Have a stronger chance at landing a better job
Do you feel pressured to be perfect in school so that you can get into a great college and, ultimately, land a terrific job?
Don't worry; you aren't alone.
All students feel anxiety about getting that perfect job and making the right choices for their future. Fortunately, there is a method to make you stand out from a crowd of your peers.
These days, everyone is getting good grades, everyone is loading their schedule with extracurricular activities, everyone is working to get into that impressive college. You can do something more:
You can attend college abroad.
Full degree programs are available in all parts of the world - from France and Italy to Tokyo and Australia. Not only do these programs offer an unparalleled opportunity to turn your college experience into the adventure of a lifetime (imagine taking art class in the Louvre or learning about architecture at the Leaning Tower of Pisa), but they are often cheaper than schools in the US, and they give you a great chance at landing a better job:
- Prove that you are open to change and can function in an unfamiliar environment
- Learn to communicate in a globalized world.
Be the Perfect Employee
All employers want an employee who has great knowledge, but who also has the ability to learn and adapt. You can prove that you have both of these skills simply by listing a foreign degree on your resume.
When you go into an interview, you are supposed to explain what you've learned, not just what you've done. You should bring your experiences to life so that the interviewer can see that you've learned from them and gained valuable knowledge.
Just about everything you do while abroad can be placed into this category. You are learning to live in a new environment (that means adjusting everything you know, even in the little details like finding housing, buying groceries, getting to class, etc.). Accomplishing this shows that you are capable of adapting, which in turn will prove that you are better equipped to face change than job candidates who have not had such experiences.
It will also show the interviewer that you have been exposed to new and interesting things and, with a little explanation from you, future employers will learn that the classes you took while abroad, the places you saw and the tours you took all helped turn you into a mature, well-educated individual ready for anything this job has to offer.
Just by the fact that you received your education abroad, that your college degree is from a school unlike any of the other candidates', will prove that you have the ability to be a top-notch employee.
Babel Fish
Increasingly modern communication tools such as e-mail, instant messaging, VoIP and the like are making it easier for people from all over the world to communicate, and countries like China and India are becoming increasingly important entities in the global business world, joining the already essential players like the US, UK and Japan.
What this means is that individuals with a more global understanding than others will become increasingly important to US companies. By attending college abroad, you will not only interact with people in your new country, and learn their systems and cultures, but you will have a greater opportunity to travel to other countries and experience other cultures as well. There is also the potential to learn a new language, and all of these elements will help you shine in the eyes of future employers.
As their businesses continue to expand into global arenas, they will need employees who have real world experience in other countries, and if you attend college abroad, that means that they will need you.
In Conclusion
Attending college in a foreign country is an amazing opportunity to see the world, experience adventure and have exciting stories to tell for a lifetime, but more than that, it is a chance to stand-out amongst the increasingly crowded competition. Your parents no doubt tell you to get straight A's, join half a dozen clubs and score perfect on your SATs.
This isn't the only way though. You don't have to stress yourself out to the point where your hair turns gray before you've even earned a college degree!
You can go to college abroad and potentially experience even greater benefits than with a domestic education. You will learn to adapt to new surroundings and scenarios, you will appreciate new cultures and societies and you will learn subjects from a totally new perspective than your first twelve years of schooling, making you better-rounded than the average America. Not only that, but colleges like to enroll international students, and if you go to school in another country, you will be an international student. That means you will be given greater consideration, and because the application system works differently as well, you may not need that stunningly amazing and impossible to achieve transcript that your parents keep nagging you about. In other words, you won't have to feel as stressed.
By attending college abroad, you can keep your sanity, land a great job and experience the adventure of a lifetime. It will truly be one of the greatest decisions you ever make.
