Don’t Delay; Put Off College Today

Have you considered taking a gap year? 

Students, if you have parents who are downright giddy about the idea of you going off to college or university, you might want to save this article until they are out of the room because chances are they won’t be overly thrilled with me for putting the idea of delaying the start of your post-secondary schooling in your head. 

And I understand that completely.  They want what is best for you, they want to help you succeed and get ahead in life and to them that equates launching yourself into more schooling so that you don’t lose momentum or fall behind your peers.

Choosing a college or university program is one of the most important decisions you will make in your young life.  It is a decision that will not only cost you a significant amount of money to pursue, but it has the ability to dictate what you will be doing for the next 45 years of your life.  Forgive me if I am wrong, but a poor choice here is the reason why many adults are so dissatisfied with their work lives.

There use to be a stigma involved with people that did not go directly into post-secondary education after graduating from high school.  They were drifters, lazy; under achievers who would rather spend a year undergoing what was sarcastically referred to as “self-discovery” than buckle down and become a contributing member of society.

This stigma doesn’t do anybody any service.

Gap years are not for the lazy.  They are a tool, that when used right, can contribute greatly down the line to total career satisfaction.  I’ve known many people, friends and family alike, that have taken that year of “self discovery” to work, volunteer, build their resumes and academics, and confirm what path they want their future to take.

Why do so many people think that is a bad idea?

Firstly, if you are not 110% sure of what you want to do with your future, why on earth would you want to plow ahead and spend upwards of $60,000.00 or more in tuition, books, and other fees pursuing a vocational goal that you might not like in four or five years?  Financially, it makes sense to take a year or even just a semester off to confirm that decision in your mind before you spend that money.  It is going to cost you a lot less in the long run to take that year off now rather than having to take another four years off down the road to go back to school after you discover that you really can’t stand your current career.  Take the time now to learn more about a few different career options.  This can be done through making some industry contacts, talking with them and maybe even completing an internship or some volunteer hours to get some hands on experience.

Even if you are entirely confident of your future career, taking that year off can still be incredibly beneficial and by taking the year off I don’t mean spending the next 12 months lying on your parents’ couch watching old sitcom re-runs.  If you are going to take a gap year, be smart about it.  If you are positive about your career choice, use your year to build up your resume, get some job experience and network with other industry professionals.  This experience will push you to the top of your class when you do go to school the following year (which your parents will love) and set the stage in your future when it comes to finding a summer internship or entry level job when you do graduate. 

Going the post-secondary route is never something I would discourage anyone from doing.  Be it college, university, an apprenticeship program or whatever, the time and money you spend on your education is never a waste.  But neither is the time or money you spend testing the waters of your future career.  Use your gap year to gain some experience, build your confidence, and set yourself up for a successful and happy career.  So don’t delay, do some research and talk to your guidance counsellor today about your gap year options.

Unpaid Internships: Why Should I Bother?

It is a universal truth that internships are a great stepping stone for young graduates seeking to get a foothold into the working world.  Internship positions provide basic, entry level positions with plenty of supervision, a variety of tasks, and consistent training to help shape your classroom education into something useful.  Internships provide work experience and no resume is complete without work experience no matter what private school you went to.  However, the sad fact of the matter is that many internship positions today don’t pay.  Of course, that depends greatly upon what industry you are going into and the type of company you are working for but the truth remains that you are participating in an internship because you need work experience and are often at the mercy of the employer.  Choosing to participate in an internship therefore often conflicts with the need to meet certain financial obligations that many young students are faced with such as bills and school loan payments.  For some, not earning money in exchange for work is not an option they can live with and that is completely understandable.  However, if this is your case, I urge you not to write off the unpaid internship just yet.

Why should you bother with an unpaid internship position?

You need the work experience.  Currently, you have no experience that relates to your industry no matter how carefully you word your stint flipping burgers at the local fast food joint.  Even entry level positions these days require previous work experience and so not stepping up to the plate means your resume is going to be left in a scrap paper bin.  You might not be able to afford to go three months without an income.  But if no one will hire you based on lack of work experience, can you really afford long term not to?

Unpaid internship positions mean less competition for the spot.  Paid positions are few and far between and when they do come along, you can bet that they will be swamped with applications numbering in the hundreds.  Even with a stellar education, it can be hard to stand out.  You might not get called, you might not get selected and then you will be stuck waiting around for the next paid internship to become available.  Unpaid positions, while still competitive to get, are great in number and more diverse meaning instead of competing against hundreds for the primo spot, you might only have to stand-out among a handful.

