What other better way to get international job or career than to understand the few tips on how to prepare yourself. Many young people are interested in international jobs for reasons such as gaining exposure knowledge, experience and networking from around the globe. These key benefits have made an international jobs market to be very competitive and sometimes one job advert could receive up to 500 applications. Therefore, any one who is interested in international job should understand certain key steps to enable them land their dream job. In this article, I have explained six key strategies that will help you land an international job .

1. Attend an International Courses and Seminars

The sad truth is, if you read only the local courses, you will most likely get only the local offers.

In this context, international courses include certifications, degrees, trainings and even seminars. If you obtained a local first degree, why not consider Masters or professional courses from a reputable professional organisation or university. International courses like ACCA, CPA, CFA, CIMA, CIPM, CIB, MBA, PhD etc. have helped many people to get their first international job.

An option to international courses is the international seminars and trainings that offers 1 – 5 days practical training and knowledge sharing events. For example EuroMoney Training, IFF Training, Business Schools’ executive program etc. These events do not only offer you the speakers’ or trainers’ practical knowledge but a good potential for networking.

You must be very strategic about your choice of course because your target is not to attend any type of course but rather the country and the sector you plan to hit. If you plan to move into USA or Canada market as a public accountant you should consider reading their CPA courses, whiles London could be ACCA. The easiest way to get investment banking job is to read courses like MBA or CFA.

2. Work for International Firms

If you have acquired one of the key qualification identified above, your next target should to work for an international firm with local presence. Firms like Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank, DHL, Word Bank Group, General Electric, Africa Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, ECOWAS have exposed 1000 people to the international job market. If you are working with these international firms locally, work harder and the same time develop your managerial skills for suitable opportunity. One day, your talent will be exported to another country or group office.

Global banks like Standard Chartered manages talent in a form of pool and staff can easily move within the group. They identifies and leverage an employee’s talents into strengths, and then creating the environment in which these strengths can flourish.

3. Consider Graduate Programme and Internship

Many international and regional firms are offering internship and graduate programme to new graduates below certain age. It is a platform for you to enhance your technical knowledge and experience. You will learn the skills and gain the experience you need to become an expert. They typically last for a year, but some extend to 18 months or even two years. Again, many people have obtained a full-time international job ticket through this platform.

4. Network Influences your Net worth.

Networking is one thing many young people tend to underutilized. You should make use of your network, particularly your friends, colleagues who are already in the international job market. Inform them about your desire to obtain some international exposure in a particular career path. Ask for their general advice and how they were able to get the job. Keep them updated anytime you get promotion on your current job or you acquired new qualifications relevant to your dream job. Many business schools, universities and professional associations are also providing an online support for their alumnus to access international job market. You should not forget to make use of such networks.

5. Make Good use of Social Media

Don’t underestimate the power of social media sites such as LinkedIn and even Facebook. Properly complete your profile on LinkedIn with a nice looking picture. Join relevant professional groups and participate with smart comments in group discussions. You should also follow companies or add executive search consultants to your LinkedIn connection. If you have the time and passion publish some technical or management articles on LinkedIn Pulse. LinkedIn also offers email alerts on jobs in your area of expertise and many employers have started using it to advertise jobs.

How about Facebook? Well for international job opportunities, Facebook is not very strong compared to LinkedIn, however you should just be careful of what you put on Facebook. Your comments, pictures and even the applications you subscribed. Some job consultants are using social media to do some preliminary assessment of candidates.

6. Work on Your Unique CV.

Do you keep on sending the same unique CV for every job application? If your answer is yes, then you have been committing a major job application mistake. There is no such thing as “generic CV”. Every CV you send to a potential employer should be tailored to that role. So don’t be lazy and hope that a general CV will work for all the applications. I am not suggesting that you should write a fresh CV for every job but always align it to the job description and requirements. This point is very important for any type of job application.

Getting international job can be made easy if you develop a personal strategy and follow these 6 tips. Remember,

If you want to stand out of the crowd, you must be outstanding candidate.

 [FreshBundle bundle_id=”career1_001″ layout=”grid” columns=”2″ custom_title=”Career Books” custom_buy_button=”” custom_cta=”” target=”current” ]