When I was 17, I spent a year in Germany (1986) as an exchange student.
Took five months to learn the language and that’s really all I did.
I then picked a prestigious company E&Y (after college 1991) to do an internship at.
Basically earning enough to pay my rent and plane ticket.
But then I had a foreign language and “experience”.
It became much easier to find work, more ponds to fish in.
Because I learned pretty decent German, I was hired first by Price Waterhouse and then by the German Ministry of Privatization (Treuhandanstalt) to help restructure the former GDR economy. If I hadn’t done that internship, none of this would have happened.
A few years later, I was inspired to make language learning programs for Mandarin/Portuguese/French and Spanish. Taught myself to program and made 4 CD-roms which my publisher sold in 40 countries.
Didn’t get rich off of it, but learned many thing and it was a mark of pride to walk into a shop and point to something and say “I made that”.
Overtime, I spent 20 years in 8 foreign countries: Germany, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Ukraine, Moldova, UK, Kyrgyzstan. Worked in telecoms/non-proliferation (bio-threat reduction), fast moving consumer goods, energy services, consulting.
I’d tell him go abroad, find a project which is really interesting but be open to new opportunities.
There are more companies than US: German/UK/Australian. etc.
These days learning some data manipulation techniques is also helpful. Start with spreadsheets. If he has good skills and is motivated, there are endless opportunities in the world.
