How to Appropriately Include Studying Abroad on Your Resume

1. Education

Your education section is the natural place to include studying abroad. Especially if all or most of your academic experience is an international experience, adding it to the education section of your resume indicates that you’re an accomplished individual and well-traveled. You can also include additional academic information, like relevant coursework and information about any research projects you may have participated in.

2. Work experience

Especially if you don’t have much other professional experience, your work experience section is also a great place to include your international travel. Hiring managers are looking for all kinds of professional experience. If you had an internship or academic job internationally, you can include it in your work experience section to showcase how your career path leads to the job you’re applying for.

3. Skills

Your skills section will be able to benefit quite a bit from international experience. Hiring managers love to know that you can adapt to new environments. Studying abroad can also indicate new skills to offer their organization. Here are a few bullet points of new skills you may develop as part of studying abroad:

• Communication skills, including cross-cultural communication
• Independence
• Leadership skills
• Ability to overcome language barriers
• Knowledge of new cultures
• Problem-solving skills
• Cultural sensitivity

Remember that foreign language skills are also very important to include in your resume. This is true whether it’s a more common language in the United States, like Spanish, or a less common language, like Russian. Either way, extra language proficiency can be very helpful to your job application.

4. Resume objective/Resume summary

Your resume objective or resume summary is a short paragraph at the beginning of your resume. It indicates the most important elements of your skill set and general qualifications, and it’s another great place to include studying abroad. This is especially helpful in resume objectives, which are most common for individuals without much professional experience. A quick sentence in your resume objective such as, “Studied at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain” can show off international experience.