How you show your experience in resume about abroad

Studying abroad can be a very memorable experience of your life as you get an opportunity to experience foreign cultures, languages which can give you a solid resume material. Every travel has its story and lessons. Effectively finishing transactions in the currency of a new country, exploring another transportation system and making new companions or friends- these are some memorable experiences that you carry with you while returning home.

Create resume with a purpose and make a new resume for each job!

If you are not mentioning the purpose of your resume then it’s your mistake not to clear the employer. Your resume can get rejected in the absence of any focus. A resume is like a tool for marketing of your skills and knowledge. So, you can easily clear employer with purpose that what you can bring a company. If you are sending resumes to different companies then keep in mind their skills requirements and send resume accordingly.

On the off chance that you’ve gone abroad just for an academic class, internship, or volunteer program, the gained skills during studying abroad can make your resume unique from the other candidates. Here in this article, you will get guidance to cover study abroad experience in your resume.

However, from where you should start when it comes to put everything on paper?

Continue reading this article to become familiar with how students can craft their study abroad experience into a significant addition to their resume.

1. Consider your overall experience and choose the  right keyword:

What job did you do when you were in abroad? Students can approach this experience of studying abroad just alike previous job, yet it should also include your courses and classes you attended. Even in case you were only a student in abroad, in that case also, it is important to list all your responsibilities in order to start. Along with these responsibilities, what additionally did you learn? Problem solving skills and time management is some practical skills that an overseas student can pick along the way. You can also include your qualities and skills that were fundamental for everyday interactions.

Prefer to highlight only keywords instead of explanation as by this, you can have a conversation with employer about it by which you can convince him with your speaking skills also. This is because that word can do something that writing can’t.

Thinking about your time during study abroad can likewise enable you to identify your strengths as well as weaknesses. Take some time to differentiate between the real you before or after study abroad experience. What are the impacts of study abroad experience that you still have? Look at your most significant moments- what lessons did you get from those? Don’t sell yourself short when there is a matter of identifying strengths. Try not to sell yourself with regards to distinguishing your qualities. It takes very much communication skills, adaptability and many other positive qualities in order to navigate in the country while filling up the paperwork or buying your own groceries.

Always remember that you have to be prepared to disclose to hiring managers why you’ve included your overseas education on your resume. With every application for a job, it’s essential to know your skills and traits that employers are looking for in their employees and it should explain that how you experience study abroad gave you these skills and traits.

2. Include your hard and soft skills in resume:

If you are applying for a job and your overseas experience is not relevant to it, even then it is beneficial for adding value to your resume. Undoubtedly you may have learnt hands-on skill while studying in abroad, yet it also provides you a lot of soft skills. Hard skills are like abilities like language or teaching skills that can be taught, but soft skills are directly related to the interpersonal skills like leadership or communication skills.

3. Don’t forget to include languages:

Ensure that you have included all the language skills in your resume as employers give importance to your language skills. If these skills are not necessary for your applied role, then language skill must be included in the “skills”  the section of the  resume. If you are applying for a job which is directly related to an international language, then it should highlight it some more. For example, if during your job roles in abroad, you have used this international language, then it should be added in your ‘work experience’. But if you have studied any international language under study abroad program, then it must include under “Education”. Then be honest with your fluency level while these foreign language skills can make you unique from the crowd and it can easily turn an interview into the job offer itself.

4. Expand your network:

In the modern era, having a professional network is a big advantage while you are going to apply for jobs. If you have lived and studied in an international country, then obviously you have built an international network. So it it very beneficial for jobs where networking is required. This network is relevant if you are applying to the same field in which you have worked in abroad. So, include this professional network only in case if it’s applicable.

5. Include experiences in your cover letter:

It is very difficult to summarize some experience in statistics or bullet points so don’t skip these experiences. Just include them in your cover, letter of job application  cover letter gives more creativity and flexibility than resumes so use this creative way to add experience to tell your story. With this you can stand out from the crowd.

6. Show you can adapt to any situation:

Did you participate in any social activity during the period of your studying period? It means you might have made many international and professional contacts. Adapting to any multicultural communication is a very important skill to adjust in an international work environment. If you have participated in various social activities with your friends, then you can describe it to employers that you are capable of making new connections with different personalities. With this, employers can have a chance to know about your leadership potential.

Here are some common ways to highlight study abroad experience on your resume:

Before highlighting study abroad experience, you should think about the reason to mention this experience on a resume. How this experience can shape your career and capabilities? For the majority of students who are studying abroad, this experience can give a boost to their career in job prospects. For example, with overseas degree, you will have a chance to:

• Understand different situations as well as challenges from different perspectives
• Get familiar with unfamiliar situations and solve it using your knowledge according to the situations
• Be familiar with multicultural and value based system. Also learn to adapt to these differences
• Gain knowledge about how the industries, job market and employers view your experience and industry
• Learn that how these cultural norms can impact the ethics or business strategy, and your business practices.
• Improve your communication or language skills that can make you able to engage with a different personalities as well as belief systems of the society
• Learn two ways to process new gained information quickly
• Work in the environment of the people with different background as well as historical understandings

Before including your studying abroad experience in a resume, take a look of what you gained from these experiences. Consider valuable characteristics like leadership, adaptability to any environment, flexibility, as well as team-building. You should properly understand the importance of this experience before explaining to potential employees.

Don’t forget:

Include your speaking level of each language on resume as it is the best way to show your language proficiency. The other ways to classify this proficiency are:

• Native
• Limited working proficiency
• Elementary proficiency
• Professional working proficiency

Of course, highlighting a study abroad experience on resume helps you to grow up professionally. You can also mention challenges that you faced in that period of studying abroad. Demonstrate employers that how you overcame those problems and turned that hurdle into your success. By this you can impress employers while proving perseverance.

Author’s Bio:

Vaishali Joshi is the owner of V Future Step– A Leading Study Abroad Recommendation Platform. She has got more than 5 years of experience in overseas industries. Her expertise and love of the management and study abroad industry inspired her to start with such a platform where they solve the problems of students and study abroad consultants to provide best  solutions. Follow her on Facebook and LinkedIn.