Careers and Looking Forward
Leveraging Your Study Abroad Experience
USAC alum Rebecca Whistler, Turkey 2010
Your study abroad experience can be utilized to your advantage even if you aren’t necessarily interested in working overseas. You may find work with a company that has an international focus. Even if your future career isn’t explicitly international in theme or scope, you have a brand new skill set that is applicable to any future professional situation.
By studying abroad, you have already taken steps to set yourself apart and get a competitive edge for future opportunities. Employers and admissions committees to graduate and professional schools may not be looking for international experience for its own sake, but they are definitely looking for the skills and attributes you have gained while abroad. They are looking for people who can listen to and understand other points of view, who can literally and figuratively think globally; people who can jump right in to new situations with initiative and a willingness to learn, problem-solve, and think on their feet; people with good communication, conflict-resolution, and relationship-building skills, and the good patience and humor that comes with them. You gained all these things and more while abroad! And they are as marketable as the foreign language proficiency, internship and volunteer experience, and increased knowledge you picked up while abroad.
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Employment Abroad
Your study abroad experience may have sparked your curiosity about an international career or job. You may find the process of taking the initiative and researching these opportunities is in and of itself a helpful way to reflect on all you learned abroad. Consult the career center at your home university or do an internet career search that lists jobs with an international focus. Additionally, stop by a bookstore or look online for used books focusing on international job opportunities. There are numerous opportunities to work or volunteer in many countries, if that is an area of interest to you.
Suggested Websites:
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Resumes and More: Put Your Experience to Use
Resumes, cover letters, applications, interviews, group projects, civic, and community involvement—there are numerous places and situations, in addition to the classroom, where you will put your experience abroad to practical use. You have general transferable skills such as independence, confidence, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills. You have actual knowledge and understanding that you can put to use.
As you reflect on your experience abroad, did you:
- Do a specific project or research applicable to your field of interest while abroad?
- Travel independently?
- Learn to work with a more diverse group of people than you had previously been exposed to?
- Resolve a conflict based on misunderstandings of cultural differences?
- Learn new activities, languages, hobbies, or skills?
- Come to understand how to listen, watch, and learn from what you observe?
- Discover something new about yourself that can relate to the position you are seeking?
- Volunteer or participate in an internship or service learning project while abroad?
Your answers are the start to the specific skills you list on your resume and application, or the specific example you use in an interview. You will want to effectively communicate not only the skills and experiences you have, but how those attributes will benefit the program or organization to which you are applying. Remember, just mentioning you studied abroad is not enough. You should elaborate on the skills and abilities developed because of this time abroad.
Other skills and qualities you may have developed while studying abroad:
- Foreign language proficiency
- Flexibility
- Creativity
- Adaptability
- Confidence
- Independence
- listening and observing
- Responsibility
- Organization
- Crisis and Resource Management
- Patience
- Enthusiasm
- Initiative
- Intellectual curiosity
- Perseverance
- Time management
- Increased understanding of global, economic, and political matters
- Appreciation of differences and cultures
- Rapport and relationship building skills
- Ability to achieve goals despite obstacles
- Capacity to learn quickly in new situations
- Capability to handle stress and difficult situations
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Resumes
Always be sure to list your education abroad experience where employers can easily see it, such as in your Education section at the top of your resume. If you did participate in an internship or volunteer experience while abroad, you can list it under the Experience Section.
Example for Education Portion of your resume:
Universidad del Pais Vasco, San Sebastian, Spain
Spring 2012 (1/12 – 5/12)
Example for experience section of your resume:
Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
Fall 2011 (9/11-12/11)
- Successfully completed business coursework in Chinese at high intermediate level
- Volunteered at the World Expo. as English speaking tour guide
- Utilized Chinese language skills to communicate with locals and helped translate English documents into Chinese
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Cover Letters and Applications
Make sure to mention your study abroad experience in your cover letter. It is very important to emphasize it, as well as the skills you gained while abroad. A cover letter provides you with the opportunity to let a potential employer know more about you, the skills you bring to their organization and the position you seek. In the letter, explain how your abroad experience has prepared you for your desired job and how it can benefit the organization. Remember, you now have many abilities and skills that are very transferable, such as flexibility, problem solving and time management which are valuable to numerous employers.
