International Students

ERGs are voluntary, employee-led groups made up of individuals who join together based on common interests, backgrounds, or demographic factors. These groups operate differently from one company to another but commonly incorporate both professional and social networking activities. Some benefits of ERGs include the ability for employees to find community among other employees who share their identities, interests, and/or concerns; increased employee satisfaction and retention; and leadership opportunities for individuals from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds.

Some example names of ERGs that might be of interest to international students include:

• Multicultural Professionals Network (MPN)
• Cultures Connected Employee Resource Group
• Multinational Employee Resource Group (MERG)
• Bridges Employee Business Resource Group
• International Employee Network

Note: Not all companies use the term “Employee Resource Groups” or “ERGs.” Names vary widely, but some other common ones include Business Resource Groups, Diversity Networks, Colleague Resource Groups, and Team Member Networks. The easiest way to find out which groups an employer maintains would be to look this information up on their website through the search bar or typing into Google “Employee Resource Groups at (Company Name).” If a company has ERGs, you will usually find a page with a list of them in the search results, along with a brief mission statement of each group.