Good firms will value your cultural diversity - international students told
Published on 25 January, 2002
Businesses will increasingly value employee diversity in areas such as culture, language and education, in order to succeed in a global village.
That is according to SBS TV producer and presenter Silvio Rivier, who addressed almost 400 students from many nations at Central Queensland University's Sydney International Campus graduation recently.
Mr Rivier said his own transformation from opera singer to TV station employee came about because of his diverse interests and capabilities.
He also recommended lifelong learning as a way of being ready for unexpected opportunities for career advancement, and even for completely new career directions.
"Don't be surprised if life takes you in a completely different direction when you least expect it," he said.
PHOTO below: ======= New CQU Sydney International Campus Professor Doug Hinchliffe meets Dean of Business and Law Professor Kevin Fagg at the graduation.
PHOTO right: ======= Guest speaker Silvio Rivier, Vice-Chancellor Professor Glenice Hancock, Masters of Arts Administration graduate Phoomiwach Peter Supasri and Mark Skinner (Campus Group Holdings) get together at the Sydney graduation.
"The most successful businesses and corporations ... have marketed their product successfully throughout the different cultures of the world. And they've done that by employing people who have more than one string to their bow and who represent cultural diversity.
"..nine out of 10 of Australia's fastest growing export markets over the last 10 years are to non-English speaking countries.
"Learning about other cultures and applauding their differences will pay dividends in your workplace as we live in a globally integrated economy." Mr Rivier is currently the series producer and presenter of the Global Village documentary series.
He said SBS was itself a good example of the value and management of diversity and had recently been awarded the prestigious BANF Award in Canada as the Most Outstanding and Innovative Global Broadcaster.
The graduation ceremony included undergraduate and postgraduate students, mostly from the areas of business, arts and informatics. The nationalities represented included India, Sweden, Thailand, China, Indonesia, England, Bangladesh and China.