III. B: Employer Selection

Anyone experienced with co-operative education is familiar with how much time and effort is required to find suitable employers willing to hire their co-op students. This activity is at least as difficult for international co-op programs, often more so. Not only is there often large distance and time zone considerations to deal with, but also a natural reluctance of people to hire foreign students when their own citizens are facing difficult times seeking employment. Fortunately, companies exist that look beyond the immediate and short-term disadvantages and support the efforts of their co-op contacts. The majority of the respondents in the survey indicated they found jobs for students by dealing directly with the employers, presumably taking advantage of their existing relationships with employers. The next largest group of respondents indicated their exchange partner was responsible for finding jobs for their students. A number of institutions reported significant percentages of their internationally-placed students located their own jobs. Almost every survey response indicated that it would be useful if WACE Inc. could provide its members with a list of participating employers or an information network of international co-op practitioners, thereby confirming the importance of this issue (see V B: Visions For the Future).

1. Employer concerns in hiring foreign students.

   What are the concerns of employers when confronted with the prospect of hiring a foreign student? Here are a few that have been voiced to date:

   we don't hire anyone who isn't eligible for full-time hiring upon graduation; we don't hire anyone without a face-to-face interview; we can only hire domestic citizens; will we have to pay for the student's travel costs? will the student be covered by medical and accident insurance? can we ensure our confidentiality agreement with the foreign student will hold when the student returns to their home country?

   Some interesting solutions to the above problems were identified from the survey responses. Many of them were the result of individuals participating in an exchange scheme. In these cases, the exchange partners were often responsible for dealing with the receiving companies, using their own record of trust and reliability to allay the employers' fears. In the past, this author has successfully used the tactic of pointing out to an employer that hiring a foreign student through an exchange actually creates an opportunity for a domestic student to work abroad. Technology has certainly played a part in providing good alternatives to personal interviews. Some programs rely on telephone interviews, others have access to video conferencing, and one program requires students to produce a short video of themselves for viewing by employers abroad.

2. Finding international employers.

   There are two basic issues here: finding domestic employers who will hire foreign students and finding foreign employers who will hire domestic students. It is common in an exchange scheme for the partners to identify these employers. On occasion, a direct approach to foreign employers is possible via networks and contacts. Once such links have been made, the on-going liaison should then include the exchange partner.

   For those programs not involved with an international co-op exchange scheme, here are a few suggestions for locating suitable employers abroad who may hire students:

   consult faculty in the student's discipline who may have colleagues or research partners working in foreign countries; consult foreign students at your institution who may have knowledge of or family connections to companies in foreign countries; check your own domestic employer contacts for those with branch locations or main offices in foreign countries, or those which operate on an international scale; consult with your own employer contacts who have connections with other countries through birth or education; go through trade journals' employment sections; look for international companies' ads; use the Internet to identify international or foreign companies; contact your federal government, find departments of international trade and commerce.

A Guide for Developing International Co-op Programs