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| View of Canberra, Australia from Mt. Ainslie Lookout |
In
today’s diverse world,
international experience is something that can really make you stand out to
employers. How exactly does study abroad put a competitive edge on your
application? Here are few things that make you stand out to employers because
you studied abroad and a few things to keep in mind about your study abroad
experience when job searching:
1) Knowledge of a Foreign Language: If you study in a country that speaks another language, you will come back to the US and have knowledge of a new language. With our diverse world, it is always great to have knowledge of a second language to make yourself stand out during internship or job searches.
2) Cross-Cultural Interpersonal Skills: Learning
how to interact and work with people who are different from you is another
skill you will gain while studying abroad that will add a competitive edge to what
you can offer a compnay. No matter where you go, you will be interacting with
people from a different culture on a daily basis, and this will improve your
interpersonal skills. Employers will love seeing that you have gained some
experience interacting with different cultures!
3)
Graduate School Applications: If you are looking into continuing your
education after undergrad, studying abroad can help with those applications
too! Graduate school admissions committees will see that you studied abroad and
know that you gained a variety of skills while abroad such as adapting to an
unfamiliar environment, learning from different teaching styles, communicating
in diverse groups, and recognize you have a willingness to challenge yourself.
4)
International Internships: Any work experience is valuable to a
potential employer. An international internship or job can offer even more
benefits and make you even more competitive to a potential employer than a
domestic internship. These benefits include awareness of diverse business
practices and customs, exposure to global issues facing your industry, and the
opportunity to networks with professionals from across the world, just to name
a few.
5)
Flexibility and Adaptability: These are two skills employers will love
to see! I have answered many interview questions regarding these skills by
talking about my study abroad experiences. Situations will arise while abroad
that require you to be flexible. Being
in a new environment and country requires extreme adaptability. Both of these
skills will make employers happy and make you stand out in the job or
internship search!
6)
Putting Your Study Abroad Experience on Your Resume: Now that you have
this awesome experience, it’s
important to know how to market it to potential employers. Be sure to think
about where to place it on your resume and what to include. Regardless of where
you place it on your resume (under Education, International Experience, etc.),
don’t just put the
program name, country, and dates you went. Let employers know why your
experience is on there and what you learned! Some action verbs that might be
useful to explain why study abroad is on your resume are adapted, immersed,
lived, organized, overcame, translated, and visited. For more about how to
include study abroad on your resume, check out http://www.gooverseas.com/blog/study-abroad-resume-tips and http://www.salisbury.edu/careerservices/students/resumes/MarketExperience/StudyAbroad.html.
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