Employers are often more flexible.  If you land a paid internship position, be prepared to treat it as a 40 plus hour per week job that includes the occasional evening and weekend.  After all, they are paying you and therefore expect you to be available.  With an unpaid internship, employers understand that you need to have some sort of an income to pay your bills.  They will often allow you to customize your schedule to accommodate a part-time job.  Maybe you only come in three days a week, or maybe you just work mornings.  This flexibility will allow you to gain the workplace experience and networking opportunities you need and hold down a second job that will pay the bills. 
 

You are getting paid.  You may not be receiving any financial compensation in the traditional sense of a paycheck, but you are getting paid.  You are being paid for your work with experience, the chance to network, the opportunity to learn from industry professionals, the long term financial gain of landing a high paying entry level position, etc.  As long as you are willing to embrace the definition of “payment” that extends beyond money, it is easy to see how even with an unpaid internship, there are significant gains and a return on your invested time.

There are many great internship positions available out there.  Don’t be turned off of the idea just because you see it as a financial black hole.  If you are interested in participating in an internship, consider contacting International Career Studies to see if they have an internship that suits your interests.

For more internship related reading check out Internships Equal Jobs; Simple Math Anyone Can Do and Internship Attitudes You Need to Ditch.

Go International in Your Own Home

Get International in Your Own Home

Have you ever participated in an international internship or exchange program?  Maybe you went overseas while you were in high school or college.  Perhaps one of your children is interested in participating in an international program.  Maybe one of your friends just came back from a four month educational program in Thailand and can’t stop gushing about all of the amazing things she experienced.  You’d love to participate but unfortunately your full time job, family and personal commitments don’t allow you that freedom.  Don’t condemn yourself to the sidelines though because there are other ways that you can get involved.

Ever wonder where all these international students are staying and how they can afford to live in a new country for half the year?  Chances are they are staying in homes like yours and mine.

International exchange programs often rely upon local citizens to offer up homestay situations for their students.  Homestays, were a student stays in the home of a local family for the length of their trip, are set up through a number of organizations with both the family and student being carefully screened and paired up to ensure the comfort and safety of everyone involved.

Some host families offer accommodations similar to local student housing.  Students are provided a room within the family home and all utilities in exchange for rent money, maybe $300.00 to $700.00, depending on the location.  In some cases, the host family may also choose to include meals  as well, leading to a situation where the student becomes more fully integrated with the family as they can chat and share stories over the dinner table. 

Another popular option for families with young children or a disabled family member that requires additional care can be to join up with an Au Pair program.  Au pair students act as nannies or caregivers within their host family, follow a schedule and daily routine and in exchange are provided with a room, meals and monthly stipend of anywhere between $150.00 to $350.00.

Both have their benefits for the student but what about for the host family?  Other than the obvious perk of either the extra income or the extra helping hand around the house, what is it that makes families want to take in an international exchange student?

It really is a personal decision when it comes right down to it, as letting a stranger live in your home is a disconcerting idea for many.  But more times than not, international students are so grateful and appreciative that it becomes a rewarding experience.

Think about it; these students are thousands of kilometres away from home in a foreign country trying to learn a foreign language and new job skills.  Their host family and home often becomes a pillar of support for them, somewhere comfortable where the people are familiar.

Having an international student in your home is a great learning experience for you personally as well.  Ask questions about their home town, culture, customs, family life.  It will give them a chance to practice their language skills and you a chance to learn about an exotic new place.

Also consider the fact that if you or one of your family members are interested in studying abroad at one point, it would be a great opportunity to experience and witness how an international exchange works all from the comfort of your own home.

If you have considered becoming a host family to an international student, contact International Career Studies to get more information about what is required and what you can expect when hosting an international student. 

Internship Attitudes You Need to Ditch

In order to get the most out of your internship, you need to have the right attitude going in.  Even as an unpaid worker you still have basic human rights and you are getting paid with work experience that will be invaluable to you when you go to apply for a real job so stop your complaining.  Here are some attitudes you need to ditch before your first day.

Oh, it’s just a mandatory course requirement

Nothing in life is mandatory (except death and taxes).  Even if your internship is required by your college or university course, it still isn’t mandatory in the sense that you didn’t have a choice in the matter.  You chose your program for a reason and the fact that it had an work placement program might have been a key selling feature back when you didn’t have six term papers to write and a high score in Tetris Battle.  Treating your internship just like another course that you have to pass in order to graduate is not going to be helpful.  This is perhaps your first real glimpse at how your industry functions on a day-to-day basis and you need to recognize the opportunity for what it is; the chance to learn, participate and network.

It isn’t a real job…

[buzzer] Wrong. There might not be any money exchanging hands, but for all intents and purposes, your internship is a real job.  Although you might need a little bit of extra training and guidance at the beginning to get you started, expect your employer to treat you just like any other employee.  They did not just let you walk in the doors and start working.  Chances are that they selected you from a pile of resumes, interviewed you, saw some glimmer of potential and offered you the position complete with a confidentiality agreement, HR department and a work space that included a few company branded pens.  Therefore, if you show up late, bad mouth your senior staff members, dress like a slob and miss deadlines, you can also expect to be shown the door.  Your internship is one impressed manager away from being a “real” job so that means treating it as such.

