Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tiger Beer]

I know there are a few others out there who are interested in studying/knowing more about International Trade.

Anyhow, I found this 5-month Postgraduate ONLINE course offered in English through the International Business School of Spain in Barcelona.

http://www.reingex.com/en100.asp

It costs 662 euros which equals approximately 940,000 won for the entire postgraduate diploma.

Anyhow, here are a list of the units that the postgrad covers:

Learning Units

International trade. Globalization
European Union Enlargement
Documentation in International Trade
Customs. Import & Export Procedures
Incoterms 2000
International Transport and Logistics
International Contracts
Methods of Payment. Letters of Credit
Finance of International Trade

None of this stuff I know anything about yet.. but really want to learn. So, in short, I'm planning on potentially starting this program within the next few weeks or so. Also, just wanted to throw it out there to others who were also playing around with the idea or interested in a program like it.

Apparently, in the course, there are also online forums and discussion among your peers and teachers and such.. so if there were one or more of us doing the same thing at the same time.. would add a lot of encouragement and support to the program as well.

Feel free to throw anything else out there along the lines of international trade in general in this thread as well.

[Dan The Chainsawman]

I might get in on that to Tiger Beer... That course seems the right price even if I will probably never use the Post Dip for anything more than toilet paper.

What is their accreditation or however you spell that word?

[bundangbum]

seems kind of shit to me if tb has mentioned it.

[Tiger Beer]

[Dan The Chainsawman]

Well your right on that the price is right, might be one of those things to do for the heck of it.

[Tukkong]

I have a Master of International Business. Some of the subjects in this course could be studied in a certificate level program. Also, its extremely short - only 5 months? Of course, it depends what you want it for.

Overall, the subjects sound okay...but make sure you check the content. I suspect it is a very brief and rushed program. Incoterms, for example, are very important. However, you can simply buy the book that lists them all.

[bundangbum]

[Mashimaro]

[fusionbarnone]

You can check out the provider's rep at degreeinfo.com, or , degreeboarb.com.

Finished only the first year of an MBA in New Ventures(because I'd already set up my first company thanks to the elements of the first years course), now that's directly applicable in the fastest way. Hope your course is similar.

My fiancee was at the US consulate in Chengdu(capital of schezuan in China) where she met fellow southerners engaged in business in China. She told me if they can do it why couldn't we?

Problem was where to start, how., etc etc? Your course seems perfect for this. Also, Walmart is always on the lookout to hire buyers.

[Tukkong]

Would I recommend it?

I can only give you a vague answer, which will depend on many variables. For example, what do you want to use it for? A Master of International Business (or MBA) is usually aimed at those wanting to enter middle or upper management. The problem is that these are the jobs that are often not advertised, or require experience.

Where are you from? You might be best finding a course in your home country. For example, I have a Canadian friend doing an online course designed by the Canadian Export Institute (I can't remember the exact name).

Some of the subjects sound good...at least the subject name does. For example, Incoterms, Customs. Import & Export Procedures, and Methods of Payment. Letters of Credit. Again, you could probably find a certificate course that covers these. For Incoterms, you can simply buy the book that lists them all.

I must admit, I am confused by the title of Postgraduate Diploma in International Trade. I think it is too short for that level of qualification.

On the other hand, having a qualification from a foreign school can impress some people. Also, the cost is very cheap, and its only 5 months (I know this contradicts what I said earlier). In other words, you don't lose too much.

I hope that I have successfully managed to confuse you.

If you have any specific questions just PM me.

Cheers.

[Taegeuk]

Having spent the past dozen years teaching mainly Business English (9 in Korea), I decided that if I and my family are going to resettle in Canada in the near future (2007) I would need a new plan as continuing to teach in Canada is not an option for someone with a family.

Having a degree in busineess (labour relations), I've always been interested in all types of business. After many discussions with my wife and loads of research on the Net, we decided that the best way to maintain a connection with Korea while living in Canada was to move into the area of Ex/Im.

