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Personal improvement

Build Confidence. Gain Skills. Explore Opportunities. Self Awareness. Personal improvement. Meet People. Learn/practice a language. Meet alumni from home university. Volunteer. Internship/ Work experience. Give a talk. How might you achieve your goals?

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Personal improvement

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  1. Build Confidence Gain Skills Explore Opportunities Self Awareness Personal improvement Meet People

  2. Learn/practice a language Meet alumni from home university Volunteer Internship/ Work experience Give a talk How might you achieve your goals? What can you do, other than study? Write a blog Develop Professional networks Be an ambassador

  3. Transferable Skills Specific (hard) or transferable (soft) skills Transferable skills can be learnt in one context and applied to another Can be acquired through work, hobbies, sports etc Examples: ActivitySkill Organised a conference Project management Gave a presentation Oral communication

  4. What transferable skills have you got?

  5. What transferable skills do study abroad students have?

  6. What employers want: • Experiences outside academia • Exceptional people skills • Willingness to travel • Self-starter • Naturally inquisitive • Global outlook • Cultural sensitivity • Ability to build relationships • Self-awareness • Strong planning skills • Look for opportunities • Initiative • Empathy • Adaptability • Team spirit • Self-management skills

  7. “Confidence and tenacity, resilience and flexibility” (The Cooperative) “Multi-tasking and flexible with problem solving skills” (JWT) “At least four months experience working or studying outside your own country” (BMW)”

  8. Translating the study abroad experience…on a CV Iwenna Broad 14 Oxford Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1 AB3 01865 234567 Iwenna.broad@hotmail.com Education 2007 – 2011 University of Oxford, BA History 2009 – 2010 Princeton University Exchange Programme - GPA 3.84 - Gave talk on Oxford University to potential exchange partners - Volunteered in Hispanic community centre and learnt conversational Spanish 2004 – 2006 Millstown Sixth Form College, London A Levels in History (A) Physics (A) Chemistry (A ) and Economics (A) 1999 – 2004 Prince Edward School, 7 GCSES at A*, 3 As

  9. Interests: • Travel: • Planned a month’s trip to follow my year abroad, managing a limited budget to travel south as far as Atlanta, Georgia and sample some of the USA’s diverse regions. • Visited Madagascar, Kenya and Tanzania, 2006 • Conservation: • Conference team member for ‘Greening of the Ivies Conference’, Princeton, 2009 • Volunteered for Lemur tracking conservation project, 2005 • Sports: • Founder of Oxford Women’s Softball team, 2010-2011 • Softball team member, Princeton, 2009-2010.

  10. Translating the study abroad experience…in a cover letter Cover letter should include • Why the student wants to work for this organisation • Why they want this position • What they have to offer (that the employer wants) This last part should address key skills and back up with evidence from a diverse range of experiences. Study abroad might provide one or two examples for this section, depending on the job and criteria.

  11. Translating the study abroad experience…in a cover letter Job 1: The applicant must demonstrate cultural sensitivity when meeting clients and be able to build strong relationships How might Student A draw on their year abroad experience to meet this criteria? Write an example cover letter sentence. Job 2: The applicant must be flexible and resilient; able to adapt and cope with challenges Repeat above task with Student B

  12. Translating the study abroad experience…in interview When have you managed a budget or a project? What’s your greatest achievement? Tell us about a time when you’ve demonstrated interpersonal skills?

  13. Preparing answers to interview questions • Read the job specification again • List the skills required and the ones you especially want to convey • Prepare diverse examples from across your experience to use in the interview • One or two on study abroad is probably enough • Structure answers using S.T.A.R: Situation, Task, Actions and Result, focusing on your Actions

  14. When have you managed a budget or project? The travelling I did at the end of my study abroad year required significant project management. I had to manage my budget and time and book accommodation, transport and activities in advance. Scheduled goals in diary so that everything would be done in time; Prioritised tasks depending on urgency; Monitored the exchange rate prior to my travels so that I knew how much money I’d have; researched prices of accommodation and transport to find best deals and take advantage of advance booking discounts; read guidebooks to find out what was happening where; watched the news to make sure bad weather or big events didn’t disrupt my plans. I had an amazing time and had $100 left at the end to spend on souvenirs!

  15. Useful resources Third year abroad website http://www.thirdyearabroad.com/home.html Taking Advantage of Time Away, Edinburgh http://www.employability.ed.ac.uk/CaseStudies/LLC-TATA.htm#Resources “Packaging your international experience” http://www.abroadview.org/avmag/2008fall_larsson.htm “The benefits of Study Abroad” http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0403/benefits_study_abroad.shtml University of Oxford Careers Website http://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/

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