Non-stop travel is the dream of most graduates, but at some point, we all have to get a job. After graduating in 2015, I bounced between the States, Asia, and Europe, until I settled in Spain. Some claim that travel is harmful to your resume because it signifies that you’re not a stable candidate. From my experience, however, travel is an asset. You just have to know how to leverage your experiences and translate them into career skills. Here is how travel can help your resume.
1. Put effort into crafting a good resume and make travel a key point
Recruiters are bored of seeing the same old resume with a different name on top. Check out these resume templates for some fresh ideas. Living on the road already makes you stand out from the competition, so make sure that your resume lives up to your reputation. You can include a short section where you list the countries you’ve been to as well as any volunteer experiences abroad. Have you studied abroad? How about any WWOOF adventures? Put all of that on your resume. This way, hiring managers will see that you manage to integrate travel into your work, as opposed to using it as an escape mechanism.
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2. Build LinkedIn friendships based on travel
Lots of graduates get LinkedIn profiles simply because their college career centers tell them to. Many don’t end up using the platform at all, which is a shame. LinkedIn gives you the best of both the professional world in terms of legitimacy and the social media world in terms of endorsements and updates. I do a ton of research on LinkedIn before applying to a position. I make sure to identify exactly who the important people in the company are and connect with them based on travel.
I went to a job interview last year in Spain and saw that my future boss was Irish. Clearly, he chose to live in Barcelona because he had a particular passion for the city. I asked him about it, and his face lit up. Turns out, he loved to travel, so we spent fifteen minutes talking about places we’ve been before getting to the actual interview. Travel makes you an interesting subject to interview, so use that to your advantage. Having contacts all over the globe makes you a great connector as well, which is something companies can benefit from.
3. Travel makes you easily adaptable
Globetrotting keeps you out of your comfort zone. You begin using skills you previously hadn’t. It wasn’t until Indonesia that I drove a scooter and dealt with traffic. I also had never done any landscaping work before New Hampshire or photography before Boston. Each location demands a certain set of skills that you end up developing and mastering. Travel stimulates you to integrate yourself into the local culture quickly and think on your feet, which are invaluable qualities you bring to the table. Study the job description and pick out which qualities you’ve learned through travel, then explain to the recruiter using personal anecdotes.
4. You're willing to relocate
This one should come as a no-brainer to the recruiter. If you willingly switch countries every six months, you’re the employee most likely to stick with the company if it was to move or expand overseas. While many others may be risk-averse and prefer to stick to the comfort zone, travel makes you someone your boss can rely on to follow along through changes. According to CNN, study abroad gives you an edge in the job market, so make sure to mention all of your international experiences and how you integrated yourself. Your quick adaptation to other cultures will make you a successful leader for international projects.
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5. Travel makes you fiercely independent
Chances are, you’ve found yourself stranded in a foreign country at least once. It’s even more likely to have been somewhere you could not speak the local language, but still managed to communicate. Travel teaches you to take charge and make the circumstances work in your favor. In the workplace, it translates into confidence and willingness to take charge of tough projects and seeing them through. On the road, you get used to doing most things alone up to the point where you don’t expect help from anyone. Not only do you get out of the safety bubble, but you embrace the struggle. This is an important quality to bring to your company, so make sure you emphasize it.