Undergraduate Current Students | Your Career

Studying abroad on IBEX does not mean putting career development plans on hold—it’s quite the opposite.

In today's globalized world, business employers look for applicants who can handle multiculturalism, who are sensitive to diversity, think within different international frameworks, and are proficient in multiple languages. IBEX helps you develop these skills and offers the opportunity to differentiate yourself with a unique global experience.
 

On-Campus Interviews and IBEX

On-Campus Interviews (OCI) is one of the many ways for NYU students to discover job and internship opportunities. Through OCI, employers utilize the Wasserman Center to interview students. Not all industries use OCI – but most financial services do. It is also not the only way to get an internship or job. On-Campus Recruitment (OCI) is still available for students who decide to study away. The Wasserman Center for Career Development provides helpful resources and information regarding what to do before you leave and while you're abroad to ensure that you don't miss out on this opportunity. You can learn more about the OCI process and the preparation required before your IBEX departure from Wasserman's On-Campus Interviews site. Please see below for some important tips about OCI and other interview/career resources available for students studying away. 
 

Important OCI Tips

• Before you depart to study away, read the On- Campus Interviews (OCI) Orientation Manual in its entirety and submit the final quiz at the end. After submitting the final quiz, you will gain access to view and apply for OCI positions in the Handshake "Jobs" section within 3-4 business days (excluding weekends and holidays). 
• Set up your Handshake account.
  • More information about Handshake can be found here
• You can also schedule a virtual or in-person Career Coaching Appointment - log in to Handshake and click "Career Center" to make an appointment with either the NYU Wasserman team or the NYU Stern PDCE team. 
• While you are abroad, attend Wasserman’s “Telling Your Global Story” webinar to learn how to use your time abroad to the fullest in interviews and networking. Check the Wasserman Events Calendar for upcoming dates.
• You can also attend networking events hosted by your IBEX partner school. Try to connect with their career center and ask local students about opportunities while you are abroad. Our IBEX partner schools also attract top business to their campuses, and sometimes it is easier for you to stand out and make an impression at networking events when you can tell a recruiter you are studying abroad. Being abroad is a great talking point!
• If you are selected for an interview, please sign up for an interview slot in eastern standard time, and then reach out to recruitment@nyu.edu as soon as possible so that they can confirm with the employer that they would be willing to conduct a virtual interview with you. Most companies will do first-round virtual interviews, but ultimately it is up to the company to decide. Please note: Employers who use OCI are not required to offer a virtual second round/‘Super Day’. They may ask you to have this in person. In this case, try to arrange for this interview to be conducted when you return to the USA.
• You should also ask potential employers if they offer any "virtual recruiting" opportunities.

Career Services Abroad

All of Stern's IBEX partners are top schools in the field of business. This means that, just like Stern, their missions are to ensure students are prepared to enter business careers. IBEX partner schools each have excellent career centers and provide fairs, workshops, and resume assistance. You are encouraged to take full advantage of these services while abroad.

Networking

IBEX is a great opportunity to expand your network. Our partner schools organize meet and greet events, career fairs, and networking receptions. They also host hundreds of exchange students studying business in other top universities worldwide, who will be your future teammates and competition in the global workforce. In addition to these university-related opportunities, you can also work on expanding your network according to your own plans and ambitions. For example, before you decide where to study with IBEX, think strategically. If you already know you are interested in working for companies that do business in or are located in specific countries, you might consider studying there. Not only will this ‘on the ground' experience be valuable in the eyes of future employers, but you may also make useful contacts.

Internship, Volunteer, and Work Experience Abroad

When you’re abroad, you may want to intern, volunteer, or get work experience. Some countries may allow students to intern, and several IBEX partner schools encourage and assist their exchange students in finding internships. These schools include the University of Hong Kong, Nanyang Technological University, University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales, University of Manchester, Luigi Bocconi University, and University of Amsterdam. Please note that these internship positions are not guaranteed and most are unpaid. Alternatively, you may want to look into volunteering or short industry ‘shadowing' opportunities on your own. Various options beyond the traditional internship experience are available and could lead to valuable skills to add to your resume. For more country-specific career information you can check out Country Career Guides through GoinGlobal.

However, before deciding to pursue any work-related activity while abroad, consider that, as valuable as work experience can be, it may result in missing out on traveling, experiencing and enjoying the local culture, and getting to know new people. Be sure to have enough time to handle any position you take on while still enjoying the country. After all, there is a lifetime to work, but only a short amount of time to study abroad.

Marketing Your International Experience

There are many ways for you to leverage your IBEX experience as you apply for jobs. Check out these benefits of IBEX  for more information. When you come back, make sure you update your resume and cover letters with the experience and skills you have acquired abroad. Remember, experiences like working in teams with international students, adapting to a new culture, and taking courses unique to the location may not seem noteworthy to you, but they are interesting to hiring managers. As you apply, always market your international experience and attend one of Wasserman Center’s sessions on how to do so successfully, which are offered throughout the year.

 

Student Perspective

Advice from Simon I., Stern Peer Mentor '19

Before you leave:

• Beginning with Alumni, make as many connections as you can before you leave, and make sure that each person you talk to knows that you're going abroad. By talking to people while in New York, even if it's early in the recruiting cycle, you get on their radars early and allow the possibility of meeting in person. It will also be easier to reconnect with people who are already aware of your situation than connect with someone for the first time from a different time zone. 
• As you network, make it clear that you're worried about missing out on recruiting events and ask people's opinions on the best way to stay connected from abroad. If they are not involved or familiar with the recruiting process, explicitly ask to be put in touch with a recruiter. Once any on-campus recruiting begins, recruiting teams will be overrun with emails and LinkedIn messages, so raise your luck by getting on their radars sooner.
• Gather as much information as possible about recruiting processes and timelines before you leave and organize it in a spreadsheet.

Once you're abroad:

• Include in your cover letters the dates of your program/when you'll be back in the U.S., your contact information (including Skype, WhatsApp, etc. - the more the better), and stress your flexibility in doing things virtually. I've yet to hear of a company refusing to conduct interviews virtually or fly someone back for final rounds. 
• Practice multiple mock virtual interviews with people in different time zones, as it takes some getting used to. Stern Peer Mentors will happily do this. 
• If on-campus recruiting events happen while you're away, reach out to your contacts at that company just before the event to remind them that you're abroad and ask them to kindly send along information. In the inevitable case that you don't have any contacts at a company, or you hadn't considered it and want to learn more, ask Stern students that attend to pass along information to you.
  • Depending on the event’s format, if you don't have any friends attending and materials aren't publicly distributed, it's frankly difficult to get information from that presentation, but most of it is publicly available anyways. As far as contact info, at this point, it's up to you to leverage LinkedIn and other contacts to get your foot in the door. (With all that said, recruiting events are by and large overrated in their ability to get you a job - you're vying with dozens of other students to get <5 minutes of face-time with company representatives, who frankly will struggle to remember you among the masses unless you have some crazy distinguishing factor.) One-on-one interactions where you have more time and likely a pre-known connection with that person are far more useful in learning about a company and fruitful in gaining a referral. It can be more difficult to make those connections from abroad, but it is far from impossible and will make you stand out in the minds of those you talk to.
  • Do not ask a student in attendance to mention you to a recruiter, and more importantly, do not use an email given to another student privately. Only use an email that was publicly given at the event (or try to guess it based on company formats).
• Be flexible with talking to people when considering time zones, but don't go overboard (i.e. don't continuously take calls at 3 am). Unless it's a unique call or interview, organize recruiting around travel plans and cultural experiences, not the other way around.