Resume

By Brooke:

Due to the mass recruiting styles recently adopted by several major companies, it is hard to set oneself apart in a pile of literally hundreds of resumes. However, listing your international experience on your resume allows you to differentiate yourself from the get-go. There are several ways in which you can frame your experience abroad but the key is to be brief, but effective. The following are some guidelines to follow.

1. Clearly explain where you were, what you did, when you went, and how long you were there.
1. Employers are not always going to understand what studying abroad entails so spell it out for them as clearly and as briefly as possible so it is easy for them to scan over it quickly.
2. Decide which heading under which your experience best fits.
1. You can put your abroad experience under Education, Work Experience (if job held while abroad), Experiential Learning/Leadership, or under a separate heading labeled "International Experience." Decide which one best fits your own experience as well as the job for which you are applying.
3. Add a bit about what you accomplished.
1. Employers who have not studied abroad typically do not know much about it and will sometimes assume that candidates who have studied abroad only did so to go on vacation or to party. Combat this notion with two or three concrete accomplishments that came about from your experience. 

Examples include:

• Participated in Marine Biology research laboratory for 20 hours/wk for 9 weeks in Newcastle, Australia.
• Completed International Marketing report on wine production in Italy after a tour of a prominent winery in Naples.
• Presented a Poverty Profile on Morocco after a visit to the World Bank Office in Rabat.