Studying Abroad Helped Me In My Career

Studying abroad in college is a huge selling point to distinguish you from other candidates in the hunt for a career. Having this experience is not only a resume booster but it’s a confidence booster. In today’s work environment everyone is competing to showcase why they are the best person for the job. Being part of student organizations is one thing but it’s another to have experienced international business first-hand.

Add it to your Resume

As soon as you return from your trip take some time to think about what this trip did to help you grow. Do you feel different? Are you more tolerant of others? How can you use what you learned in your career? I asked myself these questions and more when I returned from China. Also, I thought about the language and cultural barriers I faced. In addition, I reflected on how much more confident I was about speaking in public. After I returned home, I added my trip to my resume and LinkedIn right away. Lastly, I added a subsection under my University highlighting my trip and a short description of how it applied to my degree. Read more about how to add your study abroad experience to your resume https://ibstours.com/blog/adding-ibs-resume/.

Interviewing

After my trip to China, I decided to apply for a position at my job I was slightly underqualified for. It required a bachelor’s degree and I have not yet graduated, but I decided to go for it. During my interview, my interviewer brought up my experience abroad almost immediately. She was impressed that I did not only go abroad but I had applied it to my resume in a way that tied it to my career. It was such an easy thing to talk about while building a connection that the interviewer was sure to remember. I eventually did get the position and my new boss told me that my interview was why she chose me and that my study abroad stories helped me to stand out.

Speaking up in Discussions

I am the first person to admit that I do not like speaking up in group discussions, both in class and at work. However, after my trip, I felt like a brand-new person. I found myself so much more comfortable speaking up not only in class but at work. During company visits with International Business Seminars, you are asked to present a company before the visit to your peers and then to create questions in order to ask your presenters. This really helped me to get out of my comfort zone and become more comfortable speaking in a meeting setting.

Confidence

After studying abroad, I found myself much more confident in my abilities. I was able to not only communicate better in meeting situations, but I was also more confident in myself. Being abroad makes you uncomfortable, you don’t know the language, the people, or your way around. You are forced to make connections with people you normally wouldn’t and realize that you have all these abilities you never even knew you had.

Building a Network

A big part of having a successful trip abroad is building connections. Being thrown into a new place with new people can be scary but it helps you to prepare for building lasting connections with people around you. Building a network is important in today’s business environment. Its all about who you know and how you know them. It’s important to think about building your network and a study abroad experience is a great way to get to know people to expand that network.

The Bottomline

Studying abroad isn’t just a great experience it’s a career-building experience. Studying abroad can not only help you stand out from the competition but it also helps you to build skills that are vital to career success.

International Business Seminars