In the spring of 2004, I enrolled in the trade training program offered by FITT (Forum for International Trade Training / www.fitt.ca). The FITT Skillsonline program consists of 8 courses:

- Global Entrepeneurship
- Int'l Marketing
- Int'l Trade Finance
- Int'l Trade Logistics
- Int'l Market Entry and Distribution
- Int'l Trade Research
- Legal Aspects of Int'l Trade
- Int'l Trade Management

Each course runs 10 weeks, culminating in either a 45 question multiple choice exam (5 courses) or a project (3 courses).
85% of the grade is based on the exam/project and 15% is based on your participation in online discussions focussing on answering questions from the text (included in the cost of the course). Each course is over-seen/taught by an expert in the field of that particular course who will often comment on your answers and give suggestions to assist you in your specific situation. My current course is Legal Aspects and is being 'taught' by a trade lawyer.

After successfully completing 4 courses, you receive a Certificate in International Trade. 8 courses gets you a Diploma in Int'l Trade. The big selling point for me regarding this program was the professional certification. FITT offers it's members the CITP (Certified International Trade Professional) designation. In order to obtain this, a person has to complete all 8 courses plus have a minimum of 1 year working in international trade (must be verified). This certification is similar to a CPA, CGA or PEng. and is the only recognized professional designation in Canada for int'l trade.

The cost of each course is USD $475 and 4-5 start every month so you can custom design your program to suit your needs. Summer of 2004, I didn't take a course as I was on vacation for a month and a half. The courses are intensive and require a lot of time spent on the Net researching the various topics. In every course I've enrolled in, there have been around 12 students from a wide variety of occupations, from people just interested in trade and taking one course to others who have been in the industry (public or private) and are looking to upgrade their skills.

The content of each course is about 70-80% Canada specific but is useful in my case as I plan on returning to Canada to work in trade in 2007.

There are a number of other countries that offer trade training programs and they can be found at FITA (Federation of Int'l Trade Assocations / http://fita.org/index.html). If you look in the Getting Started section there, you can find the following link to programs in different countries. Training and Consulting Links http://tradelinks.fita.org/index.asp?category_id=10503&language=en&parentcategory_id=2

In order to get my CITP designation, I need to complete all 8 courses and have that year of experience in trade. This has led me to start working for a small trade company in Korea. I've known them for 8 years and have done some editting and consulting for them in the past. Starting in September last year, I negotiated a job with them as Sales Director and started this past March. There are 5 of us, including the president (same age as me, 37) and I'm in charge of developing and implementing market entry strategies of new products. The company has a relatively strong customer base in pesticides, but my focus is gettingour products into telecom (selling to telcos) and computer peripherals distributors.

Before you sign up for any program, do a SWOT analysis (Strenghts, Weaknesses, Opportunites and Threats) on both yourself and the program that you are looking at. You may find that a cheaper program done just for the extra letters after your name won't mean too much to people in the industry.

If you have any more questions, PM me with your e-mail and I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[lbellamy]

Tiger Beer, I'm interested in refreshing my knowledge and skills in those subject areas asap. I used to supervise an export department, have a grad dip in marketing and a certificate in export. But it was ages ago.

So if you want a study partner I'd be interested. I don't want to enrol in anything though because I already have a certificate.

Taeguk gave excellent links. His course sounds better because in higher ed you do largely get what you pay for, and like he said you can tailor it. Some advice to add to his: The people who work in export are practical types not necessarily impressed by academic degrees. (I speak for Australia and other countries may differ but you could check that out by making a few calls to the HR departments of organizations you think you'd like to work for, and to the professional organizations from Taeguk's link). If you are after a piece of paper and credibility that's one thing. Find out if which piece of paper will impress the people you'd be doing business with.

The other is acquiring the nitty gritty know how. If you want to work in a medium/large trading company - they'll have clerical staff to do the export paperwork (which is largely what an export cert course teaches) and you'll learn from them. I think you'll find it will be actual experience and contacts and market/product knowledge that will count more if you want an export or importer to employ you at managerial level. If you want your own little trading company, keep reading.

