Guest Post: Internship Abroad Industry Focus – Entrepreneurship

Posted on April 21, 2011

Jim Key - Director of Global Marketing at Intrax Internships Abroad

Today’s guest post is brought to you by Jim Key, Director of Global Marketing at Intrax Internships Abroad. Last year, Jim took us through the international job searching funnel starting by preparing for a job abroad, researching potential employers and turning those findings into potential interviews. Now that you know the process, it’s time to narrow down your focus and chose your industry. In this guest post, Jim will teach you about the fascinating world of entrepreneurship  and what you can expect working in that field.

In last fall’s series of guest blog posts, we went through how to find an internship overseas and turn it into a job. This winter and spring we will look at a few different categories and why you might consider them for an international internship.

Photo courtesy of Jim Key

Our second category is Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs start businesses in industries ranging from high tech, consulting, freelance marketing work, HR placement & outsourcing, to any other industry you can imagine. I’ve met entrepreneurs who manage art galleries, who produce & distribute wine, and who run incubators (office complexes)…for other entrepreneurs. I’ve also met quite a few who have created and run social enterprises, which are for-profit businesses with a social mission.

So what do entrepreneurs do?

Students often think in terms of majors – is entrepreneurship more like management or accounting or finance or marketing or management information systems? Entrepreneurship is pretty much all of the above, but faster and more unpredictable because entrepreneurship is business in its rawest essence. While an intern in finance or marketing with a large organization may look for a harmonious stream of projects related to that one function, an entrepreneur (and by extension, the intern) can expect a more staccato flow of operations, sales, marketing, product development, crisis management, HR, program execution, finance, and a few more things to be determined on the fly. Students are often taught to think in terms of a Fortune 500 company – an organization that grew from the chaos of a few people working out of a garage to a mature company with a brand, a recognized logo, an office building or a campus as a headquarters, and unique departments for the different functions staffed in proportion to the amount of workflow of each function: Product Development, Engineering, Manufacturing, New Business Sales, Account Management, Marketing, Finance/Accounting, IT, HR, etc. When there are 3 or 8 or even 20 people, everyone does everything and the flow of work is often driven by specific events – a product launch, a large customer’s needs, or a conference that brings together most of your target market. For example, last time I saw one tech startup in the UK, everyone was focused on a weekend music festival (the customer) using their mobile phone app, which had been designed specifically for that festival. Since hundreds of thousands of music lovers would be attending, this firm had a lot riding on getting it right.

Why do students choose to intern with entrepreneurs?

1)     Passion – in an entrepreneurial firm, you will be exposed to the zeal of the founder. The founder created the firm and the vision, so they believe in what they are doing with a passion that you rarely see in larger, more mature businesses. The business is much more personal and meaningful to the whole team. Take that passion and double it with the social enterprises – all the mission orientation of a non-profit with the passion (and urgency) of an entrepreneurial founder.

2)     Real experience even, if you don’t speak the language – the entrepreneurs that I have met tend to be well-connected, internationally-oriented people. They are often targeting their product or service to a global or at least Europe-wide market. As such, they have great opportunities for interns to do meaningful work and add value even if they are not fluent in the local language, because much cross-border business is done in English. Of course each national culture (and company culture) approaches the challenge of the business environment differently, so you are still getting cultural immersion, but you can often do it even if your French needs some work.

3)     Exposure to a variety of functions helps students figure out their strengths – many students are not really sure what they want to do. They often choose a major by the intro class that they liked or what others (parents, teachers, advisors) have suggested that they should do. As an entrepreneurship intern, students get to see operations, finance, sales, marketing, and put out a fire in account management – sometimes all in one day. With that experience, students can identify and gravitate towards what they enjoy and do well.

4)     Understanding how organizations work – the flip side of the point above (figuring out what work you like best) is that students see the dynamic of how different functions interact in a small business. Most business classes provide a sense of how finance or marketing or accounting work on their own, but not necessarily together. Unless students take an entrepreneurship classes or discuss the interworking of functions in a strategy or case method class, it is easy to miss the bigger picture of how organizations really work internally.

5)     Fast moving environment – there are some who love the structure of a larger organization and the certainty of knowing what they will be doing months before they do it. Others get bored and wonder if the research project they are working on will really impact the company or be read at all. Working for an entrepreneur, the intern often sees a more frenetic pace as she works on varied assignments that are almost always directly related to the success of a firm. Obviously every company is different, but being small often means that they are working close to the margin. What happens today means either a) success & growth or b) closing up shop at the end of the year (especially in this economy), so there is no time to drift. As one student said, “this company has the personality of its founder and its founder is definitely ADD – just like me.”

