Study abroad for career

Put yourself in the shoes of an employer: you're looking at a long list of job applicants – all have college degrees, most have had good grades and many have related work experience. After the filtering process you're still left with a sizeable list of names on paper, and although you'd love to interview everybody (you don't want to miss the right person) you're working on a deadline and a limited budget.

So what do you do? You look for any little thing on a resume that might tell you something special about the applicant; something that hints at characteristics like self-motivation, resourcefulness and initiative.

Now re-take your own perspective and ask yourself what can you do to make yourself stand out in such a way to prospective employers. Study hard and get good grades? Sure, that's part of it. But despite the fact that you've worked hard and deserve the recognition, it simply won't make you stand out in a unique way.

Grades only answer the question of whether or not an applicant is able to understand and execute directions successfully. A necessary base, but the questions employers are really interested in are ones like: "Can this person deal with a challenging situation that requires creativity and self-discipline? Do they have the flexibility necessary to communicate and cooperate effectively with others? Will they be able to adapt to new and changing conditions with energy and confidence?"

If you're interested in study abroad, there's a good chance you possess all of the above characteristics. Because – let's face it – there are plenty of challenges involved in figuring out how to navigate a new environment; possibly learning a new language; having to take care of all the little aspects of daily life like shopping, cooking and cleaning up after yourself; and all the while balancing your class schedule, doing homework and studying for tests.

Not to characterize study abroad as a constant struggle – it's an adventure, with all of the challenges and rewards that an adventure entails. This is what makes it such an excellent opportunity: it promises all of the fun and excitement of discovering a new world, gives you the opportunity to grow through the overcoming of challenges, and ultimately allows you to truly distinguish yourself from a pool of job applicants (recent studies have shown that fewer than 10% of college students decide to study abroad).

The fact that you've had the courage to launch yourself into completely unknown territory and take on all of the challenges involved in studying abroad will send a very clear message to potential employers. You'll be letting them know before even your first interview that you're not afraid of facing new situations and learning to adapt effectively. In today's global marketplace, this is an extremely valuable quality. Companies are placing increasing importance on internationalism and knowledge of multiple languages, and studying abroad is simply the best way to gain that type of experience.

By studying abroad you won't only make yourself more attractive to employers in your native country – you'll open the door to the possibility of living and working in other parts of the world as well. Foreign companies also place a premium on students whose studies reflect international experience, especially if those students speak the local language and come from an English-speaking country. And a year or two working overseas is a sure way to have employers salivating over you back home.

So if you're still trying to decide whether or not you should study abroad, be sue to add "good job in future" to the list of pros.

Patrick Collins Works for http://www.spanish-university.es/, a website that offers Spanish courses in Spanish universities.