Essentially every time I look up someone in the news on LinkedIn, their LinkedIn page documents their international experience.
The rule is simple: to have achieved enough in your career that you will be mentioned in news reports, or in company alumni newsletters – literally in anything – you needed to have international experience.
I write this since I looked up the name of the first former employee listed in my former employer’s alumni newsletter. As an undergrad she had studied abroad for a year in Spain. Her career later progressed into being head of worldwide marketing, or sales, depending on the company. Clear international experience on display – and a successful career.
I now estimate that 95% of those who I cross check have documented international experience on their LinkedIn resume page. This can take the form of study abroad, worked abroad, or having been born abroad and immigrated – or a combination of multiple international experiences.
This is no joke: 95%.
Obviously, this varies by career sector and my bias is towards tech, where I made my career. 100% of my former managers and 100% of my former coworkers had international experience.
If you do not have international experience then you should be making a plan to get that experience; this is not an option, it is mandatory.