussbaum (Director of
OISS at BC and ICC member). Model nationally.
 Certificate program for undergraduates that can be
completed in addition to any major
 Holistic approach to time spent abroad, academic
coursework, co-curricular activities.
 Receive a transcript and certificate that will
distinguish them with employers and graduate
schools.
Global Proficiency Requirements
1. Abroad Experience:
This includes living abroad, studying abroad, interning in
another country, or volunteering in another country.
2. Academic Requirements:
This consists of a language requirement, a humanities
requirement, and a social sciences/business/education
requirement.
3. Activities and Service:
Students must complete a total of four co-curricular activities,
at least one of which must be a service activity.
4. Reflection Project:
Students must complete a reflection project in their final year.
The reflection project can be a short reflective essay or
presentation.
International Advising: Collaborations
with Career Strategies
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Created by the Career Strategies Office in
the Grad School of Management to prepare
students for the job search process.
3-day orientation session and follow-up
sessions throughout the first semester:
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Interviewing in the U.S.
Networking
English language evaluation, business English
Resumes and cover letters
Round Table Discussions
Topic 1: How to help students to translate their
skills to employers
Topic 2: How to encourage students to attend
your programs and visit your office: Marketing
programs and services to students
Topic 3: How to collaborate across
departments: Challenges and successes
posed by organizational structure
Questions?