This is shown by research done for the Nuffic, the organisation working on the internationalisation of education. Approximately 130 employers were asked whether students with experience abroad had an advantage.
This turns out to be the case. Especially graduates who organised their study or traineeship abroad themselves made more chance in the selection process.
Students take initiative and that is a sign of an independent, flexible, and communicative attitude in the eyes of employers. And employers like these qualities, the research shows.
Graduates who have been abroad through an exchange programme at their 'hogeschool' or university are slowly losing their edge on the labour market. This experience no longer makes the students unique compared to their fellow students. Employers, moreover, think that students do not need to do much for that.
'That is indeed a paradox', Liduine Bremer admits; she worked for the Nuffic until recently. 'People setting educational programmes will have to think long and hard on what they want to achieve with internationalisation. If they want to make their students more independent, they should not arrange too much in advance. But if students go abroad for content, the programmes should take away as many practical obstacles as possible.'
It is the first research showing that employers think graduates with experience abroad extra valuable. Until now research was mainly done among students. They were convinced that the experience had helped them find a job.
'But that is not hard evidence', says René Lenssen, who did the research for the Nuffic. 'We have now proven empirically that investing in international exchange is worth it.'