6)     Job Opportunities – we have seen students get job offers and get hired by their internship company in several countries, almost always with small businesses. Why? They can make decisions. Back in the 90’s when I interned abroad in Germany with Opel (GM Europe), my boss liked me and wanted to hire me, his boss liked me and wanted to hire me, but… it was General Motors. It takes about 18 people to agree to make a decision like hiring someone, plus another five to justify hiring a foreigner (requiring all the extra paperwork). When the Founder/CEO of a small firm says “He’s doing a good job, let’s hire him,” it gets done.

In summary, working as an entrepreneur is unstructured because you are creating something new. Students who embrace that challenge can gain meaningful work experience in a dynamic environment, learn more about themselves, and get a better sense of what they want to do.

Guest Post: International Internship Industry Spotlight on Advertising

Posted on January 25, 2011

Jim Key - Director of Global Marketing at Intrax Internships Abroad

Today’s guest post is brought to you by Jim Key, Director of Global Marketing at Intrax Internships Abroad. Last year, Jim took us through the international job searching funnel starting by preparing for a job abroad, researching potential employers and turning those findings into potential interviews. Now that you know the process, it’s time to narrow down your focus and chose your industry. In this guest post, Jim will teach you about the advertising industry and what you can expect working in the field.

In last fall’s series of guest blog posts, we went through how to find an internship overseas and turn it into a job. This winter we will look at a few different industries and why you might consider them for an international internship.

Top Ad Agency in Madrid - Courtesy of Jim Key

Our first industry is Advertising – starting with full service advertising agencies and other firms that have similar models such as PR agencies, branding boutiques, social media agencies, and others. For simplicity, I’ll just call them “Ad agencies”, but you’ll know that term includes several other niches. In addition to meeting with ad agencies all over the US & Canada over the years (in my career before Intrax), I have met with agencies all over Europe regarding summer internships for students. These organizations help their clients (from big global brands to the local ballet) to create, plan, and deliver advertising campaigns as well as other marketing tactics – everything from reaching out to journalists in the hope of getting media coverage (PR), to improving a website in order to drive more traffic (Search Engine Optimization – SEO), consulting on media buying, direct mail & e-mail campaigns, and much more. This industry includes lots of jobs in creating messages and delivering them to an audience.  The workflow at ad agencies predominantly falls into three areas:

• Account Services – managing the relationships with existing clients, new business development
• Creative – creating content, from copywriters to graphic artists
• Planning – determining what the message and medium should be for a given campaign

There are several reasons that we place quite a few students in this space.

1)     Ad Agencies are fun places to work – they have a creative buzz, young teams, international staff (often), and lots going on. There are usually more projects than the team can handle – new business pitches, campaigns to create, consumers to test, etc. It just makes for a dynamic environment.

2)     Ad Agencies provide broad exposure (helping students figure out what they like) – most students are still considering several options for their future: advertising, corporate marketing, creating content, developing strategy, optimizing ad placement, etc. At an agency, students not only see more than most about how their host company works, they also get a view into how their clients work. Because of their structure, the ad agency internship environment provides interns with more visibility to more parts of the business and experience that transfers to other businesses. The goals of an internship are to get experience, figure out what you want to do, and make yourself more valuable for the next internship or job. Ad agency internships can fit those goals better than most.

3)     Advertising interns can add value more easily – spending a lot of time on Facebook may not help you in class or on tests, but a high level of familiarity with the medium (Facebook, Smart Phone applications, and other advertising venues) and being “tech native” can help get you up the learning curve faster in an advertising job. Nothing makes an internship fun like the feeling that you made a difference and added something to the conversation.

4)     Job Opportunities – agencies can grow quickly with the acquisition of a new client or staff turnover. When an ad agency finds interns who prove themselves as hard workers with good ideas, they can make an impression. Several companies have commented to me that their North American interns showed a stronger work ethic and more initiative than some of their European counterparts. I noted above that agencies are young – in other words, they tend to have more entry level jobs than some other industries do.

Final note: Over the last few years, I have met many Communications, Marketing, Advertising and Graphic Arts majors who have told me that they have trouble finding ad agency internships in the US & Canada. Of course, finding a full-time job is even harder without experience because there are a lot of Communications and Marketing majors out there. Any international experience will give you lots of stories to share with friends. You can imagine that those students whose international experience is an advertising internship simply have that many more stories that they can also share in an interview.

Expatacular Tips For New & Current Expats: Alternative Accomodations with Airbnb

Posted on October 21, 2010

Expatacular tips are about making your first or next expat move easier. Think of them as the “Lifehacker” for Expats.

Whether you aspire to live, work or study in another country or if you are already doing that, then the word “expat” is part of your everyday language. In the most general sense, an “expat”, is anyone who is temporarily or permanently living in a country other than the one where they claim citizenship.

Every week, we take a look at “expat hacks” to help you make the next transition abroad seamless.