I am just the intern; all I do is get the coffee.

I don’t think I ever got coffee for anyone over the course of any of my internships.  In fact, they offered to bring me coffee.  If you belittle your role and expect to be nothing more than your supervisor’s personal lackey, then chances are that is all you will be.  It is true, that as an intern you will probably be handed more grunt work than you would like but that is a fact of life that you need to get over.  You don’t have the experience to be put in charge of a major account nor have you paid your dues yet in order to get them to trust you with high stakes projects.  You are not going to own the place when you walk in the door on your first day.  Prove that you are reliable, hard working and speak up to let them know that you have good ideas and in time you will earn the respect and recognition that you want and perhaps even a job to boot.

Have you caught onto the trend here?  Your internship is not a jail term, just another school requirement and definitely not a place to slack off.  You are there to learn and make a good impression on your colleagues.  Be professional with both your clothing and mannerisms.  Be open to learning from anyone.  Speak up, be heard and get involved with every aspect of the company.  

Internships Equal Jobs; Simple Math Anyone Can Do

It is that wonderful time of the year again for college and university students.  Exams are done.  It is time to celebrate, let loose, burn those text books and find a menial summer job in order to pay for gas, beer and a cute summer wardrobe. 

Here is my question to those students though: are you kidding me?

You are paying thousands of dollars for your education (or maybe your parents are) in order to start a career that you are excited about (or at least your parents find acceptable).  You have a good knowledge base, you are young and a quick learner yet you are still going to spend your summer working behind the bar of some downtown restaurant?

You might not have graduated yet but chances are you have learned something at this point.  Every student from first year to post grad have something to offer in terms of a fresh outlook and critical thinking.  And guess what, the industry has something to offer you too and that is an internship.

Many baulk at the idea of doing an internship before they graduate because they are under the impression that the only reason to do an internship is to get a job and since they plan on returning to school in the fall, there is no point because a job is unwanted.

These students are failing to look at the bigger picture.

Here is a list of some of the things internships offer that often get overlooked:

1. Job Experience

Okay, so this one is pretty obvious but it deserves to be at the top of the list because it is the most important reason to participate in an internship whether it is paid or unpaid.  Have you noticed that even entry level positions these days ask for 1-2 years of previous experience?  No one is going to hand you a job on a silver platter.  You have to earn it with valuable work experience and the more you have the better.  This means that if you want to be a journalist for example, you will intern as a Jr. Copy Editor at a local newspaper this summer, a Media Planner for a magazine next summer, and travel abroad as an assistant to a foreign correspondent for a news station the summer after that.  Actual job experience is valuable beyond measure for landing your dream job.

2. Networking Opportunities

Maybe the place you land your first internship is not the place you want to spend the next two to three years of your life.  That’s okay.  Aside from the job experience that you are getting, you are also going to have the chance to meet and connect with other people from your industry.  Now that might not sound exciting because they obviously work in a place where you don’t want to work.  But guess what, they have other friends in the industry who might have jobs in a place where you do want to work.  If you make a good enough impression on your more senior level co-workers, they are going to be more than willing to make an introduction for you that could lead to the job you do want.

3. Career Test Drive

Are you absolutely 100% positive beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is the career you want to spend the next 47 years of your life doing?  If you are, congratulations.  You are one of the few students who are and won’t end up switching majors or career paths at least three times before getting out of school and into the work world like a large number of your peers.  While university and college may give you an idea of what the industry is like and what to expect from your future job, there is still a level of disconnect between the classroom experience and the real world.  An internship is a practical tool to use when investigating your career path.  If you think you want to pursue law, consider an internship at a law office.  If you are interested in pursuing a career in advertising, I can tell you from personal experience that an internship is invaluable because if you do decide that advertising is for you, you will still need to decide whether you want to go into media buying, accounts, sales, creative, marketing, public relations and the list goes on.  Consider your internship a chance to test drive your career options because the good news is that if you don’t like it, you can find out before you graduate and switch.

4. Demonstrates Initiative

When potential employers look at your resume and see an internship, it tells them two things. One, you have some work experience which makes you more valuable as a potential employee.  Two, they see a person that has taken the initiative to actively participate in an industry that they are quite possibly passionate about.  They see someone who is interested enough in their field to go out and work, potentially for free, before society expects them to contribute in a small yet meaningful way.  Employers like to see this.  They obviously enjoy what they do and probably enjoy talking about it as well so you’re at an advantage if you have a few of your own anecdotes to share.

