When you return to your home country from your time as a study abroad student with more than memories and a degree or certificate. And I’m not referring to that tattoo! You also possess a host of skills that the global marketplace finds SUPER attractive.

How  Study Abroad Makes You a Player in the Global Marketplace 

The Internet and the globalization of business have HR professionals worldwide scurrying to find employees with the English language skills, flexibility, creativity, and cultural sensitivity that you gained while studying in the US.  Your time as a study abroad student prepares you to step into a career in the global marketplace.

Think you’re not all that?  Well, studies conducted by Maddux and Adam Galinsky, Ph.D. (from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, and later INSEAD in France) found a REAL link between study abroad and creativity.  In fact, Maddux also writes:

“People who have international experience or identify with more than one nationality are better problem solvers and display more creativity, our research suggests.  What’s more, we found that people with this international experience are more likely to create new businesses and products and to be promoted.”

Study Abroad Benefits Your Career

Own It—you are a player baby!

Your skill-set makes you a very desirable commodity.  Your time spent adapting to a foreign culture grew your maturity and self-confidence.  Your experience abroad widened your worldview and gave you the ability to form partnerships and work effectively with culturally diverse groups.

Global business needs employees that can be sensitive to all cultures.  Many multi-national corporations have made a serious investment in creating a more culturally sensitive workforce, going so far as to have same level employees in different countries swap positions for a year or more.**

Learning and speaking English with native speakers gave you a better grasp of the complexities of the language.  English IS the language of global business, and it needs employees who are confident in their spoken English skills.

Most English language learners who study ESL locally don’t have the opportunity to practice with a native speaker and lack the conversational skills necessary for today’s global marketplace.

And…you should re-read the Maddux/Galinsky study findings—you are “a better problem solver”, “display more creativity”, are “more likely to create new businesses and products and to be promoted”—who WOULDN’T hire you!