The impact of pre-career international experience on graduates' career success

Abstract

This thesis aims to investigate pre-career international experience of university graduates and whether it affects their Career Success or not. I hypothesized that students with international experience are more successful in their career than students without. Also, I expected that this effect would be stronger with a higher degree of international experience and a longer stay. In order to assess this topic, a mixed-method approach was chosen to collect quantitative and qualitative data with two studies. First, insights were collected at interviews with seven Human Resource managers of large German multinational companies. Although all companies are highly internationalized, requirements of candidates depend on the companies’ strategy and corporate culture. Study 2 checked Entrepreneurs in regards to their pre-career international experience and Career Success by measuring collected funding. Results did not show a statistically significant relationship between international experience and Career Success in general. However, among the international founders, the ones with a higher degree of internationality and a longer experience abroad were more successful.

Date of Award	15 Feb 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Andrew Hafenbrack (Supervisor)