Example:
My experience studying abroad in Puntarenas, Costa Rica allowed me to gain solid proficiency in Spanish as well as a strong knowledge of Hispanic culture and life. I know my Spanish language skills and understanding of Latino culture will be useful in expanding your Latino client base.
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Interviews
During an interview, it is especially important to mention your abroad experience. Typically 1% of US college students study abroad and generally a potential employer will want to hear about your time abroad.
Utilize the reflection questions above to come up with stories that showcase the skills you gained on your study abroad experience. Think of several PAR (Problem, Action, Result) stories from your study abroad experience that you might be able to use during your interview.
Example 1: Talk about a goal you had and how you were able to achieve it?
Problem: While in college, I minored in Spanish. Although I earned a lot in my Spanish courses, my goal was to become fluent in Spanish. I could write and read Spanish well, but my speaking abilities were only intermediate.
Action: I decided to study abroad for a year in San Sebastian, Spain. I was sure that being immersed in a Spanish speaking environment was what I needed to become a fluent speaker. I would be living with a Basque family and taking courses where only Spanish was spoken.
Result: After my year of studying abroad, I returned home able to communicate fluently in Spanish with not only my classmates, but also the local Basque community as well as gaining more confidence in my speaking abilities.
Example 2: What has been your greatest accomplishment?
Problem: One of my greatest accomplishments was my study abroad immersion experience in Bilbao, Spain. I was originally going to live abroad with other American students at first, but I wanted to learn more about the culture and integrate myself with the locals.
Action: I requested to live with an actual Spanish student who attended my university so I could live and be surrounded by Spaniards. I also took advantage of intercambios (language exchanges) offered through my study abroad program and met with my intercambio weekly to practice my Spanish and help him with his English.
Result: In this way, I ended up not only gaining better language skills, but also having a more authentic cultural experience which improved my cross cultural communication skills.
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Types of Interview Questions
Introduction & Background Questions: These are designed to get you engaged into a conversation with the employer. This is to also give a sense of your personality and overall character. They may ask: what are your strengths and weaknesses? What are your career goals? Tell me about yourself.
Behavioral Questions: The employer wants to see how you react to certain situations. They may ask: tell me about a challenging or difficult experience and how you handled it? Describe a situation when you had to make a quick decision.
Company Culture Questions: How will you be able to fit into the company’s environment? Employers want to see how you will work with others. They may ask: what personal characteristics do you think will be needed to be a success in this position? What qualities should a successful manager, leader or supervisor possess? What can you do for us that someone else cannot?
Job Specific Questions: You want to show the specific skills and abilities that will make you a good employee for the job you’re applying for. They may ask: how would you describe your problem-solving ability? Have you ever been put on the spot by a professor or advisor when you felt unsure of yourself?
Ethics Questions: Employers want to see your personal code of ethics. In a growing global market, you need to show you understand, respect and can work well with people with diverse backgrounds. They may ask: in what ways are your ethics in business different from your ethics in your personal life? What are the advantages of diversity in the workplace?
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Networking and Career Tips
- Join an international student organization or club.
- Find a conversation partner.
- Keep a journal. Taking notes of skills you learn will help you expand upon them later when you apply them toward a resume or in an interview.
- Participate in cultural, local, and school events. Expand your network!
- Keep a list of people you meet and their contact information. An international network can be very beneficial when applying for future jobs.
- Engage in volunteer opportunities or internships, which will help immerse you into the culture (especially for international business majors/careers).
- Meet with an academic or career advisor.
- Stay in touch with people you meet abroad.
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Other Resources
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