Job Exchange Program, A Great Experience
By Christopher Little
My name is Christopher Little; I am a careers co-coordinator at the University of Lancaster in the UK, presently on a five month exchange program with the Career Planning Service at McGill University. How did this exchange program come about? Interested in looking for a possible job exchange with someone in another country? Read on! Back in the winter of 2010 on a visit to Quebec the idea of an exchange came to mind. This was not the first time I had gone down this road, for back in 2003, I had come up with a similar idea to undertake a professional exchange, at that time I was looking towards the southern hemisphere. Back then, one thing led to another and I began looking up universities on the web, and contacting various career departments in Australia and New Zealand. This process took quite a bit of time and persistence, sending emails to the various heads of department and enquiring if any members of staff wished to undertake an exchange. I thought the duration of the exchange would be manageable with around three to six months, though I was always flexible in my communications. Eventually, through trial and error, my hard work paid off and I was able to start a dialog with a colleague in New Zealand, after drawing a blank with Australia.