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Alistair Currie is the Chief Operating Officer for the Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank currently stationed in San Francisco, and his organization does hire students directly from the university to begin international business careers. They screen first for business skills, then for the ability to lead an expat lifestyle. If this is your career goal, you need to demonstrate to an employer your potential to be adaptable and self-sufficient overseas. Do you have significant travel experience? Have you ever lived, worked, and/or volunteered abroad? Have you learned a new language? Do you have good friends abroad? Have you worked in diverse environments? These are important experiences his organization looks for in candidates for employment who will be permanent expats.

When considering what kind of international business experience you want to have, first consider how it will affect your personal relationships and lifestyle. Living abroad and moving regularly will impact your spouse, partner, and/or children. When your company needs you to move, your partner will have to find a new job, and your children will have to enroll in a new school. And if you aren't already in a serious relationship, this lifestyle could have an impact on your chances for developing healthy, lasting relationships.

When trying to decide which kinds of companies to target for employment, think about how that company's business can affect where you will live. If you work for a large financial services firm, you are more likely to be stationed in a large city, whereas an oil and gas company is more likely to send you to remote location. How much "adventure" do you want in your life?

Some companies and some countries will also expect you to follow the "When in Rome" doctrine. How willing are you to change your way of life to adapt to a different culture? Do your research about the company's philosophy to see how much you are expected to live according to the norms of your new host country.

If you really want to work abroad, and have the ability to speak, read and write in another language, look beyond American companies for employment. If you speak Spanish, look up the companies on the Latin American stock exchange to find companies you can target directly. If you're intersted in Japan, connect with a local organization like the Japan-America Society of Northern California that brings together representatives from American and Japanese firms as well as others with a experience in the part of the world where you'd like to work.