If you have any to suggest, leave them in the comments or send us a message.

Today’s tip: Stay like a local with Airbnb.com

Airbnb.com

Tired of staying at the Holiday Inn when in Ann Arbor, MI? Not sure of what you are getting when you book through couchsurfing.org? Airbnb.com is a novel concept in travel accommodation where the locals make their own homes available to travelers, for a price.

The easy to use interface is simple, enter the destination of your choice and the dates you want, et voila! Airbnb then looks in that area for rooms, condos, homes and even castles (yes, castles) available for rent from private owners who have registered themselves with airbnb.com. Transactions are done through PayPal or a Credit Card and the money isn’t disbursed to the host until at least 24 hours after you check in.

Accommodations can either be listed in either a grid with pictures attached or a map view so you can see exactly where you will be staying. It is a simple matter to narrow your search results by price, distance and recommendations. Each search result comes with a short description, amenities available and some quick details.

As with all social websites, the real power comes from user recommendations. Recommendations are abundant, not just for the result you select, but also for other properties that host has listed on airbnb.com. If that host receives enough stellar feedback from travelers then they become eligible for SuperHost Alliance status, a designation given by airbnb.com to hosts that go above and beyond. A nice warm and fuzzy for those of us still hesitant to use the service.

The most innovative feature of the site has to be the groups feature, a user created network of hosts and travelers that provides rooms for those with the same interests, alma-mater, profession, etc…  Clicking on a group displays a world map view showing where hosts participating in the group are along with a picture grid of available accommodations below.

As a matter of full disclosure, we have yet to try out the service airbnb.com provides. Reading the reviews of some of the users and the favorable view it received in the New York Times, aribnb.com will definitely be on my short list of providers to try while traveling abroad.

Goinglobal Insights: Canadian Top Employer Profiles

Posted on October 18, 2010

Photo attribution to albertopveiga

Imagine working abroad for the first time, armed with all the information you need to successfully acclimate yourself to the work environment, social scene and overall cultural customs? That is where Goinglobal steps in. Goinglobal is committed to providing you with an arsenal of career information and resources to ease the transition abroad and help you be prepared before you leave. We have career country guides for over 30 countries, written by in-country researchers, that help you as a professional regardless of whether you are a novice or seasoned expat.

Every week, we will feature an insight from one of our global career guides to help you achieve your dream of working internationally.

Photo attribution to Ian Muttoo

Boasting with wide open skies, massive glaciers and nearly desolate islands, is the country of Canada. Have you ever considered working there? The following list represents companies reporting the largest assets/revenues in the country. This will help to identify companies in your search for international jobs and internships in Canada. More than 400,000 additional corporate profiles can be found in Going Global’s Employer Directory.

Expatacular Tips For New & Current Expats: Smart Travel with BudgetYourTrip

Posted on September 24, 2010

Expatacular tips are about making your first or next expat move easier. Think of them as the “Lifehacker” for Expats.

Whether you aspire to live, work or study in another country or if you are already doing that, then the word “expat” is part of your everyday language. In the most general sense, an “expat”, is anyone who is temporarily or permanently living in a country other than the one where they claim citizenship.

Every week, we take a look at “expat hacks” to help you make the next transition abroad seamless.

If you have any to suggest, leave them in the comments or send us a message.

Today’s tip: Smart travel starts with Budget Your Trip

Save by using BudgetYourTrip.com

Planning a trip abroad is never easy, especially when you want to take off from work and go RTW (Round The World) for a year.  That’s where BudgetYourTrip.com comes along. Designed to help would be travelers, the site offers travelers the ability to  estimate travel costs, a cost tracker tool and user generated travel tips.

The quick tutorial shows you how to begin, create and track your upcoming trips. Even without the tutorial, the process is straight forward and the interface is clean and uncluttered. You can even specify your currency and BudgetYourTrip.com will covert your dollars to euros, pounds, rupees or yen.

One of the most compelling aspects of BudgetYourTrip.com comes from the “RTW Trip Guide”: a multi-page guide to planning and going on your own RTW trip.  It covers topics such as what to do with your car and apartment for the time you’ll be gone, to the essentials you should pack.  Well written by the site authors, the guide is a list of practical tips and things to consider to go on that trip of a lifetime (or two).

In the “Estimate Costs” section, you are able to search or browse for a country and even drill down the specific city in that country, if it exists in the site’s database. BudgetYourTrip.com admits that it is relatively new and only has information on approximately 1,000 cities; one of the reasons why the creators encourage users to input trips of their own. Users can also create new listings for cities that are not included in the current database.

The country and city information break down cost estimates by line items (accommodations, food, water, transportation, entertainment, etc…).  It also provides user generated travel tips and links to books that can be purchased about the area you are searching for. Little bits of information such as whether the water is drinkable, how much you should tip and whether prices are negotiable, give a more detailed picture of how to use the information.