5. Internships Actually Create Jobs

No, really, they do.  Some might think that internships actually make it harder for some people to find work because there are students out there willing to work for free.  After all, why would a business pay someone to do a job when they can just slap the label of “intern” on it and get someone to do the same task but in an unpaid capacity?   The fact is that by hiring interns, employers are assisting in the training and development of the future workforce.  As the current generation of workers age and retire, the economy is going to need to replace them with qualified new people that have the training and work experience to be successful and stimulate the business, driving growth across all sectors.  This is perhaps the most compelling argument for why employers should offer internships and the most important reason why young students should take those opportunities to learn.

To sum it all up, internships lead to jobs.  Period.  Whether your internship employer hires you, gives you a great reference that lands you a job with another firm or provides you with the connections to be successful with your job hunt, very few interns leave their internship positions feeling as if they have wasted their time.  The main point is that the conversion rate of interns landing full-time paid jobs is increasing.  In this article, The National Association of Colleges and Employers claims that the conversion rate of interns to jobs actually rose 8.5%. That is hard proof to ignore.  So if you are one of those lucky students who have the summer off unlike most of the working world, don’t squander it.  Make the most of the next four months and invest your time in something valuable.  Perhaps a teaching internship in Thailand?

Your Résumé: The Translated Version

Other than your tax return, your résumé is probably one of the most important and time consuming documents that you will ever write.  You carefully analyze your word choice to ensure that it conveys the correct meaning and frames you in the best light.  You list your skills, your experience and your education.  You delete, you tweak, you move things around until you are satisfied.  Then you have someone else edit it and repeat the process.  The final document consists of precisely chosen verbiage representing everything you have done in your life that would make the company want to hire you.  At least you hope.  You sit by the phone and wait for a call.

The process sounds familiar.  Everyone from the 16 year old high school student to the 55 year old who is considering retirement has written a résumé at one point in their life.  We’ve all applied for jobs and understand that an excellent résumé is key to getting that interview and getting a foot in the door of the company you want to work for.

But what is the company you want to work for isn’t local?  What if it is global?

Your résumé is still important and you are likely to go through all the same steps that you would normally go through when applying for a local job.  But the rules have changed.  Dun dun dun. (Cue the menacing death march music).  All of a sudden you are competing against other individuals that probably have a similar work or educational background (which is typical) but more importantly is that these people are probably local to the company.  If the company is in Thailand, then the fact that they already know the language, know the culture, are familiar with the people, best business practices, customs and all sorts of other affairs naturally makes them more suitable for the job at hand because they are the people that the business is going to be targeting.

So other than taking some extremely intensive Thai language lessons and Googling how to build a résumé that won’t completely throw the HR department for a loop, making them wonder what on earth you were thinking, what do you need to do to ensure that your application doesn’t just get a few chuckles and then end up on the top of the pile of office memos bound for the paper shredder/incinerator?

Well first, you do need to do some serious research about how to act professional.  You may think that professional courtesy is universal but with that mind frame you are definitely not going to get a call back.  What is professional in one country might be unprofessional in another.  Some cultures value getting right down to business while in others, it is expected to spend the first few minutes asking about each other’s personal life.  When accepting another person’s business card, never put it directly in your pocket or handbag or what have you in a casual manner that in America, wouldn’t get a second thought.  In fact, when interacting with someone of Asian descent, it is customary to accept the business card with two hands, examine it carefully before placing it in a hard cover folder of some sort to ensure that it does not get crushed.

Next, you must demonstrate your professional personality.  If they are going to go through the trouble of contacting an international job applicant, they are going to want to know what to expect from you in a professional setting personality-wise.  Are you going to clam up?  Are you often nervous?  Do you approach problems with a cool and collective mindset?  Do you stay goal orientated?  Can you resolve conflict before it gets blown out of proportion?  These are all assets that you are going to have to figure out a way to sneak into your résumé with your choice of wording.

Probably the most important thing to do when applying for a job outside of your locale is to know how to sell your cross cultural skills.  Do you speak a second language?  Have you spent time working with teams of culturally diverse people?  Can you put yourself in the shoes of a minority group to assess what sorts of needs they have that could be addressed?  You need to let potential employers know of any unique experiences that you have had that would benefit their company.  It is a good idea to mention things such as cross cultural work experience, whether you have a positive attitude with new work environments, project successes that focused on multicultural customer segments, volunteer experiences abroad, facility with respect to picking up new languages, travel experience, etc.

International internships, if you have done any, are a great thing to highlight.  And if you already speak a second language, even if it is not their own, you should still mention it as it demonstrates your ability to focus on a complicated task and see it through to the end.

If working internationally is something you would like to do down the road but are not quite sure what you want to do quite yet (after all it can mean a really big move complete with enormous shipping crates and insurmountable rolls of bubble wrap), consider looking into acquiring some of the above mentioned cross cultural skills so that when the time comes, you are prepared. 

