Australia

Globally, more and more professionals are looking to develop their careers overseas to add international exposure to their CV, according to a survey conducted by international recruitment consultancy Robert Walters.

In an online web poll, professional candidates from around the world were asked whether they thought international experience was important to their career development. Of 1538 respondents, more than half (57%) thought it was vital and international exposure had already been gained. 19% of respondents thought it was very important and sought to work abroad in the next year, 15% thought it was quite important with the intention to gain overseas exposure in the next five years and only 9% of respondents felt they had all the job opportunities needed in their home country.

Although 83% of Australians agreed that international experience was important albeit at varying levels, 17% of respondents felt it was not important and stated that they had all the job opportunities needed in the local market. This was the highest percentage across all 16 countries polled. Of those professionals in Asia Pacific – 98% in Hong Kong felt international experience was important, alongside 97.5% of Singaporeans. None of those Japanese professionals polled felt they had all the opportunities needed in their local market.

In Australia 53% of professionals polled have already gained international exposure with another 16% planning to work abroad in the next year, and 14% looking to gain overseas exposure in the next five years.

James Nicholson, Managing Director of Robert Walters, Australia commented: “Having international experience on your CV opens doors. Increasingly, our clients are asking for professionals with overseas exposure due to their broader commercial outlook, making these candidates particularly attractive to those firms with international operations. It seems the norm today for professionals to consider a stint overseas if they’re serious about building an impressive CV.”

For PR information please contact Steven Coxall or telephone +61 (0) 2 8289 3199