Working abroad: Student views on possible international careers

If we needed reminding, and who does, of the island mentality of the British then all we have to do is take a look at how the attitudes to international careers among students in the UK compare to those of their continental cousins. If a recent survey by Coopers & Lybrand is to be believed, they quite like the idea of working for a global company with offshoots all over the world. They don’t even mind travelling a bit. But ask them to relocate abroad and there’s a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

It’s a worrying response, especially as the big firms – inevitably they’re the ones that offer international opportunities – recognise that if they’re to service clients that increasingly operate on a global stage then they need the staff with experience to match.

The International Student Survey was conducted for Coopers & Lybrand by Universum International. More than 1,200 students from 30 leading universities in ten countries participated. The major course of study for by far the majority, 74%, was accounting but all centred on business in some form.

Students looking for work experience with accountants, financial advisers and banks in France can contact Interspeak. Available throughout the year, placements last anything from a week to six months. Interspeak is a company that specialises in putting students and overseas employers together and has just launched into the financial sector (tel 01555 894219).

Where (not) to go

Control Risks Group is one of the world’s leading political and business risk consultancies. If you want to know what’s really going on behind the headlines anywhere in the world, at any time, these are the people to ask. It’s their job to assess dangers, whether they’re worth tackling and if so how.

CRG measures three main areas of risk for each territory: political, security and travel. For each the definitions escalate through five ratings from insignificant to extreme. The very dangerous places listed below earn an ‘extreme’ in all three: law and order has broken down and government has ceased to function outside very narrow circles; in the worst cases, conditions verge on war or civil war, the economy is in ruins. There is no protection for foreign business except possible political patronage – companies must strongly consider withdrawal.

Of course, there are far more countries that win the jackpot with three ‘insignificant’ ratings in a row. Here, the government is stable and there is a high degree of political continuity. There are no significant threats to its authority and there is no arbitrary treatment of business by government or the courts. The level of violent crime is low, except for very isolated incidents. To put it all in perspective, you’d be safer in all these places than you are at home – the UK earns itself three ‘low’ ratings, one above ‘insignificant’.

This is just the sort of stuff you’ve got to know before you go:

Avoid at all costs …

Afghanistan

Burundi

Lebanon (south of the Awali River, except Sidon)

Chechenia

Somalia

Sudan (south)

– but safer here than at home …

Anguilla

Bermuda

British Virgin Islands

Brunei

Burkina

Denmark

Dominica

Finland

Luxembourg

Mali

Norway

Oman

Qatar

Seychelles

Singapore

Switzerland

Turks & Caicos

United Arab Emirates

Source: Control Risks Group (11 April 1997).