If you want a trade body to employ you, go for a more academic qualification. You can do Masters in Logistics, Masters in Marketing,....etc. Many of these have exit points along the way so if you quit after 6 months you get the Cert, after 1 year it's the Grad Dip.

To run your own import/export operation you need to know your product, buyers, suppliers, market environment, structure and trends and how to analyse these and write a business plan: Studying some formal marketing stuff could be a better investment in because you can always subcontract to a freight forwarder for all your export doc and customs stuff; a lawyer to help you with the sale contract or distribution agreement. Plus your local trade bodies or DFAT and the bank providing the finance and processing the letter of credit have information.

The bank won't lend you any money without a proper business plan. And I don't know that you'd get an exclusive agency agreement with a supplier without one either. (or not one worth having). You could spend more paying a consultant to do a business plan for you as you would on learning how to do a real one yourself. So factor that into your course selection and timeline too.

In essence: The formal marketing techniques are harder to acquire and rarer than the straight out export ones and are way more relevant at the planning stage for your own business. Subcontracting those activities is more expensive and risky. We all think we can do marketing and many people will put up a shingle to provide a service on the basis of a bit of experience, not actual knowledge of the latest techniques etc.

Conversely, the export/import methods and logistics knowledge are more
readily available through your supporting trade organization than marketing ones - and come after you've carefully identifed something to export or import and lined up suppliers etc. The trade bodies are your first line of support once you've started your business. Your alma mater won't help you. The trade body's whole existance is largely to help you export: raison d'etre.

There is also a lot of info on the net that covers the subjects in the Barcelona course. e.g. Canada's trade body has great information.
http://www.itcan-cican.gc.ca/menu-en.asp If you're thinking of exporting from Korea, then check out what KOTRA have.

The banks also provide export know-how booklets and quite detailed guides on their websites. So you could start with browsing those to decide if studying in further detail is what you are prepared to stick with. Otherwise, don't blow your money because you won't complete anyway. Export / import documentation and laws are very dry, detailed, boring, bureaucratic, detailed stuff so if it's not to your taste or strengths.....subcontract. Vice versa for market analysis/business planning. If you hate big picture and being analytical, forecasting, maths, psychology, statistics, and reading economic and industrial information about the market you'll be trading in..., stick with the export cert and think twice about starting your own business before you get the right practical experience and good contacts and /or partner.

Final points: 1) If there is anything wrong with your export contract, documentation, incoterms etc etc etc, then a shipment will be held up while you fix it (sometimes at great cost). And plenty of people will help. And if you've hired a freight forwarder for your initial shipments at least, you have recourse. Not so with the marketing stuff: if a marketing consultant bills you $35,000 for a great plan and then the plan fails, they'll blame it on some factor you didn't brief them on. So better to diy or at least know how to brief them and assess their recommendations.

2) Have a search for stats on the number of trading companies that start then fail due to lack of finance or other problems. The number of small businesses that fail is staggering, and I was taught a lot of that is due to problems with scaling up: Entrepreneur gets great idea, finds product & customers, starts business, increases sales then needs to expand and employ people to fill orders, but having done so needs more sales to cover the new overheads... and has more to manage, which distracts from keeping customers happy and finding new ones, and so forth. If you know some accountants and lawyers ask them about the most common small business pitfalls, export/import company or not. Also check small business administration web sites.

3) An export cert will not teach you what to import or export. Just how. Marketing cert vice versa.

Now I just have to go take my own advice and start researching.....!

Seriously: If you want a study partner, I'm willing. I'm in Incheon/Seoul area. But starting out with sharing online refs would be ok too.

'agapanthus'

[Tiger Beer]

Some great information here.. especially the last few posts.

I've yet to enroll in the course.. but still very interested. While the Barcelona one does look interesting.. I am thinking more and more about one how extremely little interest I have in the EU for one.

