NEWS
Alumnus connects international graduates across Asia
International students across Asia are being brought together through a vibrant alumni job network, co-founded by an RMIT graduate.
Co-established by RMIT Vietnam alumnus and Australian expatriate Shane Dillon, the International Alumni Job Network (IAJN) is the largest, most diverse community of international students in Asia.
Dillon began life in Vietnam in 2007 as a mathematics teacher and later worked for an insurance company as an administrative financial officer.
He was then awarded the RMIT Asia Graduate Centre Scholarship for the Master of Business Administration (Executive) at RMIT Vietnam.
“The MBA course at RMIT Vietnam was so interesting and useful for my own business,” he said.
Dillon said the management experience of the lecturers along with his colleagues’ support helped him greatly in setting up two companies during the program.
The IAJN was co-founded by Dillon and Kate Harden because of problems they had observed while living in Vietnam.
“It’s difficult for employers to find talented candidates with a high level of English and experience of working in different cultures,” he said.
Additionally, he explained, Vietnamese students who might have spent many years in foreign countries can have limited networks when they arrived back home.
The IAJN connects international students who have graduated from Australian, UK, Canadian, US, European and New Zealand universities with each other and with top employers across Asia.
Since launching in May 2016, the community has grown to more than 60,000 members and is now working with employers including Microsoft, Agoda, Prudential, Vinacapital, Zalora. The alumni membership continues to grow at nearly 1000 new members per week.
Multiple events have been planned in coming months for alumni to meet and engage with one another in a social setting.
Dillon is hoping IAJN will help members find a mentor, find an internship, as well as place experienced senior executives in high-performing companies all over Asia.
RMIT Vietnam, as part of its ongoing commitment to provide career pathways for graduates, has recently signed a partnership with IAJN.
Open to all RMIT students, alumni can register through the partner site - Australian Alumni Job Network.
Story: Khanh Phung