While study abroad may seem like a break from your “real” life, it can be a valuable part of your career exploration and development. Whether or not you hope to work abroad in the future, being able to articulate your international competencies can be extremely valuable to a potential employer. We encourage you to work with your Career Center advisor to prepare for making the most of your upcoming experience.
Below are some things you can do to maximize or enhance your career development before you go, while you are studying off-campus, and when you get back.
Before you leave Colby:
- Have a meeting with Career Center staff to identify and clarify your career goals.
- Discuss your graduate school plans and applications before leaving with advisors and career center
- Students who will be away for all or part of their junior year, particularly in the spring, should look ahead for information about graduate school, internship, and employment application procedures and cycles so that they will know what to expect during their senior year. If you will be away for fall semester only start your planning early in the spring semester when you get back to campus. If you are away for spring semester, start your planning before you leave.
- Network with personal and family contacts, alumni & other professionals in your field of interest
- Consider doing an Alumni search for individuals living and working where you will be studying
- Talk with students who are back from your study site. Did they do an internship while there? Was it during the semester or after? How did they arrange it?
- Develop a resume to bring with you and learn about effective cover letters.
- Consider exploring opportunities for interning, working, or volunteering in the country where you will be studying during your term abroad or for the summer or JanPlan before or after. Some students have done internships before the start of their term abroad or during JanPlan or the summer after.
While you are abroad:
- Make career awareness part of your experience.
- If you are going abroad: talk to alumni living and working in this part of the world. What do you observe about the cultural aspects of work habits, business attire and supervisor-employee relationships? What appears to be most “valued” in the business community? What can you observe about gender-based aspects of the working environment, job assignments and corporate culture?
- If you are studying in another U.S. location: talk to alumni living and working in this community. Explore the local economy. Which businesses/industries are dominant in the area? What are some local concerns of employees? What are the cost of living and the average salary? If this is an area you would consider relocating to, what are the resources available and the lifestyle issues you want to consider?
- It is not unusual for students who study abroad to use contacts and resources in their host country to obtain internships for the following summer (or January Term), or to search from abroad for an internship in the U.S.
- Consider conducting informational interviews or exploring other career resources. Talk with local faculty members and get suggestions for other potential contacts in the community
- If you are living in a homestay or with local students, talk with them about the local economy.
- Contact any alumni that are living or working where you are
- Practice the local language
- Maintain a “contacts” notebook of every interesting professional you meet. Don’t forget to get an email address. Possible references could be a professor from the country you studied in, a host family member, or a supervisor where you volunteered, worked or interned.
- Pay attention to the cost of living. Figure out how much money you would need to live there.
- Explore opportunities for post study experiences
- Stay connected to Colby Career resources such as alumni networks
When you return to Colby:
- Attend the “Marketing your Study Abroad Experiences” workshop offered by OCS and Career Center in September and February.
- Make plans for an internship or independent study off-campus in the summer or JanPlan
- It is not unusual for students who study abroad to use contacts and resources in their host country to obtain internships for the following summer (or January Term), or to search from abroad for an internship in the U.S.
- If you did an internship off-campus or met interesting contacts keep in touch with them on a regular basis
- Update your resume summarizing your experience abroad
- Consider your senior year and post graduation plans
Visit the Career Center for more information.
