Welcome to your Intercultural toolkit for launching a truly global career! In today’s world – where teams span continents and neighbourhoods are more diverse than ever – being able to navigate cultural differences isn’t just a 'nice to have', it’s a must.

Whether you’re brainstorming with classmates across three time zones, interviewing for an international internship, or collaborating on a multicultural project, intercultural competence will give you the edge you need.

Interculturality describes what happens when people from different cultural backgrounds come together in a shared space, be it a classroom, a study group, or the workplace. At first, you might feel a bit of 'strangeness' as everyone’s unspoken assumptions and routines collide. That gap between 'new' and 'normal' is exactly where intercultural learning happens.

We’ve organised our core content under three pillars of intercultural competence:

• Intercultural attitudes and awareness
• Intercultural knowledge
• Intercultural skills

Each section offers tools and resources that will help you prepare for effective interaction and collaboration with colleagues from any cultural background. You can choose to work through all resources in sequence, or jump straight to the topics that interest you most.

Employers today value graduates who can bridge cultural divides: who understand how diverse teams think, who adapt their communication style on the fly, and who build genuine connections across backgrounds. Mastering these competencies not only enriches your daily life but also makes you a standout candidate for jobs, internships, and leadership roles in any field.

While the materials here will give you a solid head start, they’re designed as an introduction rather than a comprehensive course. If you’re ready to dive even further, check out the free self-learning course 'Intercultural Communication' on Glocal Campus Jena.

Dive in, explore, and start building the intercultural skills that will carry you through university and beyond. Your career across cultures starts here!