On Tuesday, a panel of five international professionals met with students at the Global Careers Panel to share insight on building successful careers abroad. Each panelist brought experience from diverse fields, offering perspectives on working overseas.
The panelists were asked a variety of questions regarding the importance of learning foreign languages, how they suggest students pursue international careers and the relevance of international careers in the current political landscape.
Blake DeLong, an assistant professor of Spanish at Colorado State University, spent his career working in translation and interpretation mainly for children’s hospitals. He has a bachelor’s in Spanish, French and German, two master’s degrees in French and Spanish, a master’s in translation and interpretation and a Ph.D. in Latin American literature.
“You do only live one life. So why not do all the things that you want to do? Why not try, at least try, (to) at least put yourself out there? Why not make a choice to try, and if it fails, guess what: You learned that. Do something.” –Lindsay Singh, Peace Corps strategic recruiter
To DeLong, learning foreign languages was essential to his career development.
“I would put it to you that no matter where you are in life, you will always be happy that you speak in the language — that you learn a different language,” DeLong said. “It is going to be a superpower no matter what arena you decide to pursue.”
Daniel Chilson, an international sales specialist, said knowledge of language is incredibly important from a business perspective.
“First and foremost, being a really good communicator, regardless of the language, is just really fundamental,” Chilson said. “If you’re looking at careers or jobs internationally, if you’re looking at a career regardless, just mastering good communication skills is just really, really vital.”
When asked how students should pursue work overseas, many panelists suggested that students should seek experiences that diversify their skill sets and make them more desirable to employers.
“The more that you’re out there in different environments and different experiences, you know, the more life experience that you can kind of bring to your personal skill set and create those differentiators that set you apart in the job market,” said Sebastian Africano, executive director of the nonprofit Trees, Water & People.
Lindsay Singh, a Peace Corps strategic recruiter at CSU, said the first step to career success is fostering curiosity and being unafraid to take risks.
“You do only live one life, so why not do all the things that you want to do?” Singh said. “Why not try, at least try, (to) at least put yourself out there? Why not make a choice to try, and if it fails, guess what: You learned that. Do something.”
Singh spoke on the future of international careers in the current political landscape, given many U.S. programs focused in international outreach have recently been paused or shut down.
“Change is inevitable,” Singh said. “Sometimes the change itself can be overwhelming and overly challenging if that person chooses to focus on that instead of the incredible opportunities that going overseas offers.”
Jordan Sowell, special programs manager for International Programs at CSU, said students should advocate for their passions.
“Use your voice in ways … where you can advocate for things that you are passionate about because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Sowell said.
Sowell said pursuing a career in the international sector means committing to a process of constant growth and learning.
“There’s so much to learn, even when you feel like you’re pretty proficient,” Sowell said. “There’s, like, something else that you’re reaching for. I’ve never stopped.”
Students then asked the panelists how they should prepare for changes in the job market amid the rise of artificial intelligence being used in professional environments.
DeLong said he anticipates AI will change some aspects of many jobs, but because international work is usually driven by interpersonal communication, the future of most careers is not at risk.
“Personal connection is something that just cannot — at this point — cannot be replaced,” DeLong said. “It’s about leveraging those technologies in an ethical way, a meaningful way.”
The panelists also gave specific advice on how to choose which overseas career to pursue.
“My recommendation would be to maybe segment your search, pick an industry and maybe even break down that industry according to your own areas of interest or your skill set,” Chilson said.
After the panel, Singh said she spoke to students who found the event had motivated them to pursue their international career goals.
“What was exciting to me is to hear that they were inspired by the panel to kind of follow those international dreams,” Singh said. “Every student who I spoke with had a different story, and every student is unique, and yet every student with those unique backgrounds and stories were able to come together in a common interest.”
Reach Chloe Waskey at news@collegian.com or on social media @CSUCollegian.