Have you ever wanted to work internationally?  What is holding you back?

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0609/international_resumes.shtml

http://www.english360.ca/internationalcareerstudies


http://www.black-collegian.com/international/global_resumes_0706.htm 

Je ne parle pas le français... o español

Ok, so the title of this blog post might be a little confusing since in essence I am saying that I don’t speak French or Spanish in French and Spanish.  My secret?  About two years of high school French and the Google Translate web tool.  I figure being able to tell people I don’t speak their language is one of the first things in any language I should learn how to say just so that I am covered no matter where I travel.  Genius no?

Why am I writing about languages today?  Well, for the first and rather obvious reason is that this is a travel/education blog and language falls into both of those categories.  As much as we North Americans would like to believe that English is the dominant language everywhere in the world, we are quite often largely mistaken.  Yes, it is true that many larger tourist destinations will have some form of communication set up to cater to their English speaking guests but when you crunch the numbers, English is not the language with the highest number of first-language speakers on this planet.  In fact, it isn’t even the second.  It actually ranks third behind Mandarin Chinese and Spanish according to Ethnologue Languages of the World.

It is obvious that learning a second language can be beneficial when travelling.  Heck, picking up a common phrase book from your local Chapters.Indigo.ca would be more than useful though you are going to look like a complete tourist as you walk around with your nose buried in your phrase book hopelessly trying to ask for directions back to your hotel.

Some people enjoy learning a new language just because the study of languages interests them.  A 20 year old Oxford student named Alex Rawlings from the U.K. explains in this video how he became interested in learning new languages and eventually became fluent in eleven of them including Spanish, English, Greek and Russian.  Learning Arabic is next on his list.  Apparently is becomes easier over time and though I completely believe him, I am not worried about the ease at which I will learn language #12.  I am worried about the hassle that learning language #2 is going to be.

You’ll notice though that many of the languages that Rowlings learned first were languages that he was surrounded with and got to practice on a daily basis. 

Many people find it easier to pick up a language when they are forced to practice it on a daily basis.  High school students frequently choose to participate in a language exchange program because it is an exciting way to learn a new language at a much faster pace than they could in the classroom. But why do schools encourage students and offer incentives to those that choose to do exchange programs and take a second language all throughout high school instead of just for the first year which is often mandatory?

This question brings me to the second reason why I am writing about languages today.  Schools recognize that having a second language is extremely valuable to students as they mature and pursue a career.  Having a second language often opens up a variety of job positions that list multiple languages a requirement.  But why would a company want its employees to be able to communicate in multiple languages?  Globalization.  I’ve posted a few blogs in the past [ here and here ] that talk about this subject that you are free to refer to so that I won’t have to go in depth on the matter but the gist of it is that the workplace no longer fits in a neat little, local box.  Your suppliers, your partners, and your clients are all from diverse international backgrounds and it is important for a business to be able to communicate effectively and efficiently across all channels without having to use a third party.  Because as convenient as Google Translate is at times, its Mandarin and Thai leave a lot to be desired.

Having a second, third or fourth language makes you incredibly more valuable to an employer that is thinking on an international scale.  And even if they are not, having another language listed on your résumé communicates to employers that you have the dedicated work ethic and focus needed to learn a new language which favourably translates over into other aspects of your work.

Leading back up to the first point, learning a new language is easiest when you can practice on a daily basis and easier still if you can interact with people who also speak it fluently.  People who travel frequently often pick up bits of a language faster than others because their level of exposure is higher.  If you are serious about learning a new language, consider ditching the phrase book and participate in an international internship or exchange program.  Your age does not matter as there are a variety of programs out there that are not associated with any schools and are therefore open for anyone to participate in.  These programs range from 1 to 8 week educational travel programs and 3 to 12 month internships with many choices for combining and strengthening the language component in order to earn an individual certificate of completion.

Edu-What?

If you follow me on Twitter or have bothered to check out my company’s website, then you have probably noticed that I toss the term “edutourism” around quite frequently.  No, it is not a spelling error that I keep making over and over again thank-you- very-much Microsoft spellchecker so you can put away your little red squiggly line that I find rude and obnoxious every time I type out my middle name.

“Edutourism” was born through a quirk of marketing activity.  Having developed a new kind of travel program, and failing to find a word that currently existed in the Webster dictionary to describe it, “edutourism” was invented.  A basic definition of edutourism is when someone travels to a unique location for the purpose of formal or informal learning.  If Webster was to pick up this new word though, I imagine the entry would look something like this:

Edutourism - [ej-oo-toor-iz-uhm]

Derived from the Latin word ēducātiōn from which English gets its’ word for education and the combination of the Greek word tómos meaning circle from which comes the word tour and Greek suffix –ism which when used with a noun denotes an action, edu-tour-ism is the action of travelling with the intended purpose of learning a new skill or engaging in an activity that is otherwise unfamiliar with the goal of gaining educational and cultural insight into the occupation.

