What is intercultural competence? And 4 reasons why employers value it

Sponsored by UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School

The world, and particularly the world of business, is becoming increasingly globalised. Businesses now often have offices in several countries and their colleagues and clients come from around the world.

COVID-19 has only enhanced this, with many employees now working from home. In many companies, this is something that looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.

As a result, it is now more vital than ever that graduates have the correct skills to succeed in these international environments. Building intercultural competence is one way to do that.

Ireland’s leading global business school, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, is offering an Intercultural Development Programme (ICD) to help its students build the intercultural competence skills they need to succeed in the modern business world.

TopUniversities spoke to them to find out more.

Intercultural competence is the ability to communicate and work well with people from different cultural backgrounds. You will need to learn to interact and work efficiently with people who have different values, beliefs, religions and experiences to you.

UCD Smurfit School ranks amongst the world’s top one percent of universities and places a strong focus on international diversity. Approximately half of the school’s student population is made up of international students from all around the world. UCD Smurfit School encourages this diversity and offers a wide range of scholarships and funding for international students looking to study in Ireland.

The school’s new Intercultural Development Programme (ICD) is offered to all students studying one of the school’s extensive master’s or MBA courses. The programme is made to be flexible and is completed alongside your degree. Students can choose to complete either the Introductory ICD or the Advanced ICD.

The ICD programme is research-driven and theory-based, designed to help students build international competence, stand out in the global job market and develop the skills needed to enhance their career and succeed in an international company.

The ICD also helps UCD Smurfit School’s international students adapt quickly and effectively into Irish higher education, helping them meet new friends and adjust to a new way of learning.

The fight for top graduate business positions is incredibly competitive. If you want to work for some of the top graduate employers, it’s rarely enough to just have a degree.

Although, of course, a top quality degree – such as one of UCD Smurfit School’s postgraduate programmes – is also essential to impress graduate employers. 

Employers are looking for graduates who can demonstrate that they work well in a team and who will go above and beyond in their work. Gaining intercultural competence is one way to demonstrate these skills.

Here are several other ways having intercultural competence will help you stand out to employers: