• What is “College Site Access”?
• How does it work? How do students get access?
• How will it benefit the students we serve at my college or university?
• What does The BIG Guide Online offer over other resources that are available?
• Will The Big Guide Online provide our students with the tools they need to increase their ability to achieve their international employment goals?
• What tools does it have for college administrators and student advisors?
• It sounds like a good resource, but how much does it cost?
• How can I justify using that amount of money out of an already tight budget for a resource that’s available in print format?
• Couldn’t we just as easily and for less cost purchase multiple copies of The Big Guide for the career center library and/or university library?
• Is your site license fee on a sliding scale based on the number of FTEs or is it the same for all colleges and universities, large or small, private or public?
• I think the study abroad and/or international studies programs at my college or university should pay for this, not the career center!
• Do you have any suggestions on how we could afford the site license fee?

What is “College Site Access”?

College Site Access provides unlimited access for students, faculty and alumni to The BIG Guide Online. This is the web version of the world’s best international career guide --The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas. The BIG Guide Online is a comprehensive interactive web site that helps college students build global career skills starting in their first year at college.

The BIG Guide Online has three main features:

• The most important is the “individual user account” that allows each user to write private notes, yellow highlight and bookmark anywhere in the guide. The Big Guide Online is not a pdf file.
• TOOLS help users learn with: Quick Guides, Newsletters, Tip of the eWeek, Podcasts, Quick Tip Videos, International IQ Quizzes with Score Card, International Skills Inventory, International Career Strategy Tracking, Action Plans and Models. There are even sections for student advisors: Campus Projects and International Career Advising.
• The MY SCHOOL feature helps build communities on campus with: School Announcements, International Services Links, and Student Networking features. There is school branding throughout.

The BIG Guide Online will empower all your students to build the skills required for future success in the global economy.

How does it work? How do students get access?

Set up is easy. Colleges post links throughout their site and students register the first time they access. Access is granted to any user who has a school e-mail address. If your school or organization does not have a standard school e-mail address, alternative registration processes are available. Contact us for details. Note that your school identification is always visible to the student.

How will it benefit the students we serve at my college or university?

The BIG Guide Online is designed to be consulted through the student’s entire time in college, starting in their freshman year. The Guide provides a comprehensive approach for students to build their international credentials while in college, from day one until they graduate.

Students must develop global career skills to be competitive in work environments being shaped by the global economy. The BIG Guide Online will help students develop these skills so that they have the international credentials when they graduate.
The BIG Guide Online provides advice, resources, contacts and tools to help students in their first year at college up until they graduate and are looking for employment.

What does The BIG Guide Online offer over other resources that are available?

There are two main reasons why The BIG Guide is unique in comparison to our competitors.

The most defining feature of The BIG Guide Online is the quantity and quality of expert advice available on the site. While there are many web sites providing resource listings (program descriptions) online, there are very few that provide advice. The BIG Guide is full of expert advice from North America’s leading international career expert, Jean-Marc Hachey.

Moreover, our competitors (online or in book format), focus on a job search by country which can be misleading. Jean-Marc’s premise is that it is almost impossible for recent graduates to conduct a country specific job search. Most writers promote a country specific international job search strategy by writing chapters such as “How to Find a Job in Italy”, for example. While students may find “low skilled” work with a country specific job search strategy, college grads looking for “professional” international jobs do so with a “sector” job search targeting organizations who work internationally in their field of expertise. The Big Guide Online is divided by “sectors” of international expertise with less emphasis on country-specific job searching.

For more information on these subjects, read our article published in The NACE Journal (National Association of Colleges and Employers) Debunking The Myths about how College Students Look for International Work

Check out our Ten Reasons to Purchase The BIG Guide.

Will The Big Guide Online provide our students with the tools they need to increase their ability to achieve their international employment goals?

International careers are built step-by-step over time and students need to start early while still in school. The BIG Guide offers a comprehensive approach for building international credentials. It is more then just a database. Student customize their account marking out their strategies using yellow highlights, personal notes and bookmarks. The My Profile feature has a score card for students to track their International Skills Inventory and up-dates to their International I.Q. Quizzes are also available for students along with the ability to compare their responses to others. Student can also share their learning experiences by publishing Reader Contributions or Reader Comments.

What tools does it have for college administrators and student advisors?

The Big Guide offers a series of tools for administrators. One very popular feature are the Quick Guides which cover more them 30 topics and can be printed for distribution to students by career and study abroad advisors. There are numerous tools to help administrators build a community of internationally active students. For example, there is a bulletin board (School Announcements) featurewhere school administrators post the international events taking place on campus. Usage statistics provides administrator with information is of the number of registered users and areas of interest. Finally, College Site Access allows colleges to personalize and brand the site increasing recognition to the students as a service of the school.

It sounds like a good resource, but how much does it cost?

The annual fee varies by size of school (small, medium, large) and service levels (Standard and Premium). There are excellent discounts for schools that sign up during the launch period (60% discounts before August 15th 2008 and 40% discounts from August 15th to October 15th 2008). Regular pricing takes effect after this date. For exact pricing, see our price sheet.

How can I justify using that amount of money out of an already tight budget for a resource that’s available in print format?

Students want to access information online 24-hours a day and 365 days a year. With online access, students benefit from having round-the-clock access to the world’s best international career guide. The BIG Guide Online allows individual users to customize their own personal copy of The BIG Guide Online and thus make maximum use of the guide during each year in college while they build international experience.

Couldn’t we just as easily and for less cost purchase multiple copies of The Big Guide for the career center library and/or university library?

The book can be cumbersome for some users and is not updated as frequently. The BIG Guide Online is constantly reviewed, information added, and comments from users are also available, thus helping students to network with others.

Is your site license fee on a sliding scale based on the number of FTEs or is it the same for all colleges and universities, large or small, private or public?

Yes, the fee is different based on the number of potential users at an institution. See our price list for details.

I think the study abroad and/or international studies programs at my college or university should pay for this, not the career center!

At many institutions, there is a collaboration of partners who have a vested interest in supporting this project. The Career Office often takes the lead and builds support with the Study Abroad office, Student Services, International Students office, International Programs and internationally focused study programs. The library is also sometimes involved since they often purchase electronic resources for students.

Do you have any suggestions on how we could afford the site license fee?

While the Career Office is generally the lead funder, a collaboration across several departments often makes this project a joint venture on campus. In addition, the prices are very low in the initial phases of this launch, allowing purchase on a trial basis for a year.