It is commonly accepted that international experience is highly sought-after by employers. Two UQ students who chose to study internationally have found out just how true this is, and
how fast it can all happen. Lauren Timms and Lucy McKenzie never dreamt that going on exchange would lead them so quickly to their dream jobs.
Lauren, who will graduate later this year with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in International Relations and French, says that going on exchange was the obvious way to give her degree an edge. She chose to study at
Sciences Po in Paris, which has a worldwide reputation in Political Sciences and International Relations. After responding to a job ad on the Sciences Po careers site, Lauren was offered a two-year contract with the French company Wildcat Publishing. The job wasn’t in France though- Lauren was off to Doha, Qatar to work on the book “The Oil and Gas Year, Qatar 2009”. “We publish books on the Energy Industry in Oil and Gas-producing and corridor countries” says Lauren. “Living in Qatar is worlds away from Brisbane or Paris, but the exciting part of my job is that I start a new project in a new country every four months”.
Lucy also started her international experiences in Europe, but is now on the other side of the world. Determined to get as much as possible out of her Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Commerce degrees, Lucy chose to do three exchanges. In semester 1 2006, Lucy studied at the prestigious
Charles University in Prague. Aside from the beauty of the historic district of the city, Lucy said that the highlight of this semester was Prague’s proximity to the rest of Europe.
In semester 2 2006 it was
Lund University in Sweden, where Lucy made the most of the bike-riding culture and a class trip to Moscow and St Petersburg. Her third semester overseas , in semester 2 2007, was spent at the
University of California, Berkeley. Her best memory of this exchange? “Feeling the weight of academia and the progressive spirit of Berkeley” she says “taking my first tour of the grounds and seeing the parking spots reserved for Nobel Laureates”. While there, Lucy applied for a position using the UCB on-campus recruitment resources and was promptly offered a job as an economic consultant in San-Francisco, where she is still living.
Despite the obvious benefits, being on exchange wasn’t all easy. Lucy says “Leaving family and friends behind for a place and people you don’t know is tough, especially if no-one speaks your language.” However, she is quick to add that “Exchange is without a doubt the most valuable thing I have done in my personal and academic life”. Lauren agrees “your exchange is what you make of it” and she adds “Expect the unexpected because you never know where you are going to end up!”