And for those of you who do not enjoy etymology (the study of words), here is the Urban dictionary definition:

Edutourism - [ej-oo-toor-iz-uhm]

The act of being a tourist and actually learning something about a skill or activity found locally in your destination instead of walking around completely oblivious to the culture that surrounds you.

Examples of Edutourism

•          ecotourism
•          agricultural tourism
•          medical tourism
•          cultural/historic tours
•          language courses
•          culinary training
•          short/long term academic programs
•          internships
•          courses, conferences, seminars, colloquiums
•          sabbaticals or employee exchanges
•          sports tourism
•          special interest tours

Edutourism, though it sounds similar to “ecotourism” is actually quite different since people who choose one type of travel program over the other have very different outcomes in mind.  Ecotourism focuses on travelling in a green conscious manner in order to enjoy the scenery and landscape while leaving behind the lowest ecological footprint possible.   Edutourism, while it can involved ecotourism, is all about engaging in the local culture and activities.  It is about travelling abroad in order to gain new skills and insights.  Instead of being a passive observer with a camera ready to take snap shots of whatever happens to come along, edutourism is about digging in and getting your hands dirty metaphorically and literally speaking to create photo worthy moments that you can remember for all times as you go back home and proudly demonstrate to your friends and family just how to do the “crane” as part of the water ballet routine you learn while down in Cuba alongside professional synchronized swimmers.

Now, since it is a made up word that has yet to entirely catch on (I think I am the only one who uses it frequently and my efforts to make it a trending topic on Twitter failed miserably) there are very few travel companies that offer edutourism programs. 

But for those companies that do, here is what you can expect. 

• Choose your destination. Destinations can be anywhere in the world that you were already planning on visiting so it isn’t like you are going to have to make a special, unplanned trip to participate.

• Choose the skill you would like to learn.  Skills vary by country and typically feature activities that are local to that area such as silk making in Thailand, porcelain making in Japan and mixed drink artist in Cuba.

• Choose your program length.  You need to spend at least a week completing your program as most programs go deep into the cultural traditions and history behind the skill that you are learning.  In Thailand for example, you won’t just make the silk, you will learn how the silk worm hatcheries work, how the material is harvested, dyed, woven and then sewn into elaborate kimonos. 

• Expect to spend the first few days in your destination country learning some of the language basics just so that you will be able to get around the country without too much trouble and random hand gestures.

• And do expect some down time where you will get to play the role of tourist.  Edutourism programs are designed to allow you plenty of opportunity to be a tourist and engage in the local customs, culture, eat the local cuisine, meet the people and relax.

 What types of edutourism programs would you be interested in participating in?  Have you ever participated in a similar program?  I’d love to hear about your experiences so drop me a comment.  We might get “edutourism” into the Webster dictionary after all.

http://www.edutourismconference.org/whatisedutourism.html

http://www.english360.ca/edutourism

http://entplanet.blogspot.com/2010/11/edutourism.html

[ Edited: "Edutourism" has officially been added to the Urban Dictionary.  The definition for edutourism can now be found here: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=edutourism ]

Internationally Diverse Employees are Sexy

You can stop dialling your lawyer to file a sexual harassment lawsuit.  I am not about to encourage CEOs and HR managers to start hiring job candidates because the new employee is a curvy Brazilian supermodel or a well tanned Italian stallion.  Excuse the controversial headline and start thinking “attractive” along the lines of what cultural diversity can contribute to an organization that is faced with the culturally diverse challenges that a globalized workplace delivers. 

So just to be clear, hiring hunky Alessandro because he is an enjoyable piece of eye candy is NOT alright.

It IS alright to hire Alessandro because his education, work experience and professional work ethic make him a good fit for the available position.  And it is perfectly acceptable that his cultural background gives him an added edge in the eyes of the potential employer because the marketing position that he applied for means that he will be dealing with many partner companies overseas in Europe making his heritage an added bonus when it comes to bridging the lines of communication.

Encouraging a culturally diverse workplace where there are people from a variety of international backgrounds is extremely attractive to employers for a variety of reasons ranging from the fact that it is profitable to the fact that it is marketable. 

According to Targeted Diversity Recruitment Centre, a diverse workforce enhances:

1. Connection with the customer:
The needs of diverse customers can be better understood when the workforce itself is diverse.

2. Employee motivation:
Employees maintain productivity when they know that they are treated with dignity and respect.

3. Employee innovation:
A work environment favourable to diversity is open and flexible and also favourable to employee innovation.

