On the Friday before Thanksgiving break, Emerson College alumni participated in a virtual panel discussion with a small group of students about their international careers and the job opportunities available in different countries.

The goal of the panel was to inform the audience about professional careers available abroad. Alumni also shared their experiences studying abroad at Emerson. Spearheading the panel was Andrea Popa, Director of Emerson’s Office of International Student Affairs (OISA), which supports international students’ transition and life at Emerson. 

“Emersonians go to and come from the world to study,” said Popa as she opened the discussion for the 6th annual Global Emersonians and Success Abroad Alumni Panel.

Emerson students are offered a variety of abroad programs to choose from during their college career, but some have also decided to find internships and jobs internationally after graduation. 

The panelists included Jenessa Carder ’10, who’s currently working in Japan; Leeah Derenoncourt ’23, working remotely in Chile; Nasha-Monique Douglas ’01, who went home to Jamaica after graduation; and Kassandra Sundt ’11, who uprooted to Germany and now works as a podcast host for “The Dip” by Deutsche Welle. These international alumni shared anecdotes regarding what drove them to pursue careers abroad. 

“You’re all over, but we’re so connected,” said Emi Bague, Associate Director of International Student Career Services at the Career Development Center and moderator of the panel. 

In response to a question from Bague about how students can “break into that global mindset,” Derenoncourt said that most Emerson students don’t realize the pathways open to them. She said that getting international work is easier than they might think.

Derenoncourt works remotely in strategic communication for a U.S.-based company while living in Santiago, Chile. During her previous job as a growth specialist, she worked with people from 75 countries. Now, at her current job, she’s said she’s the only person working outside the U.S.

Carder said that for those interested in going international, many jobs can be found through recruiters. She advised that students meet with a recruiter and obtain a short-term visa valid for three or six months. While they’re in a country on a visa, they should network and try to convert it into a work visa. 

Carder cited the global communications course she took with Professor Silvia Hughes during her graduate studies as a factor that heavily influenced her decision to work in Japan. She said she uses the material and knowledge from the course and brings it up every month. The course helped her learn how people as a society behave, she added. 

“We’re all people at the end of the day. We just do things differently,” said Carder.

Other panelists also attested to how their Emerson experience shaped their global perspective and their decision to seek work internationally. 

“I’ve always had hustle,” Sundt said, adding that at Emerson was where she really learned how to work alongside others and with high intensity, carrying over to her role today. 

Sundt and Douglas shared that they both spent all four years working at WERS.

“Emerson is where I became the person I was supposed to be,” added Douglas, who specializes in brand management, marketing, strategy, and development in Kingston, Jamaica. 

Douglas explained that her stay at the Kasteel Well campus in the Netherlands was her most significant Emerson moment. Being a marketing communications and advertising major, she said the campus gave her the reprieve to take classes she enjoyed outside her primary focus, such as art and film courses.

The panelists discussed the upsides of living in other countries, but reminded attendees that it is necessary to respect different cultures and learn their customs. 

“Move with intention,” said Derenoncourt. “Your presence in a country does impact that country,” she added. 

Part of this acclimation is learning the native languages of the respective countries they moved to, the panelists shared. They all talk about the challenges in learning a new language, a necessary step in embracing a new culture. 

“Duolingo is not enough,” said Sundt. “Learning German is very humbling; it gives me a lot of empathy for people who immigrate to the U.S.”

The panelists agreed that it is best to participate in virtual or in-person lessons, and Carder recommends dedicating at least one hour a week to learning the language. Derenoncourt explained how she lived in Colombia before Chile, and didn’t speak Spanish at all. She suggested starting with virtual lessons to learn the language before you get to a new country, then moving to in-person classes and putting yourself in spaces where English isn’t spoken.

“The biggest thing that helped me was enrolling in a local Spanish school,” said Derenoncourt.

Carder reminded attendees not to be too hard on themselves when learning a new language and to be okay with “speaking like a little kid.” She explained that, since Japanese has many levels and a lot of context, her learning process has been quite long.

“I let go of the stress of trying to learn [Japanese] and putting a lot of pressure on myself,” said Carder. “As I let that go, it allows me to fail.”

Moving to a new country can be daunting. The panelists agreed that their Emerson education was foundational in preparing them for their international careers. 

Sundt, who is pursuing a career in journalism in Berlin, was the news director at WERS during her time at Emerson. She described her time at WERS as “so incredibly foundational.” It’s here, she said, that she developed the drive that would eventually catapult her to move abroad and sustain her in taking that leap.

“If I made it work in Boston, I’ll make it work here, and if I don’t, at least I tried,” she said.