Recruitment, particularly at graduate level, is increasingly global. Companies, public sector departments and NGOs in this country and many others all now employ graduates from universities all over the world. When a survey for The New York Times asked senior executives from leading companies in ten countries to name the top universities from which they recruited, the resulting list included universities from more than 20 different countries.

So how might having a degree from an Australian or New Zealand university impact your career prospects after graduation?

The first undeniable advantage of having an international university education as a job candidate is that it gives you a real point of difference; something that will make your CV stand out from the pile.

It also instantly communicates that someone is likely to have many of the personal skills and attributes that companies and organisations are looking for. Many employers tell us that they would assume that someone who had studied overseas was more independent, self-reliant, resilient and flexible than most.

Studying overseas also in itself demonstrates that someone is able to adjust to other cultures, is outgoing and confident with a sense of adventure, has a global outlook and has also made a conscious decision to embrace change – all things that global firms value, and which can otherwise be difficult to demonstrate on a CV.

A focus on future employability is a key feature of Australian and New Zealand university education. As you will see from the university profiles here in the Guide, almost all degree programmes include opportunities for students to undertake internships, placements, networking, and industry projects – in short, to put academic learning into practice in the real world and ensure that they graduate ready to hit the ground running in their chosen career.