A semester abroad increases the chances on the job market.
More and more young people are gaining experience abroad during their
studies - as Erasmus students, interns or holidaymakers. But fewer and
fewer people believe that this time brings them more than atmospheric
Erasmus parties and cultural exchange. One in three people would rather
regard a semester abroad as lost time in the race for Bachelor's and
Master's degrees that comply with the rules or as an expensive pleasure
for a few.
In the staff floors of German companies, however, proof of mobility has a
high priority. This is confirmed by a study conducted by the
Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (iw) Cologne and
the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) . And the authors of
the study give
five reasons for this:
Germany is the world champion exporter and as such is particularly
strongly integrated into global value chains and flows of goods and
services. Every fourth job depends on exports, according to the German
Federal Ministry of Economics. The demand for well-qualified employees
who are willing to maintain international contacts, conduct
negotiations in English or French or even move abroad temporarily for
a project is correspondingly high.
The authors of the study underline this truism with new figures: "In
three quarters of the companies with foreign branches, work is done in
internationally mixed teams," they say. And every third multinational
company, which includes all Dax 30 industrial companies, sends its
employees abroad for longer periods. But also medium-sized and even
small companies with less than 50 employees have permanent connections
abroad in their structures, which are not insignificant for the
success of the companies. Foreign languages and intercultural
knowledge of the employees are therefore in demand.
HR professionals expect future employees to have social and
communication skills in addition to specialist knowledge. And thanks
to the above-mentioned integration of many German industrial companies
abroad, so-called "foreign-related competencies" are increasingly
expected. In other words, an open and respectful approach to other
cultures and languages as well as to foreign legal and market systems.
The respondents from IW Cologne and the DAAD see a connection between
these desirable skills and stays abroad during the studies. And they
agree that a study-related stay abroad not only makes young people
more attractive as a workforce, but also advances them as individuals
and even has a positive effect on their cognitive abilities.
Applicants who have been abroad during their studies are not per se
preferred to be invited for an interview. But when they get there,
they are more likely to prevail over their competitors who have not
been abroad. This could be due to a more mature personality or a
convincing presentation of the foreign language skills indicated.
However, anyone who has lost time due to their international trip and
has finished their studies outside the regular study period can rest
assured: Half of the companies don't care and the other half prefer to
see candidates with international experience rather than with standard
degrees that conform to the times.
More and more activities will require intercultural competence, languages and the willingness to travel for one's employer. There are three main reasons for this: increasing globalisation, the export orientation of the German economy and digitisation, which will drive this internationalisation even further. Those who know how to deal with this will therefore be able to apply for many more positions in the future than those who lack these international components in their CV.
Every third company surveyed attests that graduates with experience abroad are better able to master their professional tasks than graduates without international experience. Especially in the engineering sciences, a particularly large number of graduates with a semester abroad can use their language skills later in their careers and are integrated into international work processes.