Translating Study Abroad Experiences for Workplace Competencies

Abstract

One of the positive benefits often attributed to participation in study abroad is the importance employers place on it during the recruiting and hiring process for college seniors. It seems intuitively obvious that having an international experience would benefit students moving to globally competitive organizations. Unfortunately, however, employers do not necessarily value the study abroad experience as highly as other cocurrricular activities in which students can chose to participate. At Michigan State University (MSU), we initiated research of the hiring process by asking employers their opinions about the value of study abroad. The results were not encouraging, as employers placed low importance on study abroad compared to other cocurricular activities. However, follow-up research showed that students were not articulating their international experiences in ways that had meaning for employers. Experience gained on study abroad may have value to employers, but students have to unpack their international experience by critically reflecting on it, and reframe their stories in the context of the workplace and in language employers understand. This article shares findings from our research and how it led to the development and delivery of our Unpacking Your Study Abroad Experiences seminars for returning study abroad participants. EMPLOYER RESEARCH Our early questions probed the value employers placed on study abroad and their understanding of the types of international learning programs available to students. Approximately 20-25 percent of respondents in some way valued study abroad. Generally, their companies could be described as large multinational firms. Yet it was clear from their comments that employers possessed little knowledge of what study abroad was about. Many mentioned that they had no first-hand experience with these programs because study abroad was not available to them during their undergraduate days or they were not aware these programs existed. Even though we could take some solace that one-fifth of employers valued study abroad, the information we had did not tell us very much about how employers weigh the study abroad experience in their evaluation of candidates during the hiring process. Further studies showed that employers seldom tapped into the study abroad experience in evaluating resumes and in initial interviews with students. Yet employers were emphatic that they were looking for experiences that added value to their companies. The impression recruiters often gain from hearing students describe their study abroad experience can best be summed up as academic tourism. Students' presentations are like travelogues: highlighting the cool places they visited with a little work thrown into the mix. Employers often take away from the interview the impression that study abroad was a lot of fun, but contained little (work-related) substance. In informal employer focus groups, we explored why study abroad just does not resonate as a useful experience in identifying qualified candidates. Many recruiters could not frame the study abroad experience against other cocurrricular activities students elected to pursue simply because they themselves had no exposure to it as undergraduates. Nearly all recruiters had pursued internships and participated in student organizations as undergraduates and could draw upon their experiences to relate to the students they were interviewing. However, for older recruiters, study abroad programs did not exist when they were in school, and for many younger recruiters, they were not prominently promoted by their institution (or they simply chose not to participate in international study programs). The onus, therefore, is on students to translate study abroad into a framework recognizable to employers and to draw the connection between study abroad and the world of work. Employers want to know how the experiences students have had by graduation have contributed to the development of workplace skills and competencies. …

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