Studying Abroad: A Résumé Builder

One of our Professors in Japan

If you are interested in Studying Abroad or if you have Studied Abroad in the past, now might be a good time to look at how it can help expand your Résumé.   

Study Abroad

One of the simplest ways that you can use your Study Abroad experience in your Résumé is simply by listing it as part of your education.  There are multiple ways you can benefit from this.  First, if you are new to the career field, then your Résumé might be running a little thin on information; use the “Studying Abroad” experience as a filler/lengthener.  Sounds silly/cheap, but everything counts in the job search.  More importantly, if you list the foreign college that you studied under, it adds to the depth of your educational experience. It shows that you have studied under Professors coming from different backgrounds or ways of thought.  It adds to the fact that you might bring in unique or different ideas to their work. For example, I have studied the Law in Civil Law nations and Common Law nations. That means that simply by stating that I studied in China and the United States, my interviewers can tell that I understand ways different people view the law and how it can be applied in alternative ways.   It strengthens the fact that I stand out from the rest of their applicants.

Skills

One of the things you are going to need on both your Résumé and your Cover Letter are key terms, skills, and/or character traits.  You will frequently be asked to name your strengths, weaknesses, and abilities.  Or perhaps you just need to show them what you can offer their team.  If you Study Abroad, there are many helpful terms that can now be applied to you.  Some of those you might use include:

“More US Students Need to Study Abroad, Says Higher Ed Group”

by Ira Mellman via “VOA News“

By a 3-to-1 margin, international students studying in the United States versus U.S. students studying abroad.  That imbalance, according to an organization that fosters student exchanges, threatens American students from developing global awareness.

In announcing it “Generation Study Abroad” initiative this week, the New York-based Institute of International Education (IIE)  hopes to double the number of U.S. students studying abroad in the next five years.

Comparing the more than 800,000 international students in the United States with the approximately 283,000 Americans studying abroad, the IIIE’s Daniel Obst calls the difference “a fairly large trade imbalance.” Obst, the IIE’s Deputy Vice President for International Partnerships, said less than 10-percent of U.S. students choose foreign study.  

Top Destinations for U.S. Study Abroad, 2011-12
Rank	Destination	2011-12 Total	2011-12 % of Total	% Change from 2010-11
	World total	283,332	100.0	3.4
1	UK	34,660	12.2	4.5
2	Italy	29,645	10.5	-2.4
3	Spain	26,480	9.3	2.0
4	France	17,168	6.1	0.9
5	China	14,887	5.3	2.0
6	Germany	9,370	3.3	3.9
7	Australia	9,324	3.3	-4.2
8	Costa Rica	7,900	2.8	9.3
9	Ireland	7,640	2.7	9.0
10	Japan	5,283	1.9	27.8

 Open Doors report on International Education Exchange
 Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/opendoors

There are many reasons for the lower number of Americans going abroad to study.  But Obst says among the most common fears revolve around costs, concerns that foreign curricula won’t fit their academic needs, and the notion that studying abroad is a waste of time. “In many cases, those are myths, so our campaign seeks to dispel some of those myths,” said Obst.

To reach its goal, IIE’s “Generation Study Abroad” will focus on . . . .”

 

“MU 2020 strategic plans focus on study abroad”

by Lakshna Mehta via “The Maneater“

“MU hopes to see more students studying abroad in years to come.

According to MU, 23 percent of current undergraduates have participated in a study abroad program.

But MU wants to see the number rise to 30 percent participation by 2018. The national average of students studying abroad is 2 percent.

“Given our current participation rate, MU’s goal … is ambitious but attainable with the full support of the university,” Director of Study Abroad Barbara Lindeman said.

Lindeman also said a plan to reach this goal is still in the beginning stages of formulation.

Senior Joshua Foley said he was excited to hear the study abroad program is getting an upgrade.

“The first time I studied abroad was to Japan,” he said. “I am now looking for programs in Russia, but the university doesn’t have its own Russian program that I know of. So I’m hoping they develop one of their own because I know that that would be really popular.”

Gay Albright, director of International Programs for the College of Business, said the college will be adding more short-term study abroad programs because those are the most popular types of programs for business majors.

“We are working to develop a winter intersession program in South America for 2014-15 and a 2015-16 winter intersession program in Asia,” she said. “We expect to offer more full-semester and even full-year programs in the future.”

Albright said it was important to help students realize the importance of broadening their global mindset. . . . .