International career fair brings students and companies together

"Studying in a different country, in a foreign language, a different teaching and learning culture, and often a completely different everyday environment demands a great deal of adaptation and stamina from students. Employers can also benefit from this potential and these skills." This is how Vice Rector International Affairs Prof. Tessa Flatten opened the International Career Fair. "The fair is not only for internationally active corporations, but also helps to increase the visibility of especially small and medium-sized companies among international students and brings them together with well-trained professionals." As co-organizer, Wulf-Christian Ehrich, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Dortmund Chamber of Industry and Commerce and Executive Board Member of the Society of Friends of the TU Dortmund, added: "We want to ensure that the attractive Dortmund region becomes a long-term home for international students."

Large number of international students at TU Dortmund

The participation figures for the career fair prove that international students have a similar goal: A total of 222 pre-scheduled interviews took place this year. The applicants come from a wide variety of nations, from India, Iran, Syria, Nepal, Mauritius or the USA. Most of the participants of the International Career Fair are enrolled in one of the ten English-language master's programs at TU Dortmund University. Of the 32,400 TU students, one in eight comes from abroad.

The variety of attractive companies at the International Career Fair was particularly interesting, said Ramy Salah, a student of electrical engineering. He comes from Tunisia and conducted four job interviews with regional and global companies. Iranian-born Shaghayegh Derakhshan also used the fair to get an overview of regional employers. She had chosen TU Dortmund University because the campus seemed attractive to students from abroad - an impression that was confirmed on site: "You notice every day how international this university is."

International career fair writes success stories

The international students hope for a success story like the one the fair has written again and again in the past years. For example, former mechanical engineering student Kasim Öztürk proves how the first on-site interview can lead to a long-term career in the region: he met his employer Albonair at the fair eight years ago, and now works there as head of quality management. The Dortmund-based company ICA Traffic can also report such successes: They have already been able to recruit a total of three specialists at the International Career Fair over the years. In particular, the cultural foresight of the applicants and getting to know them directly keeps the ticketing company coming back.

The international students were able to take part in preparatory courses for the career fair: The IHK offered a workshop entitled "The Perfect Business Appearance," which taught what standards apply in the German business world. The Center for Entrepreneurship & Transfer (CET) at TU Dortmund University also held a workshop for the first time this year to prepare participants for applications and interviews with potential employers.