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[zz8435]

I'm trying to get a job in study abroad/international advising and coordination. I just started the process of searching for and applying to jobs a few months ago, so I'm probably obsessing over nothing, but I'd like to hear from people in the field if there's something else I should be doing.

My background: R1 BA in political science, MA in Middle Eastern studies from a highly regarded British university. I speak a number of languages including Arabic, Spanish, and French. Lots of international experience studying and working, including a brief period consulting for a university (I wrote grants, helped get an international program started, and lived with the students in the Middle East). I recently returned from a year-long research fellowship (similar to but not a Fulbright) in South America, where I also worked with an NGO connecting foreigners with Spanish schools, study abroad programs, and volunteer opportunities and did some English teaching. I have some familiarity with SEVIS and StudioAbroad but I haven't extensively used either. I also have some writing and editing experience and I did internships at a think tank and in Congress.

I've been applying to all the positions I seem qualified for that show up here, on insidehighered, and on the NAFSA website -- both entry level and assistant director-type positions, at R1's, SLACs, Ivys and no-name state schools in the middle of nowhere. So far I've had one interview (they ended up hiring someone else) and have one upcoming, both at very prestigious schools but both in outlying grant-funded institutes that are run as personal fiefdoms by a senior faculty member and are more-or-less insulated from central administration. These would be good opportunities, but I'm just starting to get concerned that I've sent out ~60 applications so far and have heard nothing from any of the more conventional study abroad departments. As I said, it hasn't been that long and I still may hear something, and of course I'm still applying as new jobs show up online, but does anything stand out that I should be emphasizing or addressing in my cover letter or CV in order to get my foot in the door with an interview?

[dale1]

Try Institute for Study Abroad - Butler University.  It's affiliated but not technically a part of Butler in Indianapolis, Indiana.  IFSA has a very good reputation and there you will make additional contacts all over the world.

[nordic]

I can't speak to Study Abroad but I'm very familiar with international student advising and my impression is that it is a very small and competitive field to get into. There just aren't a lot of positions and it seems to be a very insular field in that the same folks rotate around form office to office, forever with a leg up over potential newcomers in terms of experience.

If you think you are struggling, here's my situation:

* Master's in student development
* More than 5 years of experience studying, living, traveling, and teaching ESL abroad
* Foreign language skills
* Several hundred hours of internship work, including a stint in  an international programs office where I did some SEVIS data entry and international admissions work
* NAFSA training certificates in F-1 and J-1 advising; experience giving presentations on F-1 visa regs, foreign education systems,  and OPT
* A year and a half of volunteer work working as a classroom assistant at a local community college  in their ABE/ESL program as well as 6 months of working at a local non-profit teaching a citizenship course to international clients

Now, I know I'm biased, but I consider myself to be incredibly well qualified to work with international students but I'm still unemployed two years after graduating. I've applied for at least 150 ISA or international admissions positions both local and nationwide, full-time and part-time. I've had 11 phone interviews and 11 face-to-face interviews. I've been a finalist for 5 positions (that I know of), but have yet to break into the field.

SO I hate to be too negative, but my impression is that transferable skills will only go so far... you really need that direct experience that you get in a focused student affairs grad school program and even that might not be enough.

Good luck,

Nordic

[dale1]

@nordic:

How about broadening the scope and looking at academic advising positions?

[notaprof]

Study abroad is a highly competitive field.  My colleague received 116 applications for her entry level position and a good number of those were from people for whom it would have been a step down from their current jobs.  Another colleague received over 150 applicants by the deadline for an assistant director position.   Applications kept coming well after the deadline but she asked the HR office not to even let her know about them.   Is it Zharkov's law (or Spork's or LarryC's, I don't remember) that says you need to send out as many applications as are typically received for one opening.  In that case, you are half-way or less to that number.

Many of the people I know have been in their positions for many, many years.  I was at my last job for almost 20 years and my predecessor here had been here for that long as well.  I will probably stay in this job until I retire so it will be more than a decade before there are any openings here.

Most offices at colleges are small, there is even a group for One Person Offices at NAFSA.  The only office with a smaller staff is probably the international student advising office (sorry Nordic) and in some places the same person is responsible for both study abroad and international student advising.

Your best bet may be as a representative (i.e. road warrior) for a large study abroad provider organization.  Dale 1 mentioned IFSA Butler.  Some other well respected organizations are SIT, IES, CIEE, Arcadia, DIS, SFS and if you don't know what these acronyms stand for, then you should.  Many of these organizations have regional representatives so they are not based at the home office. Some universities have large programs and bigger staffs - NYU, Boston U, Syracuse, Middlebury, etc. and their staff members are usually all based at the university. 

Being a road warrior is kind of tough -you can be on the road for months at a time, you may work out of a home office so it can be a bit isolating, the job may be only a 9 or 10 month position.  However there are some benefits to these positions.  1) Turn-over is high so there are more often openings.  2) You are required to network as part of the job and you become familiar to many study abroad offices so when an opening comes up, now you have almost an insider track.

Your experience looks good from what you have said here.  Too bad you don't have experience in Asia, you would have moved to the top of the pile of 116 in my friend's case.  In the first read of your post, what I thought was missing was any experinence working with students but on a closer read, I see that some of your past experience probably did include advising a college-aged population but you might need to emphasize that more if it seems as buried in your application materials. That would be very important if you want to work in a college office. Every school approaches study abroad differently, so I would advise reading every page on the web for a particular study abroad office but also some of the rest of the college's site as well. Try to pick up on the goals of the institution, what they see as their "unique" feature and then emphasize that in your materials. You don't have time to do this for every position you apply for but if there are a few that are particularly appealing to you, it will be worth the effort.

Do not, I repeat, do not mention how much you love to travel.  This can get you rejected right off the bat in many places (unless you want to talk about your enthusiasm for the US freeway system and prop plane routes to study abroad fairs as a road warrior).  Study abroad is at least one-eighth or even one-fourth of a student's college education at my school - it is an academic program and the field is constantly having to dispel the image that we are a bunch of travel agents.  Yes, I get to travel some but 90% of my time is spent inside the four walls of my office. For the first eight years at my last job, I never left the country, my boss did all the traveling. I would never hire someone who acts excited about traveling the world.  However, enthusiasm for other cultures and a desire to help others prepare for and debrief from a challenging,  meaningful and engaged experience as a part of a community abroad for a semester will go over well.

Finally, are you familiar with the Forum on Education Abroad?  It is becoming more important than NAFSA for the study abroad side of the international education field.  You should read over that web site and have a working knowledge of their efforts on standards and ethics in the field.

Good luck, it is a great field to work in with great and supportive colleagues who are excited about and committed to what they do (therefore the low turnover).  The pay is not that great in comparison to other fields but if your goal is job satisfaction, then you'll be happy in study abroad.