Why international students make great interns
It’s not exactly a secret that students from around theworld see Australia as an enviable place to attend university. In fact, 22.3per cent of our nation’s students are of the international variety, while atsome of Australia’s most prestigious institutions (such as University ofMelbourne), the proportion is even greater.
Yet there is little doubt that a stigma exists regardinginternational students, particularly when it comes to internships, workexperience and eventually, post-graduate employment. Whether it is due tolanguage barriers, cultural differences or perhaps just coincidence, it can betough to find work in Australia if you are from another country.
This is somewhat surprising considering the variousadvantages that come with an international hire.
Motivation
What drives an international student can be largelydifferent to a domestic student. Locals have the advantage of ready access toan established network of friends, family and acquaintances, a luxury notafforded to those who come from overseas. Therefore, international studentswill tend to take what they can get and work extremely hard to make the most oftheir opportunities, while the desire to impress is further amplified by amotivation to remain in Australia as a permanent resident.
Broad cultural knowledge
International students can bring a significant amount ofdifferentiation to an organisation. Their exposure to different cultures can bean advantage, especially if they can offer advice or insight on how to target aforeign market. There might be workplace practices from overseas that can beimplemented, or perhaps an alternative way to look at how to measure success.
Inclusive workforce
A diverse staff is good for corporate culture. Seeing that acompany has a mixture of genders and ages from a variety of different ethnicbackgrounds is encouraging not only for prospective interns and employees butfor clients, customers and the general public.
