Target Audience: Secondary, tertiary.

Language Proficiency: High intermediate to advanced.

Learning Focus: Research skills, reading, summarizing, writing, speaking.

Technology Needed: Web browser software and Internet connection.

Instructions:

The goal of this research study is to help provide information for individuals interested in working in a particular country.

Task: Teams of learners select a country of interest and research the current labor market to provide a set of guidelines on how best to prepare for and get a job in a country. The research teams investigate the following topics related to the employment environment.

• Economic Situation.
  
• Market Analysis: What are the growth and declining (twilight) industries?
• Industry Analysis: What are the top companies in those industries?
• Company Employment Analysis: Are those companies hiring? What skills are in demand?
• Cultural Factors.
• Diversity within Companies.
• Process for Getting a Job.

To gather relevant information, research teams access both online and more traditional print business resources, as well as conduct interviews or surveys if necessary.

Research teams complete all written documents associated with an authentic business research task, beginning with a Research Proposal and Letter of Transmittal. They then compile their data into an advisory Research Report and submit it with a second Letter of Transmittal.

Research teams also present their findings and recommendations in an oral presentation with presentation software such as PowerPoint.

Helpful Hints:

For reliable, up-to-date country and regional information on international business and culture, see the following.

Doing Business, Rankings from the World Bank Group.
http://www.doingbusiness.org/economyrankings/
Which countries are the easiest in which to do business? Click on the link to see how countries are ranked and to find out the criteria the World Bank used. This information is helpful when assessing the national business environment, particularly on issues related to government regulation and bureaucracy.

globalEDGE.
http://globaledge.msu.edu/
A rich source of information on doing business internationally. In addition to country statistics and insights, it includes links to information on country-specific business customs and etiquette, along with the option to subscribe to a free email newsletter.

U.S. Library of Congress: Country Studies.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html

World Factbook (CIA).
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

For more on the topic of employment, see: Netting Jobs through the Web.

More on this Topic:

Career Builder.
http://www.careerbuilder.com/

Corporate Diversity Program Snapshots, from Vault.
http://www.vault.com/companies/diversity_entrylevel.jsp?ch_id=318

JobStar.
http://www.jobstar.org/internet/resbanks.cfm

Monster.com.
http://www.monster.com

NY Times Job Market.
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/jobs/

Quintessential Careers
http://www.quintcareers.com/

Kay Westerfield, Global Communication Consulting,kwesterf@uoregon.edu