How to Highlight Your Study Abroad for Professional Development: Part I

This post is part of a series on professional development co-sponsored by Experience.com

The team at Abroad101 has put together some advice for those looking to integrate their international experience in their resumes and leverage your study abroad to a competitive advantage while job hunting. We’ve broken down the process to three phases: Reflect, Connect and Professionalize.

Reflect:
Take some time to really reflect on the experience you had. If you kept a journal while you were abroad, read it. If you didn’t, start a journal now and write down everything you remember. Start asking yourself questions about what you learned while abroad. How do you think you’ve changed as a student and as a person? What skills have you gained? Talk about your experience with everyone, and share photographs when you can. Your passion will show through and people will respond positively to your enthusiasm. Read more about Reflecting!

Connect:
How are the skills you’ve learned transferable to the workplace? Make a list of all the skills that study abroad helped you to improve, and highlight those that are applicable to your desired job or career. Choose three stories from your experience that will illustrate your use of these skills, be prepared to give specific details during interviews. Read more about Connecting!

Professionalize:
Use professional vocabulary; you have to present your experience in a business-like manner to be taken seriously. Prepare what you’d like to highlight according to what traits the company is looking for. If you won’t need a second language at work, it won’t help you to emphasize your fluency in French. However, just the fact that you know another language, you can highlight your ability to learn and adapt. Read more about Professionalizing!

See also: The Power of Networking