4. Employee recruitment and retention:
A workplace that emphasizes interest and concern for its employees as people first is able to attract a higher-quality workforce.

5. Continuous quality improvement:
An environment where employee talents are valued will help to continually improve quality.

Creating a diverse work environment is important to employers.  It demonstrates that they support the inclusion of all ethnicities and all backgrounds; encouraging equal opportunity employment.  Companies that encourage this type of a workplace also tend to be the ones that provide the most support and training for their new hires. 

So how does this relate to you as the job seeker, not the employer?  It would seem like you are out of luck.  After all, you can’t exactly change your genes.  So if you are a pasty white person (no offense to the pasty white people, I am one of them too and I feel your pain when it comes to trying to get a tan in the summer and ending up looking like a lobster instead) there isn’t much you can do about it if the recruitment office is looking to diversify the team and wants someone with a unique ethnic background.

But let’s think about it for a moment.  Are they really hiring based upon skin colour?  Hopefully Probably not.  They are more likely looking for the diverse cultural viewpoint that they assume is coming with that skin colour. They might indeed be looking for someone to join the business development team that deals mainly with East Asia.  They assume that they should hire someone from that regional background with the expectation that this person will be familiar with the cultural expectations and nuances of doing business in Japan, China, Taiwan and maybe even Mongolia. 

They are hiring someone with cultural experience; they are hiring someone who knows how to effectively communicate and deal with these ethnic differences.  Why can’t that be you?

The workplace of the 21^st century is looking for diverse employees so you need to make yourself more diverse.  So what if you are one of the aforementioned pasty white people who grew up in a small town in Northern Ontario where the closest thing you had to Chinatown was sushi you can pick up at the pre-made food section of your local Loblaws Superstore.  I know I did.  But that doesn’t mean much on the grand scale of things.  I still know that many Asian countries are high context cultures, preferring to leave things unsaid and let cultural expectations fill in the blanks.  I know that word choice is extremely important since very few words can have such a complex message where as in low context culture such as America, everything needs to be explicit and fully explained.  I know that harmony, order and self-development are important underlying values and therefore confrontations and other forms of disagreements are often avoided which could come at a cost if the party I am dealing with is put in an uncomfortable situation and I don’t realize it.  And I got all that from my extremely brief International Marketing class at college.  Think about the insight I could gain if I actually travelled to and worked in Japan for a few weeks or even a few months.

There is no reason why we need to be restricted by our cultural diversity or lack there-of.

With all the educational travel opportunities available through the hundreds of organizations, there is no excuse for not being diverse on a global scale.  At the very least you can Google the information but that does not compare to living it firsthand.

Here is my advice.  Consider taking some time away to live it firsthand.  If you are a student, take a semester off or commit your summer vacation to doing an international internship.  If you are a more seasoned professional and don’t feel like you are able to take what amounts to 3-6 months off in order to do an internship, consider completing an educational tourism program where you take an intense two week vacation that is dedicated to learning a new skill and immersing yourself in the culture at the same time.  Imagine that you are a senior journalism editor and you had the chance to travel to Cuba to work on an international magazine alongside Cuban locals, engaging in everyday conversations and business interactions.  It would be not only thrilling but a wonderful career advancing use of those vacations days you have been allocated. 

When it comes right down to it, diversity is here to stay.  Globalization of the workplace is happening.  International internships, edutourism travel programs and further training are the tools you need to adapt.  Because when it comes right down to it, the business world is changing and if you want to stay ahead of the curve and not close off any avenues of opportunity, you need to be prepared.

Remember, diversity is sexy attractive in a good-for-customer-service-and-innovated-work-environment kind of ways and not an Alessandro-is-super-cute-when-he-has-no-shirt-on kind of a way.

http://www.equalitymagazines.com/index.php/why-diversify/why-hire-diversity

http://www.mongabay.com/reference/country_studies/japan/SOCIETY.html

http://www.internationalcareerstudies.com

Thailand is Calling... I Hope They Are Not Calling Collect

Ok, so Thailand probably isn’t on the phone for you.  But chances are they will send you an e-mail if you are interested in getting in touch with the Ministry of Education.  In fact, they will probably jump at the chance to respond to your e-mails because English speaking teachers are in high demand and they are looking to hire a lot of them over the next few years.

This topic is probably going to be most interesting to students currently at teacher’s college, completing concurrent education programs or are a recent graduate of either one of those aforementioned options.  However there really are no limitations in age or education with this topic so listen up and pass this around if you know people who might be interested. 

Why are we talking about Thailand today?  Well other than the fact that I thought Cuba deserved a break, there are exciting opportunities currently available that people need to jump on right now to take advantage of before the chance disappears.  So get ready to jump in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The Thai educational system is growing at a rapid rate.  The government in Thailand spends approximately 27% of their annual budget on education compared to the 14-17% that many other countries spend which gives you a pretty good idea of how strong their commitment is to the development of the next generations. 

