10 Steps for Getting Started
These steps are essential to planning your international job, internship, and volunteer search – the first four are key to the process.
The Hiatt website resources and advisers as well as the work abroad resources will help you with the following:
- List your top 5 goals for working, interning, or volunteering abroad (gaining experience in a field, enhancing language skills, cultural immersion, etc.).
- Identify the destination that you'd really like to target and that best matches these goals (if you're having trouble narrowing to one destination, identify no more than 3 potential sites).
- List all of the financial, time, and personal responsibilities and constraints that will affect your plans, as well as your expectations for or assumptions about your ideal experience.
- Identify your top 3 fields or areas of interest; these will be the focal points of your search. Also, create a list of the top 3 or 4 kinds of positions you'd like to target; if you're having trouble narrowing down initially, try listing the types of jobs that you don't want to do, so you can eliminate them from your search.
- Assess your skills and experience with respect to your 3 areas of interest (courses you've taken, past work, languages, cross-cultural skills, etc.); begin to prepare your job search documents (resumes and cover letters), highlighting these skills and experiences.
- Research the current social, political, marketplace, and economic trends in your host country that will affect your plans.
- Check your host country's embassy website to learn about the requirements and process for working (paid or unpaid!) there.
- Consult key field- and country-specific job listings.
- Use your network to get personal contacts, up-to-the-minute information, and advice about working in your host country as well as leads about real work options.
- When considering a specific opportunity check its "fit" with your goals, expectations, and skills. Is it a good match?