How Volunteering Abroad Can Boost Your Resume

Nowadays, high school and college grads can’t hear enough about how their resumes need to be packed with work experience, internships, and extra-curricular activities to prove themselves as hard-working and well-rounded applicants. However, an experience that is not always considered for addition to this single page of accomplishments is volunteering abroad! Though most are inspired to volunteer abroad by a desire to help others, it is important to recognize that volunteers gain many valuable skills and insights along the way that would be useful in any career. Understanding what you have learned is the first step; the next is to demonstrate it to the world- and, importantly, to future employers looking for your unique experiences.

Here are five ways your volunteer abroad experience can spiff up your resume and demonstrate skills that are truly applicable in any job!

Demonstrates Your Independence 

Is there anything more independent than shipping yourself halfway around the world and immersing yourself in a country where you don’t understand the language, to volunteer in a community all by yourself? That may be a little exaggerated, but even before getting on the plane, an enormous amount of individual planning and mental preparation takes place to break yourself away from where you feel most comfortable. In many instances, you may have to travel alone or work alone planning activities at your volunteer placement. Learning to navigate through these moments in a new culture smoothly, and adjusting to your surroundings while flying solo (literally) demonstrates true independence.

Shows Initiative as a Leader

Whether you are teaching English, working at an orphanage, or assisting at a nursing home, the ability to lead calmly and confidently is necessary. These moments give you real life experience leading a team at work and being prepared for situations you may not always expect. Furthermore, by making an effort to help people globally, you are showing your leadership in making the world a better place.

Increases Communication Skills 

Communication skills are essential in nearly every area of work, so being able to easily demonstrate them on your resume will be key. In many cases, volunteering abroad will give you an excellent opportunity to immerse yourself in a language you have been studying by giving you first hand practice speaking with locals. However, you may have never studied the language of your volunteer country. In this case, your volunteer experience will undoubtedly improve your communication skills by forcing you to learn a new language, understand cultural gestures, or find creative ways to communicate with locals to create understanding and be able to work effectively in the community.

Improves Team Building 

While volunteering abroad, you will inevitably be working with others to help achieve shared goals for the local community. In a group that will likely have diverse backgrounds, different native languages, and different life experiences, your ability to work cooperatively as a team will be essential. These skills are extremely important to demonstrate because they show your ability to work with a wide range of people to achieve a mutual goal.

Displays an Interest in Global Affairs 

In an ever-globalizing world, demonstrating interest in affairs that extend beyond your local community is an important quality to foster as borders become less and less relevant with international travel. Fostering your cultural awareness will not only teach you to appreciate the way other people live but also make you think differently and be able to apply different perspectives to your future tasks or problems. Whether your future career will require you to travel extensively or not, understanding customs and values in different cultures will be important to building a positive work environment.

As you can see, volunteering abroad not only holds the chance to make a difference in the world but also teaches invaluable skills that can enormously boost your resume…and the chance at your ideal career! If you’re interested in volunteering abroad, visit United Planet to browse through all of the possible destinations, or contact us at quest@unitedplanet.org.