The CEO of global student placement organisation, IDP, wants to embed employers into the global student journey and use his background in the corporate tech industries to help steer the company towards creating an infrastructure that can do more for international students by catering for their career ambitions too.
The bold new plans are part of the “next chapter” for Australia-based IDP, which listed on the ASX last year, and places over 30,000 students annually into education institutions in five countries.
Speaking with The PIE News, CEO Andrew Barkla explained that the stock market listing – A$331.6m was raised in the initial public offering – did mean the company “had access to capital markets more easily” and he acknowledged that the listing was a significant milestone for IDP.
“You will be aware that we have had a strong performance to date and a good run in our first year as an ASX listed company,” he said, “but really the strategy is aligned to the market opportunity, it is aligned to the company strengths that we have built over a 47 year history.”
Barkla, in position for just over a year, was illuminating on what he sees as the “real opportunity” to give students visibility to employers who are looking ultimately to attract the best talent.
“If we can bring those employers and those students onto the same platform, in some respects the employer can have a greater choice in identifying the experiences that they believe a student is going to need to be a qualified and strong candidate for employment,” he said.
His vision means a full spectrum service for IDP clients, serviced by its 90 offices in 38 countries.
“It is about providing them with arrival services, social integration, insurance, financial services and part-time work when they arrive in their destination country of study, and then it is assisting them to be prepared for the career that they are seeking beyond study,” he said adding: “I think technology is going to play a big part in pulling together those pieces.”
International students have unique attributes to offer employers, given their global experience, he noted. “We see very strong employment opportunities with global multinationals in [many student] source countries.”
Andrew Barkla was speaking to The PIE News during AIEC in Melbourne, an event co-hosted by IDP and IEAA, where The PIE News is an official media partner.
You can read the full interview in our PIE Chat.
