Do you have an interest in international relations or global affairs? Do you want to work for a company that has a reach beyond the country where you live now? Are you an international student looking to work in the U.S. while maintaining a professional connection to your home country or vice versa? A multinational corporation might be just what you are looking for.
According to Investopedia, a multinational corporation is a company that has facilities and assets in at least one country other than its home country. Facilities and assets could include anything from stores and warehouses to production facilities and e-commerce sites. One thing these types of companies all have in common is their global reach. Some benefits of working for a multinational corporation include:
- A diverse (and often more inclusive) work environment
- The opportunity to learn about and explore other cultures and customs
- Unique professional development opportunities
- An increased opportunity for international travel
So, if you think a multinational corporation is for you, how do you go about finding them? Since 2003, Forbes has been publishing a list called the Global 2,000: The World’s Largest Public Companies that ranks the 2,000 largest multinational corporations in the world based on four factors: sales, profit, assets, and market value.
The 2019 Global 2,000 report was released in May of last year and features companies from over 61 countries. The United States is home to the largest number of companies on the list with 575. China and Hong Kong were next with 309, followed by Japan with 223. Here’s a sneak peek at the top 10:
Are you intrigued? Wondering how this information may help with your internship or job search? Here are three ideas:
- Visit the full list of 2,000 companies. Notice that you are able to filter the list by industry, country/territory, and state (U.S. only). If you click on the name of a company, you can learn a little bit more about what they do and what services they provide. As you are going through, make a list of companies that seem interesting.
- Check out each company on LinkedIn and Glassdoor. LinkedIn is a global resource with over 675 million members in over 200 countries. Visiting a company’s page on LinkedIn can give you a sense of what the company values are (check out the “About” or “Life” tab on the left-hand menu) and the people who work there (under the “People” tab). Glassdoor is a great resource for reading reviews of the company written by current and past employees; this could give you some helpful insight into the company culture.
- Go to each company’s website to see what they are hiring for. Once you have decided on a company (or a few) that are of high interest to you, go directly to their website and find their job postings. You can usually find job postings by looking for something in the website’s menu that mentions career opportunities or by searching the company name and the word “careers” on Google. Note that multinational corporations often have different versions of their website for users in different countries; if you can read multiple languages, use this to your advantage!
As always, the Center for Career Development is available to support you throughout your job or internship search. If you would like some support in deciding whether or not working for a multinational corporation is for you or finding job opportunities that match your needs and interests, schedule an appointment with a career coach.
