Workshop teaches value of articulating experiences gained abroad
September 12, 2014
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Mays Business School
The Texas A&M Career Center joined forces with two Mays Business School units to create a workshop for students that have or are considering international opportunities. The “Leveraging Your International Experience in Your Job Search” seminar, which was hosted by the Texas A&M Career Center, Mays Communication Lab and the Center for International Business Studies (CIBS), described important ways the students can share the value of their international experience with a potential employer.
Ritika Harchekar ’15, an MIS major, spoke about how her exchange semester in Barcelona helped her secure an internship with the Dallas Cowboys IT department. She said she referenced her experience on the trip abroad several times in her interview. She also gave students examples of how her experiences abroad (e.g. teamwork) provided skills she used in her internship.
Katy Lane, program coordinator at CIBS, emphasized the importance of both understanding the value of one’s own international experience and recognizing how employers will value an international experience. She emphasized that multinational companies are seeking graduates with cross-cultural experiences and foreign language proficiency.
Lane presented six benefits students can derive from an international experience:
- Developing valuable skills for the workforce
- Learning a new language
- Seeing the world from a new perspective
- Experiencing a new culture and a new way of lie
- Gaining international knowledge and global competency
- Setting themselves apart from other college graduates
Lisa Burton, Mays Career Center coordinator, helped students recognize how their marketable skills can be connected and exemplified through their international experience. She described to the nearly 100 students present the importance of including an international experience on their resumes, and gave them examples of highlighting it in the various sections: education, relevant work experience or international experience.
Burton laid out three questions students should ask when adding international experience to their resumes:
- What do you want to convey about your international experience?
- How do skills gained during your international experience fit with the company?
- How does what you learned fit with the position you are seeking?
She stressed the importance of crafting a personal story that can be shared with company recruiters during interviews. “Think about the unique things that have happened to you abroad and make a story about them,” she said.
Jeana Simpson, Mays Communication Lab administrator, guided the students in understanding how to use intentional reflection to define and measure the competencies and skills obtained through their international experience. The students at the workshop were asked to identify and articulate cross-cultural and professional skills gained with the use of examples from their time abroad.
“Find the overlap between what you valued and what an employer is likely to value,” said Simpson. She also suggested that students chronicle their international experiences through journaling.
– Lauren Ragsdale (’15) contributed to this story.
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Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,600 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.
