Education To Employability

Tasneem Patanwala explores all the benefits that you gain from studying abroad

In today’s competitive world every student wants to make the most of their qualifications so as to get their dream job. Students are constantly thinking from the point of view of the employers and hence they want to become the best candidate that the employer has ever come across. But in order to become the best candidate, what is required is an international experience which is gained by studying abroad.

Experience of studying abroad
Studying abroad exposes you to another country’s culture and value systems. As rightly said by Buddha “It is better to travel well than to arrive.” It helps to broaden your horizons and change your mind sets. Students are surrounded by professors and class mates from different countries which gives you knowledge of different cultures and traditions. Students have a chance to live and discover a life out of their comfort zones. This will improve their international communication skills and will be better prepared to understand the business world.

Problem solving attitude
Studying abroad strengthens your problem solving attitude. It improves your decision making skills and employers are always looking for employees who have good problem solving skills and good decision making attitudes. Terry Pratchett says “Coming back is not the same as never leaving.” When faced with a crisis situation, students studying abroad have no one to reach out to and hence this will allow them to make their own decisions and solve their own problems; from dealing with minor issues to larger ones this will make them more decisive.

Adjustability
Moving abroad can be both discouraging and fantastic at the same time. The challenge here is to quickly adapt yourself to the new country and its culture. Students learn to adjust, adapt and acclimatize with people from different social backgrounds. As said by Ralph Waldo Emerson “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Overcoming all the challenges and inhibitions and adapting yourself to a changing environment strengthens your adjustability skills.

Communication skills
Good communication skills are very important in today’s ever changing business world. Moving abroad and communicating with people from different backgrounds on a daily basis improves your communication skills. It gives you a chance to open up and learn about the art, cuisine and history of another culture. It also develops your understanding which is very vital to working and succeeding in the international business world. Henry Miller’s wise words “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

Networking and language skills
As studying abroad brings you across people speaking different languages, it also improves your language skills. Living abroad gives you an amazing opportunity to develop your language skills which is a key ingredient in today’s ever changing business environment. This exposure to an international atmosphere linked with the chance to discover other cities, cultures and ways of life allows students to build strong networks and gain real international experience. Building meaningful networks can be greatly taken advantage of in advancing employment skills. Constant networking improves your confidence levels and communication skills improving your overall employment skills. In the words of Wendell Berry “Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone.”
Therefore, moving and studying abroad further develops your employment skills, communication skills and language skills while studying so that you can eventually grow into one of the most viable candidates of the ever changing business world.

Volume 5 Issue 10