Will a year abroad affect your chances of finding a job? What is the best way to explain a career break? Of course, gaps in your resume don’t look good, but that’s no reason to forego traveling and gaining experience. You can also present the skills you’ve acquired while traveling in a positive light on your resume.
Our most recent jobs abroad
- Adventure jobs, Camp & Campsite, Hospitality Services, Leisure, Tourism
- Italy
- Hotel jobs, Tourism
- Cyprus, Greece, Spain
Honesty is the best policy
Ignoring your travels on your resume is not the best option. Gaps will always stand out and can lead to your resume being disregarded or you having to explain yourself. That’s why inventing jobs abroad or presenting yourself as self-employed is not a solution either. Without references or a suitable portfolio, this decision will backfire. So stand by your experiences and make the best of them.
Volunteer work
If you signed up for volunteer work during your travels, then this definitely counts as work experience. It immediately shows that you are not only willing to help others in your free time, but that you have also engaged with a different culture and language.
Focus on your area of responsibility and the skills you developed as a result. Did you work with people? Or were you responsible for organization and coordination? Every area has given you valuable experience and helped you develop. That’s why it’s worth mentioning!
Short- or long-term employment
To get through a stay abroad, you need money for the most part. Regardless of what jobs you had abroad, whether in a hostel or in customer service, every type of employment shows a different skill set. Even if these are not related to the new role you are currently applying for, you can still showcase transferable skills.
Transferred skills
A stay abroad, regardless of where and how long, requires a lot of organization and independence. Even if you were just traveling and didn’t have any jobs abroad during that time, that doesn’t mean it was wasted time. Did you travel the world with just a backpack? Were you completely on your own and faced with difficult situations? In these cases, your soft skills, resilience, decision-making, and adaptability will have developed.
You also had the opportunity to discover a foreign culture and gain your own experiences. Due to globalization, more companies are operating abroad these days, so this is becoming increasingly important. All of this indicates to potential employers that you seem to be a team player, can communicate effectively, and can build relationships.
Languages
If your stay abroad was combined with a language course, then all the better. Languages are highly valued qualifications today. If you have spent time abroad, you will have picked up a language or two. Even basic or advanced knowledge is worth mentioning. And if not, your English skills will definitely have improved abroad.
How and where
Depending on what kind of experience you had abroad, this will be listed in different sections of your resume. If you completed a course and received a certificate, then it belongs under “Education” or “Language Skills.” An internship or other work abroad, on the other hand, belongs under “Work Experience.”
If your trip cannot be classified under these categories, it is also possible to use a section entitled “Experience abroad.” However, this only makes sense if you have more than two points to list.
Caution
Not every trip abroad is really worth mentioning on your resume. A month’s vacation or a short trip with friends? Even if these experiences have shaped you, they really don’t belong here!
Also, pay attention to how many experiences abroad you list. A high number can also have a negative effect and make you appear unreliable or fickle. It’s also a good idea to find out about the company you’re applying to. It’s said that large companies pay more attention to experience abroad, while small family businesses don’t see it as so important.
So, you don’t have to hide your experience abroad on your resume, but write confidently about this period. And who knows, putting your experiences in the right light or focusing on transferable skills may even help you find a new job.
