Résumé Boosters: Connecting Study Abroad to Career Prospects
When students at Babson College couldn’t travel on a faculty-led course to China in 2021, Amir Reza, PhD, paired them with entrepreneurs associated with that country’s massive Alibaba service. Working online in small cohorts, they collaborated with their Chinese counterparts on feasibility studies for entering the U.S. market across a range of companies and products. Even virtually, working with international entrepreneurs shifted perspectives—and provided valuable career skills.
“The kinds of skills [students] gained are essentially the ability to analyze, interpret, and evaluate across cultures,” says Reza, dean of Babson College’s Academy for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurial Learning and co-author of NAFSA’s Careers in International Education: Guidance for New Professionals. “They can promote that in their résumés with experience [with] a major brand.”
A growing evidence base suggests that education abroad experiences help students once they return to their home campus—and then in their careers. A NAFSA report found that more than 31 million job openings in 2019 required the kinds of skills that students acquire while studying abroad and that employers spend more time filling those positions due to the challenges of finding qualified applicants—not surprising, as only about 10 percent of undergraduate students participate in education abroad experiences.
Students also give study abroad high marks for career development: a 2017 report by the Institute for International Education (IIE) surveyed more than 4,500 college alumni who participated in study abroad programs. The report revealed that a large majority of students found that their experience studying abroad helped them
