Study away is often a life-changing experience. New skills and connections develop as you hone your academics. Don’t forget to include these newly-found abilities in your career exploration, graduate/professional school applications, and future job-hunting after your study away. The experiences you have had and skills you have gained, once you step back and examine them, demonstrate your growth as a global citizen.

How Your Experience Contributes to Career Readiness and Employability

Study away impacts your educational, but also emotional intelligence. You’ve developed flexibility and openness to new people and experiences. Not only does this serve you personally, but these newly acquired skills can be useful as you turn your attentions to future goals, including plans after undergraduate school, such as: your first career and/or attendance at graduate/professional school.

Students often ask GEO Advisors, “What skills or experiences would a reviewer for a job or graduate school application want to know about my study away experience?” To help you get started, consider the career competencies defined by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. These are skillsets that employers regularly define as most expected in recent college graduates. 

Employers and Graduate Schools like the skills needed to study away

Many employers and graduate schools are not only looking for a good fit, educationally, but also personally. Your study away experience builds and demonstrates some skills and experiences they are seeking.

Here are some possible examples:

  • Learned a new language or how to communicate in a cross-cultural environment.
  • Developed critical thinking as you learned a new academic system or navigated a new city. New class assignments, group projects, facilitated excursions, or practicum experiences may have challenged your previous ways of thinking.
  • Involved in team or cohort collaboration, and gained new insights from people with diverse perspectives.

Prospective employers, fellowship committees, or admissions officers for graduate/professional school will value hearing how your study away experiences helped you develop these skills.

Check out these articles for other ideas:

You can add these skills to your resume and/or CV to enhance your marketability

There are a wealth of resources you can find on how to “tell your story” of your study away and how it makes you stand out as a recruit for your next internship, post-graduation job, fellowship, or graduate/professional school applications using what you have learned. 

Your first stop is to update your resume/cv and cover letter. The Duke Career Center offers great guides and industry specific resources to help you get started, and we’ve also included some helpful resources that highlight how to talk about your study away experience: 

Don’t forget to update your profile on LinkedIn. You’ll connect with other colleagues including those who you met during your study away. Growing your global network can lead to new opportunities in the future.

Use the Duke Career Center resources to build your LinkedIn profile too!   

Make an appointment with a Duke Career Advisor or Duke Pre-Graduate School Advisor for Guidance

Get feedback from the professionals! They can review your resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile, and offer tips for how to connect your experiences in an interview <<https://careerhub.students.duke.edu/resources/interviewing-guide/>>. We recommend you connect with a Duke Career Advisor << https://careerhub.students.duke.edu/resources/career-advising/>>.

If you plan to apply to graduate/professional school, an advisor in your planned track will also be a great resource: 

Additional Tips Post Study Away

International Internships and/or Research

Many students return from their study away experience eager to gain more global experiences. In some cases, students explore ways they can secure an internship or research opportunity in a future summer or post-graduation. Explore these options:

  • Find opportunities hosted through a Duke-Administered or Duke-Approved program. Benefits of doing an internship or research assistantship through a study away program are that students work with program staff/faculty who will organize a placement, help vet employers, provide career coaching, organize housing, dining, assist with visa applications, and may even offer courses for academic credit. A GEO Advisor can help students find programs that fit their interests.
  • You can secure an internship independently. Sometimes students return to the host country where they initially studied abroad and made professional connections or have other connections through faculty or other Duke programs. Students also find employment by applying to positions online. The Duke Career Center offers useful international internship guidance. Check out their online guide <<link to future landing page for International Internships on Career Center’s site>>.
  • Duke’s Undergraduate Research Support Office lists Duke-sponsored and international research fellowship opportunities. You may find cohort-based programs as well as fellowship funding for independent research. If you are considering completing a senior honor’s thesis that will require field-based research, you may be eligible for funding to assist with the costs. Visit the Undergraduate Research Support Office website for more details.

Other Duke-Sponsored Opportunities

Students can find Duke-sponsored opportunities that will assist in their academic and professional development, many of which will even fund global opportunities or assist with travel costs for independent internships, fellowships, civic engagement, or research. Duke’s opportunities are collated in an online database hosted by Duke Summer Experiences. This site is regularly updated with new summer and year-round opportunities so check back frequently.