Tukkong and Taegeuk made me think about the Canadian angle on their prospective programs on all of this.. and the more I think about it.. there must be something similar for an American/Asian angle that I'd ultimately be MOST interested in.

lbellamy's post being extremely informative as well.. and yes I'm definetely still VERY interested in studying more about it. The most difficult part is knowing where to start (without the structure of a course). And I have noticed there are tons of information out there absolutely everywhere (particularly Trade Centers, Embassies, internet and all the rest).. its just getting an organized sense of the information. I'll check out KOTRA for Korea.. and another place I was really interested in was The Philippines (for potential exporting) and China (as it seems to be exploding and making people a good living over there) as well.

At this point it almost seems it would be best if I actually knew what products I was potentially interested in getting to what markets.. maybe if I focused on that specifically, I could examine all the other many minor details on how to move them.

Still very interested though!

[lbellamy]

Hi Tiger Beer,

How about you organize what notes you do already have, and I'll organize mine. I think I have my entire export cert archived on my disk somewhere but I need to revert to an older OS to retrieve them. So I'll look into that.

Then post any ideas on next step. We could internet chat to make an appointment to meet, or design our own study plan by email. For product/business sector ideas you can check trade boards and see what pops up that marries with your educational and work background. You might as well try for some leverage with your old degree. I worked in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals before coming here via higher education marketing.

Half my problem is in my head: I just need to actually get the guts to go out there, check opps to be a 'middle man' and try some then see what happens. It's so secure and easy to have an employer and know you're pretty good at what you do (I'm teaching ESL at a uni)....... For me, I'll feel safe once I've properly researched an opportunity. Maybe it will just turn out to be an academic exercise and I'll decide it's not for me.

L

[Tukkong]

I thought I would post a quick response following Brainflinger and Ibellamy. I apologise if I repeat some of their comments - I am a bit busy to read them in detail.

Firstly, I am Australian and did my study in Australia. Secondly, Brainflinger is a good mate of mine (even if he is Canadian) and I brought his attention to this thread. I have also known about his course since he started it. So I can give you a bit from both sides.

As Ibellamy and I stated, there are many variables in choosing a course. For example, country, purpose of study, etc, are all important.

With regards to learning documentation. In Australia, it is easy to find temp work in this field if you have experience in documentation. Also, the work pays well. The key point is experience. You will be called in the morning and told to get to a company and start immediately.

As I stated, if you are looking for middle management and higher, a masters will be more useful. These are the positions looking more at strategy, planning and development. My masters involved some very useful subjects, for example, I prepared a comprehensive export marketing plan that allowed a company to apply for a government export grant. I also covered:
* international marketing,
* international management,
* international banking,
* Asian trade and investment law,
* ecommerce,
* financial reporting and analysis,
* and I can't remember the full names of the other subjects. Many of them did, however, have a strong economics base. Also, the head of program was a former economist for BHP Billiton.

Overall, the masters broadened my vision and made me aware of many other issues to be considered when developing any business.

After I completed my masters, I spoke to the Australian Trade Commission (the smart thing would have been to speak to them before). They told me that the most useful degrees are those in economics and marketing. From my research, finance is another important area. As always, accounting rates highly on the list of must have degrees. As Ibellamy stated, logistics is another good field. Supply chain management is really big these days. Those guys make a lot of money...and have a lot of stress.

All in all, I would advise you to do the course. It is not expensive - I paid $240 for a 12 hour Export, Import and Documentation course. Your course is very cheap when you consider what you are getting. As for the actual qualification and school...most people only know the qualifications and schools that are in their field or area. Therefore, its a mute point.

My only point is that I think you need to check the assessment content. I found reports far more useful than exams.

For research, don't forget to look at the banks' websites. The Australian banks have some really good downloads. One bank has a big export guide that can be downloaded for free.

Check with the export association in your home country and see what they have to say. Alternatively, contact your embassy in Seoul and speak to the trade division.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions, or want any information.