Globalisation strengthens the connection between companies from all over the world. It is time people understand the importance of international business.
International business degrees are shaped to give students practical knowledge about different business management practices from all over the world. In addition, candidates are prepared for business careers abroad or in organisations that are engaged in business on a global scale.
Moreover, international business is vital in order to understand different cultures and mindsets and ultimately become a global citizen.
A degree in International Business prepares you for a job in a culturally diverse business environment, which means that any graduate can benefit from opportunities in any country.
The advantage of an International Business course is that you are highly employable for most industries since the majority of skills acquired are transferable.
Candidates studying international business will also gain information and insight about the difficulties of starting and growing businesses from different countries, something which is of utmost importance for anyone who wants to make their business thrive.
International Business is usually a three-year commitment, depending on each university. Lately, there are institutions which offer the possibility of having a ‘sandwich course’, which basically enables the candidates to work abroad for one year in the industry, as part of their studies.
The purpose of the ‘sandwich course’ is to encourage students to step outside their comfort zone and work in a different culture and environment. In this way, they will understand other mentalities, as well as gain relevant working experience in the field.
In May of 2012, when the selectivity ended, while I was undecided studying a catalog of degrees to choose what I wanted to dedicate myself to in the following four years and most likely in my professional career, I became interested in the degree of law of the University of Santiago de Compostela . A degree that from the beginning I was struck by its multiple uses in practice because everyone has found or will encounter a fight, a claim to a bank, a problem with the administration, a dismissal or any legal issue with which we are in our day to day. As I progressed in the grade level, my expectations were diminishing, because I found myself with some purely theoretical classes, where the professor was limited to giving a master class, in many subjects that he had imparted without changing for years so that for him it became a mere automatic procedure, which meant that the student-teacher relationship was in most cases non-existent. On the other hand, the purpose with which the degree adapted to Bologna was born, where the practice was a fundamental pillar in its structure, was invaluable because the only presumable contact with the practice was through the interactive classes, also called by some “interpasivas” in which the professor limited himself to delivering a practical supposition, to be solved by the student at home, while in the majority of the cases they continued with the teaching of the excessive syllabus of their subject.
On the other hand, at the University of Santiago, there are hardly any agreements signed with companies or law firms that allow students to see the practical aspects of their training through the performance of curricular or extracurricular practices. This inability of the student to combine the degree with the performance of practices limit their ability to understand the theoretical concepts while not contributing to facilitate their subsequent entry into the job market for which the degree is conceived.
In conclusion, the formative plan of the Degree of law of the USC should undergo a rethinking from its base, thus eliminating a large part of theoretical content that the student will never see in practice (I still want to see a bill of exchange or an easement in passing or a usucapion … multiple figures that we will never see in our profession) and introducing the method of practical seminars, other than interactive, with a duration comparable to the theoretical sessions, where the teacher really tutorizes the student during the Really practical activities.
Martín Esparís Figueira
Opinion of a graduate in Law and a student of the EPJ Law Degree (USC)
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