The only challenge with the “Estimate Costs” section is that there is no obvious way to import the information to base your own trip creation. A solution is to open two separate tabs of the site, one with your newly created trip and the other with your destination costs estimates, copying and pasting the different line items wanted. This might not be a big deal with a one or two stop trip but when planning for multi-destination, this feature would be a necessity.

Overall, BudgetYourTrip.com provides a clean and user-friendly interface, useful cost information and an easy way to see all your expenses in one place. Because it is still in its infancy, it still requires a fair amount of user-generated content and down the line mobile accessibility.

Goinglobal Insights: Understanding Physical Contact in Brazil

Posted on September 20, 2010

Photo attribution to albertopveiga

Imagine working abroad for the first time, armed with all the information you need to successfully acclimate yourself to the work environment, social scene and overall cultural customs? That is where Goinglobal steps in. Goinglobal is committed to providing you with an arsenal of career information and resources to ease the transition abroad and help you be prepared before you leave. We have career country guides for over 30 countries, written by in-country researchers, that help you as a professional regardless of whether you are a novice or seasoned expat.

Every week, we will feature an insight from one of our career guides to help you achieve your dream of working internationally.

Photo attribution to Prefeitura de Olinda

Today’s tip: Understanding physical contact in Brazil
Physical contact is an important element of communication in Brazil and visitors should not be alarmed or intimidated by this. As in most Latin cultures, a firm and enthusiastic handshake is customary among men, often followed by a slap on the shoulder or squeeze of the upper arm. When women meet, they will normally kiss each other on the cheek (one kiss on the left cheek) and/or give a light hug. Men are also expected to greet women with a kiss, although Brazilians may forgo this with foreigners so as not to make the visitor feel uncomfortable.

Physical contact is not confined solely to greetings, but is a normal and constant element of interaction, albeit in slightly different forms. For example, if a Brazilian has something important to tell someone or wishes to abruptly change the subject, he/she will frequently reach out and lightly touch the interlocutor’s hand. A Brazilian may also touch or take someone’s hand in the middle of a conversation when laughing or expressing shock. Brazilians also use their hands a lot when talking, so the visitor can expect constant gesticulation.

Are you interested in learning more about living and working in Brazil ? Check out the Brazilian Country Guide and many more at www.goinglobal.com.

Guest Post: Want to Have the Best Study Abroad? It’s All About Attitude

Posted on September 3, 2010

Kate Cunningham

How to do you make the most out of your study abroad experience? When you are new to the study abroad experience, you don’t have the hindsight to know how to make the most of your international opportunity. That is why it is so important to speak to ‘seasoned’ people who have studied abroad or professionals who have incorporated living abroad into their lives or professions. In today’s guest post, we learn that at the core of a healthy and fun study abroad experience is you attitude. There is an adage that says that life is 90% attitude. The same holds true for study abroad, it’s all about your attitude.
This guest post is contributed by Kate Cunningham, who writes on the topics of online university rankings.  Feel free to send your questions and comments to her email: cn.kate1@gmail.com.

Maximizing Your Study Abroad Experience: It’s All About Attitude

When I was an undergraduate, I studied abroad for a semester in Russia, a country that was as different from my where I attended university as I could possibly think of. While I tried my best to prepare myself for the trip, and even though I had traveled substantially overseas before, nothing was able to fully prepare me for the differences that I encountered. Looking back on the experience, however, I will say that it gave me a much better sense of how to effectively deal with the trials and travails that inevitably come with being in an unfamiliar place. The key to making the most of studying abroad is all contained in how you moderate your own attitude. Here are 4 tips to keep in mind on your first or next study abroad experience.

1. Never compare your home country with the visiting country.

Of course, it’s only natural to base your conceptions of a foreign country on what you’ve experienced before, whether it’s your home or another country you’ve visited. This instinctive mental exercise, however, will severely limit your enjoyment of the host country. I cannot count the times my American friends and I would say, “Isn’t this ridiculous? In America, this would never happen.” Try your best to forget your previous experiences in order to have a more pure, untainted sense of what the culture is really like.

2. Don’t attribute an unpleasant occurrence to the country’s culture.

Just as in your home country, when you study abroad, you’ll invariably run into a frustrating situation, made all the more frustrating by the fact that you are a foreigner. You may have encounters with a few rude people, and it’s typical to make the logical leap that your host country’s people are just “like that”. Nothing could be further from the truth. While of course, some social customs are different (for example, it’s less common for Russians to smile openly in public), rudeness is not a defined cultural trait in any country. Rudeness can be encountered anywhere, and if it happens more often in the country you’re visiting, it probably arises from a web of misconceptions or misunderstandings.
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