How traveling abroad after college can help you land your first job [infographic]

 

Are you thinking about traveling abroad after college, but you worry about entering the working world one year later? Don’t worry! In fact, traveling the world will help you acquire some very necessary skills to get your first job. While having fun and exploring new cultures, you will learn things you wouldn’t otherwise. And when you are back from your adventures, you can make travel look good on your resume and in an interview. Here are six ways to take advantage of your traveling experiences and stay on track to launch your career:

1. Take time to reflect

Knowing what you want to do straight after graduation can be quite challenging. Before making this important decision, it may be beneficial to take some time off to travel abroad and analyze the future of your career from a different perspective. Traveling will give you the chance to disconnect from your daily routine and have time for yourself to consider the different options.

2. Volunteer

If you have just finished college, you may not have any working experience yet. But that is not a problem! You can do some volunteering work while traveling; it will be easier than you think. You can choose some fantastic volunteering programs at GoAbroad.com based on the country you want to visit, the causes you care about and the duration you have in mind.

Volunteering abroad will look exceptional on your resume and will help you to stand out from the competition. Employers will highly value your commitment, responsibility, and devotion.

3. Grasp a new language

Being able to communicate with international business is increasingly important in the workforce. Speaking a second language will broaden up your career prospects, and it may impact your overall earnings. In the United States, Spanish is the second most-spoken language, and it may help you not only to get a job in the customer service industry but also in many B2B career opportunities. Furthermore, languages like Mandarin and Arabic are becoming extremely useful in international business, and there is a lack of Americans who are bilingual in these two languages.

There are different ways you can learn a new language while traveling abroad after college. Some suggestions are: attend a short course in your destination country, enroll in an online language course, stay with a local host, chat to locals, read the papers, watch original version films with subtitles and download the dictionary app that best works for you. Even if you don’t become fluent in a new language, you will learn the basics, and that effort and knowledge are valued by hiring managers. Include your language skills on your resume to show you are a curious person, always trying to learn more and go the extra mile.

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TIP: Make sure to supplement your online job search with networking. Once you get guidance from your network, target your online search to the right job titles and companies. After you apply, follow up with someone who works there. College Recruiter lists thousands of entry-level job opportunities. Would it make sense to start searching?

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4. Build organizational skills

Traveling, just like business, requires a lot of organization. You will gain a set of skills that you will find highly useful later on in your career, including:

• Managing budgets like a pro. If you run out of money too soon, your adventure is over!
• Becoming more adaptable and flexible. If your original plans change, you need to be prepared for what is next.
• Getting better and faster at problem-solving. If you get lost, for example, you may need to be able to read a complex map or get instructions and follow them correctly.
• Being responsible for your own decisions. When you are on the road, you are constantly making decisions that will affect your travels. If for instance, you decide to take a bus instead of a train and it takes longer than expected, you will have less time to spend at your destination.

Overall, you will return from your adventure being a more mature and experienced person.

5. International networking

Take this opportunity to meet as many people as you can. Engaging with people from other cultures and backgrounds will enrich you as a person and will help you see life from different angles. Talk to locals and other travelers; you may find people abroad who are interested in your industry, and you never know who will recommend you in the future or where will you meet your next employer! Connecting with them on social media networks may be a good idea to stay in touch in the future.

6. Start a blog

Starting your own travel blog is the best way to put together your traveling experiences and tell the world. The benefits of starting a blog while traveling are endless: improve your writing skills, get better at photography and video, learn about online marketing, social media management, search engine optimization, develop relationships with other bloggers and so on.

All the abilities acquired creating a blog will help you land your first job even if it is in a completely different area. Your blogging capabilities will make you better at communicating, working faster and being more efficient. All appreciated skills for any job position.

If you are still in two minds about traveling abroad after college, talk to other people you know who have done it before. You will find out that nobody regrets having such a profound experience.

This infographic comes from Essay Writing Service UK:

Maria Onzain is a content marketing expert writing for Open Colleges about education, career, and productivity. She is passionate about all things digital, loves technology, social media, start-ups, travelling, and good food. Connect with Maria on LinkedIn. 

 

 

 

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