Standard Access

This page describes the components available with the STANDARD ACCESS price plan for College Site Access, which includes access to The BIG Guide content and basic features. See Premium Access for the additional components available with the PREMIUM price plan.  

  • Unlimited access to The BIG Guide Online.
  • Individual user accounts: This is one of the strongest features of College Site Access. Individual users can write private notes, yellow highlight, discard (NEW June, 2010) and bookmark anywhere in the electronic guide. The customization features helps students stay organized and encourages them to make long-term use of The BIG Guide starting in their freshman year.
  • Registration Process: Each user must register the first time they use The BIG Guide Online by using their school’s e-mail address and choosing a password. (If your school or organization does not have a school e-mail address, alternative registration processes are available). Alumni registrations are allowed if they have a school e-mail address.
  • Content: Online 24/7 access to The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas – the world’s best international career guide:  43 Chapters of Expert Advice (850,000 words, more than 1,800 pages in book format), 48+ Quick Guides, 2,500 Profiles of International Employers and 950+ Annotated Resources in 67 Bibliographies. At The BIG Guide Online, we are constantly updating our Web site, keeping all our information as fresh and current as possible.
  • View a list of recent major up-dates and a list of what lies ahead.
  • See Table of Contents
  • See Ten Reasons to Purchase The BIG Guide

Basic Features

The following features make reading The BIG Guide easy, fun and productive. Enjoy!

  • My Profile: Each user can modify and manage their preferences, login information and basic dashboard.
  • Navigation: Navigate easily with the Table of Contents, Chapter Details, Crumb Line and other navigation links. Navigation is fast and efficient. This is not a PDF file.
  • My Notes: Available throughout the book, this feature allows users to write private personal notes for future reference. The Insert Date feature automatically notes today’s date on each entry.
  • My Bookmarks: Allows users to mark any section in the book (My Notes advice sections, Resource or Profile of Organization) and quickly find important information with the Search feature.
  • Yellow Highlights: This amazing feature allows readers to highlight important information anywhere in the book.
  • Quick Guides: The Quick Guides are very popular with students and student advisors. More than 48 Quick Guides provide summaries of the most important strategies found in chapters. [Editor’s note: 75% of the Quick Guides are available as HTML documents for Standard Access subscribers. If you are a Premium Access subscriber, 100% of all Quick Guides are also available as PDF files in “Tools” where they are formatted into one-page high-level summaries for easy printing and distribution.]
  • Resources: After looking at thousands of web sites and publications, we chose the very best. More than 840 Web sites, service organizations and books are fully annotated in 67 topical bibliographies.
  • Profiles: More than 2,400 organizations are profiled in 21 categories. These are international employers who regularly send young professionals abroad. There are chapters on the private sector, NGOs, international organizations and government departments.
  • Readers can "Publish a Review": Users can share their comments with other users for any of the 3,400 resources and organizations profiled in The BIG Guide Online.
  • Reader Contributions: Users are encouraged to publish their own essays (minimum 250 words) for any of the 42+ chapters for viewing by other subscribers. Contributions are sorted by a five-star reader ranking system with the most popular essays at the top.
  • List View: The List View shows the alphabetical lists of Resources and Profiles in each chapter. Readers can see My Bookmarks and My Notes from this view.
  • Detail View: The Detail View shows the details of the Resource (annotation) or Profile of the organization. These carefully researched annotations/profiles contain written descriptions, full addresses, categorization and reader "Publish a Review" comments.
  • Search Views: There are eight search methods.
    • Keyword: Search the entire book using a simple keyword search.
    • Advice/Content: Search for bookmarked sections in the advice/content sections.
    • Resources (Web sites, service organizations and books): Search alphabetically to access all 840+ resources from A to Z.  Narrow your search by selecting one of the 67 subject areas and search for bookmarked resources.
    • Organizations: Search alphabetically to access all 2,400+ organizations from A to Z.  Narrow your search by selecting one of the 21 organizational categories or search for bookmarked organizations.
    • Job Categories: Search by choosing from 170 job categories.
    • Countries and Regions of the World: Search by country or region of the world.
    • Cities in North America with International Contacts: Search by North American city for the names of organizations located in that city.
    • ID Numbers: ID numbers are equivalent to an online page number. Each resource and organizational profile is identified by a unique numerical code. All subtitles also have ID numbers. Find information fast by searching for ID numbers.
  • School Branding: Your school logo and list of sponsors appears in the top right hand corner of all The BIG Guide Online pages. Your logo also appears during the user registration process.
  • Usage Statistics: Basic usage statistics provided upon request.
  • Newsletter "My Global Career Skills": These timely bits of information will be sent weekly to students, helping them stay motivated and focused throughout their years in college as they build international credentials with easy to implement tips from The BIG Guide. (Note: Only Premium Subscribers will have access to the Newsletter archives.)  COMMING SOON fall, 2010
  • College Seminars: College Site Access subscribers benefits from a discount on Jean-Marc Hachey's College Seminars. The standard fee is $3,300 plus travel costs; the discounted subscriber price is $2,300 plus travel.