Alejandra Vicencio & Frank Ziegele: That first job in international education

It's that time of the year again when recent graduates begin to make the transition from education to the world of work. For some of them, a fulfilling, successful career in international education is about to take off. All international education professionals have a story to recount about how it all started for them: perhaps an experience abroad, a meaningful encounter, or the recommendation of a supervisor.

But taking a step back from personal experience, what routes into international education are most typically available to graduates and young professionals? And what skills and competences are most in demand? How can they be acquired? We have asked these and other questions to two experts with decades of experience in international education: Alejandra Vicencio, Head of International Mobility at Northumbria University, and Professor Frank Ziegele, Executive director of the Centre for Higher Education and Professor for higher education and research management at the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück. If you’re keen to find out more about how newcomers to our field can step into that first job in international education, don’t miss the latest episode of the EAIE Podcast!

About Alejandra Vicencio

Alejandra Vicencio is Head of International Mobility at Northumbria University. She has more than 20 years of experience in international education, having previously served as International Partnerships Manager at Northumbria, and Country Development Manager at Anglia Ruskin University. In 2008, she founded a Spanish immersion school in Santiago, Chile. In her current role, she manages all aspects of international mobility programmes for students and staff, funding and partner relations.

About Frank Ziegele

Professor Frank Ziegele is executive director of the Centre for Higher Education (CHE), and Professor for Higher Education and Research Management at the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück. Among his several contributions to higher education, he is responsible for large-scale research projects such as the European U-Multirank project, as well as for master and vocational training programs for higher education management such as MariHE. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Business Studies from University Hohenheim and a Ph.D. from Ruhr-University Bochum.