BUILDING Global Skills

Black Collegian, Oct 2006 by Ikeda, Stewart

Workers with Foreign Internship and Study Experience in High Demand

As an Emory University student majoring in international studies/Spanish and minoring in journalism, Monique Ramgoolie had a basic career goal: to "have a job at a place where things stayed interesting and where I was able to affect change."

By commencement, she had already charted a course toward that goal. In addition to undertaking study-abroad stints in China and Spain, she interned at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, and with the Cape Times newspaper in Cape Town, South Africa, where she attended and covered events by such global leaders as Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Providing early and lasting lessons about the excitement and rewards of working overseas with diverse populations, these impressive stepping stones in her resume helped her progress further down a fulfilling career path. She went on to successfully apply to Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, where a graduate concentration in international relations combined her interests in policy, government and foreign affairs. She took every advantage of the school's career resources, programming and funding. For example, she landed an internship with the U.S. State Department doing practical, substantive work at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Later, through a career panel, she also discovered the Presidential Management Internship (now Fellowship), for which she was selected. This flexible program allowed Ramgoolie to explore a variety of work options within the U.S. State Department. She serves there today as a Program Officer covering migration discussions at the United Nations, in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration's Office of Population and International Migration an influential role that meets her early career goal, and then some.

Strong international experience and specialized graduate study certainly give a student an edge in pursuing prestigious, globe-trotting jobs at the State Department or in intelligence work, but these aren't just advantageous for diplomats or "superspies". Demand for workers with foreign language and cultural fluencies has jumped throughout the government sector since 9/11. Ramgoolie sees "opportunities to use one's knowledge base in foreign relations or political science" in a host of federal departments including the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture, as well as in many non-governmental service organizations, nonprofits, and the private sector.

Experience of a Lifetime

As a technology major with a design background, Solomon Graham's pursuit of a network systems analyst career at first may not seem to have much to do with foreign relations, cultures and travel. But for this graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Information Studies, a few courses in Spanish and growing up near one of the city's large Hispanic neighborhoods led him to apply for a life-changing opportunity in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

Through the university's noted Center for International Education, he combined study abroad with a social service internship. The Center's North American Conflict Resolution Program set Graham up with work experience at the State Department of Human Rights while attending the University of Autonoma.

Immersion in all-Spanish-language classes filled with unfamiliar accents challenged and dramatically improved his language skills, which he applied along with his tech background to translation work on the State Department's website.

Far from his technology work but equally significant was the challenging field work. Graham undertook intensive study of "the structure of Mexican law, the various government offices in the city and how the departments functioned overall within the system."

The preparation was "a great way to get a feel for the socioeconomics of the region," he says. Graham was able to interact directly with lawyers, counselors and often highly distressed plaintiffs in "bizarre and sometimes disturbing cases," providing an unanticipated and uniquely rewarding opportunity to "help others through some of the most difficult moments of their lives."

Having worked hard to find, apply for and succeed in "the experience of a lifetime," Graham appreciates that his was in many ways an uncommon and lucky experience.

"It was very unusual...to undertake this exchange program, as a tech major," says Graham, now a Network Administrator Specialist with Marshall & Ilsley Bank. "But it helped me stand out among my peers in the same major."

Global Sharing for New Solutions

Indeed, tech and science majors who are bilingual or have international experience are in particularly high demand and short supply for employers in all sectors. The International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE) is one organization trying to bridge this gap. With a mission to "develop global skills in tomorrow's technical leaders," IAESTE annually facilitates some 130 international exchanges for students in disciplines ranging from engineering to mathematics to architecture, across a network of more than 70 countries. IAESTE works with the nonprofit Association for International Practical Training (AIPT), which provides both work-abroad opportunities for U.S. students and J-I visa sponsorships allowing foreign students to work as trainees for U.S. employers.