Graduates: Combining study, travel and work: Anthony Wimbush, from Edinburgh, read Modern Languages (French) at Oxford. He describes his experiences
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Your support makes all the difference.'One of my problems was not knowing what kind of job I'd be suitable for. Having graduated with a 2.1, my decision was to study at EAP (European Business School) on the European Masters in Management programme.
'EAP is located in Paris, Oxford, Berlin and Madrid. It gives students a chance to study and get work experience. You study for three years; one year in each of three countries. Everyone studies in England and France, then either in Berlin or Madrid. I went to Berlin.
'Each year we do one internship with an employer for three months, which is one of the most interesting parts of the course - the chance to actually work in different countries and get some work experience.
'I worked in marketing for Thomson Consumer Electronics in Paris, and did a project for Lloyds Bank Insurance Service and worked for TecnEcon, a group of consultants in London. This year I worked in Frankfurt for Towers Perrin, one of the world's largest human resources consultancies.
'These experiences put me in a good position to apply for jobs and I've now found a post with Societe Generale, a French bank, through the Euromanagers/Eurengineers Forum.
'Last year they set up an international graduate recruitment programme to target high- potential non-French candidates to begin work in their Paris headquarters and thereafter to have an international career with them.' He sees this as an effort to bring a more international flavour to their management.
What qualities are needed to succeed in Europe? Languages are a starting point, but these can be picked up 'although we British are particularly bad at it, but it isn't such a big hurdle as people think. It's more important to be flexible, adaptable and ready to move about geographically . . . getting to know different cultures and so on. Also professionally to learn fast and settle into a new job and new environment, and make friends quickly.'
Does he think enough Britons look abroad? 'Definitely not. For example, at EAP there were more Irish and Scots than English - but the whole British group were outnumbered by the Germans, French and Spanish.'
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