CIMO (Centre for International Mobility)

conducted a survey in 2004 on what kind of competences are developed during international mobility and how do Finnish employers see the value of mobility in their recruitment. The main findings, based on the answers of some 700 employers, show that the greatest value of international mobility at recruitment is generally in personal development (widened perspectives, coping with stress, adaptation) and in abilities to operate in an international environment (intercultural skills, cultural competence, tolerance, coping skills in general). A particular merit would be when the students have been able to do fieldwork related to local circumstances within the host country, which has also meant  learning the language of the host country.

A European-wide survey

was conducted by the Thematic Network Project on Languages in 2006 (http://web.fu-berlin.de/tnp3/ ) consulting both graduates and employers. The findings indicate that there is massive emphasis in the labour market on what are usually called “generic and transferable” skills, in other words communication skills that can be transferred from one language to another. The most prominent of the skills needed are excellent mother tongue skills, ability for teamwork in international, multicultural, and interdisciplinary contexts, project skills, and written communication skills, as well as life-long learning skills. English is often not seen as a competitive edge but rather as a language in which very good skills are taken for granted. Plurilingualism – an individual’s ability to use several languages even with partial competence – was much emphasized.