Ever since we retuned from China, I have been exploring ways to expand my international business experience. I have several ideas for new ventures that have an international focus, but I need to find a way to gain some experience in the field to legitimize those potential opportunities. A few weeks ago, I came across a sister city project between Raleigh, NC and one of Beijing's "star" cities. One of the US principles was Lily Yang of Yang Consulting. I reached out to Ms.Yang to create an introduction, and to explore if there might be ways that I could get engaged in any of her international projects. While I don't have the language skills yet, I believed that there might be some opportunity to offer my experience in strategy, marketing, research/analysis, or social media.
I may not have done this in previous years, but I have been learning a ton about actively networking outside your normal circles from Jack Perez over at Summit Strategy Partners.
I was pleasantly surprised when Ms.Yang offered to meet with me and discuss ways that I could leverage some of the skills and experience I've gained from this International semester towards some of her existing projects. While I don't have very many free hours to offer, I look at this as a valuable internship to get me the international experience that I would not easily be able to achieve in my current position. Just from talking to a few people at school about this, I may have two opportunities to engage new projects with Lily, so maybe I will bring some value to this interaction.
I don't know exactly what to expect from this opportunity, but I feel like it's the first step towards opening some doors that I will need for the rest of my career.
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