The Ministry of Education is building more schools, increasing class sizes and going on a hiring spree in order to cope.  Both the public and private school systems are glutted with children and the demand is only increasing.  This is causing quite a dilemma actually.  The flux in the demand for teachers isn’t being met.  Well actually that is only partially true.  There are teachers for math, social studies, geography, history, and all those other lovely subjects that were the bane of my existence back in elementary school.  I particularly wasn’t a fan of history.  Remembering all those dates and odd names of dead people was never an interest of mine.  What Thailand needs however, are English teachers.

Now I am not talking English teachers like we have here in high school where everything revolved around reading this really old book and writing a 20 page report on the different themes, prevalent characters and how the author was beyond his or her time.  I am talking about English teachers that are more similar to our French teachers, where it is more like conjugate this noun and this verb and remember that the little accent goes to the left instead of the right. 

I am referring to English as a Second Language.

Obviously your English is impeccable otherwise reading this article would be a bit of a tedious task.  So already you meet one of the qualifications the Ministry of Education has for their teachers. 

Due to the globalization of the workplace and international business boarders becoming obsolete thanks to technology, the business world is changing in favour of western culture.  The use of English is most prevalent in media and the internet.  The Thai government has long since realized the importance of the English language and is aggressively pursuing solutions to the language barrier, making English a core subject in the curriculum.  So crucial is the implementation and incorporation of the English language to student education, many private schools and even some public schools are beginning to offer other core subjects such as math and business in English as well. 

The Ministry provides twelve years of formal education for all Thai students.  Six years at the primary level, and six years of secondary education.  Students are required to complete at least nine years of schooling.  The current education system is undergoing reform as class sizes are becoming larger with as many as 60 students due to the gross flux of demand and the underwhelming number of qualified teachers to fill that void.

Several thousand English native speakers are employed in the public and private school sectors.  This practise is growing as it encourages the students to develop oral expressions and increase their knowledge of a foreign culture.

Why is this all so exciting?  Well, as I have mentioned, they need teachers who speak English and as it turns out, you speak English.  Therefore, you qualify for this experience. 

Think about it.  If you are a student teacher trying to get your degree then you understand the importance of getting classroom experience under your belt before you are launched into the fray of 30 some odd sticky and sweaty unruly 5^th graders.  My father is a teacher and has been for the past 25 years.  The stories he comes home with would shock you at times as you wonder how kids can be so unreasonable.  You have to respect the amount of patience and experience (and restraint)  it takes to be able to deal with an 11^th grader who decided he couldn’t wait to use the bathroom and peed out the back door of the classroom.

So what do most future teachers do in order to gain this valuable experience before they are tossed to the wolves?  They volunteer in the classroom, get a job at a summer camp, find another teacher to be a mentor and a host of other activities all while going to school and trying to earn enough money to pay for said school since teacher’s college can take a minimum of four years. 

Now we get to the really exciting part.  The Ministry of Education in Thailand is offering teaching students a chance to come to Thailand and teach.  They will provide you with accommodations, food, a job and a weekly stipend of spending money.  They will train you, offer in-class experience dealing with students, mentor you, and share their culture, language and an endless supply of smiles.

If you accept an internship position in Thailand, it will not only benefit your future career (after all a teaching gig in Thailand is going to look great on your resume) but it will provide an amazing experience that you will be able to talk about for the rest of your life.  Consider the fact that you will gain a global perspective for your career.  You will be introduced to new teaching styles and practices that you would never have encountered if you stayed in Canada which will shape and round you out into a more effective leader of your classroom. 

Like I said, get ready to jump.  Ask your school advisors what international internships are available to you in the teaching field.  Your experience might even be able to count as course credits.  Thailand is not the only place offering teaching internship positions either. 

Not a student?  That’s fine too.  Many seasoned and professional teachers that are looking to take a break from their normal classrooms are signing up for international teaching programs too.  It provides valuable insight, a unique perspective and can prove to be quite the adventure.

Not a professional teacher?  You are still welcomed to participate.  The Thai government recognizes that English speaking natives without college or university programs also have a lot of knowledge to offer students.  In fact, the only two requirements you need in order to apply for an international program with the Ministry of Education is that a) you speak English fluently and b) you are at least 18 years old.

Do your research.  Below are links to general information on the Thai education system and some featured programs that you might be interested in.

http://www.internationalcareerstudies.com/edutourism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Thailand

http://www.moe.go.th/English/

http://thailand-business-news.com/asean/34279-thailand-needs-to-reform-its-educational-system-for-2015#.Tw3ycGET0oM