Travel Experience for Your Resume

Often students wonder if it's worth their time and money to study abroad or with the National Student Exchange experience.  My response is always the same... YES!!  Not only will it broaden yourself as a person and give you opportunities to experience something you otherwise wouldn't have, but it also looks great on a resume!

Why Employers Care About Travel Abroad

The Journal Online has a nice article about how studying abroad increases employability, which came from a study by the Council for Industry and Higher Education entitled Global Horizons and the Role of Employers.  It discussed these points that many students who've studied/traveled abroad.

• Comfortable and enjoy working in a diverse office environment
• Willing to work and travel all over the world for the job
• Bring additional language skills and culture awareness to the company

The article continues to explain some of the personal reactions by employers.  Here are a few reactions by employers:

"In a global economy, these skills and competencies are increasingly sought by employers, and students with this experience will find that their employability is higher than without it.”

“The value of [a student’s] international experience goes beyond purely the acquisition of language – it lies in the ability to see business and personal issues from other than your own cultural perspective."

How to Incorporate Your Abroad Experience into a Resume

There are many ways to add your study/travel abroad experience to your resume.  The IPFW Career Guide is one resource which provides examples on how a typical study abroad experience might be explained in a resume.  Check out the Career Guide HERE, and go to page 17 for an example.

Basically you have 2 options: 1) List it in your Education section as another school, or 2) List it as a separate section and expand upon your experiences and learning components. Salisbury University has a pretty good online resource for other ideas on how to incorporate your study abroad experience in a resume.