Must Do Mondays: Go Abroad Now! 5 Ways to Beef Up Your International Resume
Posted by Olga at Going Global on March 9, 2010
Photo attribution to hchen1 on Flickr
An international career is not something that happens overnight. It is built by making strides to incorporate international skills and experiences into your professional resume. The great thing is that you can start building those skills and having those experiences today.
One of the best ways to look at your international career is like a business. You are your biggest asset. Your goal is to optimize and distinguish yourself in each category of your professional career like Education, Skills, Professional Experience and Community Involvement (Bonus: these are also categories of your resume). Make it a priority to have at least one international skill or experience that you can add to each of your categories.
We have included 5 ways for you to add an international flair to your career. Some require more planning and a monetary investment, while others simply require time. Regardless of the barriers to entry, each of these activities will distinguish you. Ultimately, that is the goal of anyone looking to have an international career; to not only consider himself or herself an asset, but for the companies to value them as an asset as well.
1. Learn a language (Category advantage: Skills)
In a global marketplace, multilingualism is an essential element of an international career. Having basic comprehension and conversational abilities in one language is the beginning step. Take a class. Join a language club. Teach yourself online. Make your goal to add a minimum amount of fluency in one language. As you build your fluency in one language, start adding more languages to your skill sets. “Valerie Koreman, a senior executive with an employment agency in The Hague” recommends knowing at least three European languages for a career in Europe.
2. Join an international club or group (Category advantage: Community Involvement)
They say that you are a reflection of who you surround yourself with. If you want an international career, start going to places where there are international people. Build your global competencies by discussing and exposing yourself to international politics, economics, culture and history. Meet the local Swedish Chamber of Commerce. Join the International Students Club. Have dinner with the local French Cuisine Connoisseurs. If there is no group that you gravitate towards, start one yourself.
3. Study abroad (Category advantage: Education and Professional Experience)
Enrich your educational experience by doing your course work in another country. Not only are you building your cultural awareness but you are also exposing yourself to an international lifestyle. Transitioning to an international lifestyle is something that requires the right kind of personality. Your marketability as a future expat increases because you have already experienced life in another country.
4. Do an international internship (Category advantage: Professional Experience)
Kick off your international career by doing an internship abroad. Your internship experience gives you a competitive edge in the marketplace as a young professional that has exposure in the workforce as well as living abroad. Similar to a study abroad experience, companies want to know that you can handle the pressures that an international transition poses. By interning abroad, you have already proven yourself capable of excelling as an international professional, even if it is an internship.
5. Build your network with international professionals (Category advantage: Skills, Community Involvement)
Nothing is more important for an international profession than their network. Most international opportunities arise because of you word-of-mouth exposure into the international market. Start by joining a LinkedIn group or follow some key people on twitter involved in international hiring. The more people that know your international career goals, the easier it will be to find a job or opportunity.
How have you positioned yourself as an international professional? What do you recommend for young professionals looking to a pursue a career abroad?
Comments
5 Responses to “Must Do Mondays: Go Abroad Now! 5 Ways to Beef Up Your International Resume”Leave a comment, and if you'd like your own picture to show up next to your comments, go get a gravatar!
As a young professional myself, I have been fortunate to have travelled the globe when my dad was in the military, but that came to halt once he retired. Then I was able to travel when I was in the corporate atmosphere. The bullets the author stated above are good points if you are close to being assigned the trip or have taken it and need to document for experience.
I would suggest if you are with an organization that has an international presence, read up on the countries and learn about language, culture, business policies so that you will be ahead of the game when your number is called. Try to build a rapport with individuals within the international offices that are working or doing the same job role as you. This will show your flexibility and tenacity to learn regardless of international barrier. Lastly, if you are not with an organization and have a keen interest in learning about international expansion, the web has become a powerful tool which has bridged the gap for anyone anywhere. Be a contributor within international sites as an author, writer, blogger, subject matter expert, this will help add credibility to you and to the other individual, showing them there are others who are interested in what they are doing professionally.
Hi Lemuel,
Thanks for sharing your insights. You hit on a key point about building rapport with professionals in your international office or industry. Your network is essential to building your international presence. I also think that you are dead on about utilizing the web to build yourself as an international professional, even if you have not had your first international assignment. Being a contributor of international topics will absolutely help to build your credibility within the international community. The more visible you are (and now with the web it is much easier) the more opportunities will become accessible to you.
Thanks again for sharing these hints. All great ways to build your international resume.
Cheers!
Olga
Hi Cindy,
I absolutely agree. Know specifically what you need from your network will help you to narrow down your focus and have a much more strategic approach to developing relationships. The first step in building a network is to provide value to them first. Once they build that rapport and trust with you, then you can ask for more.
Thanks for your great insights!
Cheers!
Olga