Introduction
Working abroad is a unique issue, though. Can you face leaving behind family and friends? Are you ready to start things again in a new location? If the advantages of working abroad outweigh the disadvantages then go for it! Try to keep yourself motivated for the idea of moving abroad by focusing on the advantages and make sure your heart is in it. The concept of travel has indeed changed. Unlike in the earlier years, when travel is viewed solely as a leisure activity, travel is now associated with work and pursuing greater opportunities. Aside from the possible monetary gains, working abroad brings many benefits.
In fact famous personality such as Picasso, Kipling, and Hemmingway had lived abroad, so much so that people have started associating living abroad with intellectual development.
Development of Personality
Up till now there has been anecdotal evidence that living in foreign countries improved one’s creativity but little empirical evidence to show the relationship. A few such studies demonstrated that the time spent in living abroad showed a positive relationship with the development of creativity. Another study demonstrated that priming foreign living experiences temporarily enhanced the creativity of those who had previously lived abroad. In yet another study, the extent to which the individuals had adapted to different cultures while living abroad showed a link between foreign living experience and creativity.
Increase in Self Confidence
If for example, one is a shy person and gets an opportunity to live in a foreign country for a limited time, they’ll soon realize that they are no longer shy as they thought they were. Given right circumstances, they can talk to anyone. For example, they may find themselves having few chances to speak in their native language, but still be able to strike a conversation with a person they find reading an English novel. Even if one is not shy to begin with, there can be many ego boosting moments as one navigates the new and difficult situations successfully. All this brings in confidence in the self. Before a person moves aboard, they have extensive network of family and friends around them and can reach out to them in times of crisis. But living and working in a foreign country means that one has to rely on self to get through the touch times.
According to , one’s personality is a reflection of long-term goals that people aim to achieve. Personality is a characteristic that differentiates people from one another. The author quote as study by Julia Zimmermann and Franz Neyer, to highlight how the extended travel influenced personality development in a large sample of German college students. From the study, it was found that the extended foreign travel took people outside their comfort zone. Further, it allowed them to adapt to new people and new cultural practices. Even those that travelled to other European countries had to adapt to different language, food, and outlook. It was observed that the more these students engaged with the people of foreign countries, the more they felt the feeling of openness. It has also helped the travelers gain a perspective on life that allowed them to be less reactive to day to day changes, and helped develop emotional stability. Also, the opportunity of meeting new people also helps them in being agreeable, though it is not related to the size of their social network.
A key question remains to be asked whether this finding, which is specific to college students will remain till their adulthood? However, it is not entirely clear. On one hand, the college years are intense period of change for people, which suggest that this might be specific to college days only. On the other hand, it is hard to find sample of adults who are travelling who have a good control group against which they can be compared. However, we can contend that such college students would retain those influences in their adulthood.
Increase in Maturity
It has been observed that travel makes you more open minded and flexible. This suggestion that travel can make you more open-minded makes sense when you consider that in order to survive living or traveling in a foreign culture, you have to learn how to adapt to change. For a foreigner almost everything is new – language, custom, customs, and social etiquettes. And being exposed to such an environment for an extended period of time encourages one to expand their world view and open their minds to new ways of seeing and doing things.
It has also been shown that people who have spent a number of months living or travelling in another country became nicer, more sympathetic and cooperative. Another factor to take into account is the phenomenon of silliness. If you have travelled or lived internationally, you will be spending a lot less time worrying about what others think about you. When you are living in an foreign environment you are less likely to know all the cultural and linguistic details of that place. As a result you will find yourself doing a lot of stupid things and making mistakes. So, you will eventually realize that it does not matter.
In one particular study, 97% said that studying abroad served as a catalyst in their life and increased their maturity. In the same study, 96% felt that it increased their self-confidence; 89% felt that it enabled to tolerate ambiguity; and 95% felt that had impact on their world view.
Away from your families and friends, you will have no one to depend on but yourself. Being able to live and survive overseas is an achievement that will hone your independence. It is wise to expect the problems and trials you will experience along the way as you struggle in a foreign land. Look at it in a positive light, as it will make you stronger, wiser, and generally a better person.
Impact on World View
It has been observed that those who have had the chance to move abroad already have a certain degree of open mindedness. But even when one is moving to a different country out of compulsion, one would realize that one has a much bigger capacity to be open to new things more than one would imagine. Even in terms of something as trivial as food, under right circumstances, one would be open to trying new and unfamiliar dishes. The kind of dishes one would have turned down in familiar environment. In general, one would learn to be more open-minded and be less judgmental about people the meet, the cultural customs, and won’t be concerned if they question one’s own beliefs and customs.
Moving to a foreign country for studying and working is a totally different experience as compared to just travelling. Getting used to a new way of life, new people and a new culture takes time. However, by most people’s admission, this is one of the most enjoyable aspects of moving abroad. Try to soak up the experience and learn from it. As well as having a new culture, you will have new places to visit and even possibly a new language to learn. For example, anybody moving to Japan won’t know a word of Japanese upon arrival. Having thrown themselves into the new cultural experience of the island, one can speak Japanese fluently. Traveling is expensive. However, finding time to work will keep you from draining your bank account. In working, you will be able to provide for your needs while overseas and even save money. This will assure that you will not return home with an empty pocket. A fatter bank account is not the only thing you may gain while working abroad. It will also be a great opportunity to learn new skills. Different countries offer different jobs of all sorts, from teaching English to picking strawberries. You may find yourself trying out your luck in odd jobs and in the process learn new things. Working abroad will give you an edge over other applicants. In this age of globalization, employers prefer applicants that have overseas working experience.
Intellectual Development
Own Culture’s Value
There are some people who deliberately take steps to move out because they believe that something is missing from where they live. That way they realize that the things they disliked about their familiar environment weren’t as bad. This way people even come to the conclusion that they are able to live almost anywhere in the world because of they found out good things in place and more ways to get around the bad things.
Variety of Friends
The best part about traveling is that one meets a lot of people and it makes it easy to be friends with them. Everyone is outside their comfort zones and usually pretty happy, so I find I meet people without even trying. This also gives you an opportunity to meet new people and make lasting friendship. When you I your home or familiar environment, it is natural to keep to oneself and stay in one’s own little world. But, when working abroad one gets to interact with different people on a daily basis. The contact that one makes in their new job can be life changing, and it makes moving back to home country a lot harder, you retain the same friendship and experiences with you.
People choose to work abroad for many reasons. It is important to consider all the advantages before deciding to packing up and move. It is recommended that one does proper research work in order to work overseas. Most countries would require you to have a work visa. Working abroad can give you interesting life and work experiences that will remain part of self.
Academic Commitment
Foreign Languages
Also, by working abroad one gets a work experience of a different kind. So, when you accept a job offer overseas, one is fully immersed into that culture and lifestyle. One gets to experience new foods, new languages, and meet new people. So for most people living in a foreign country for educational purposes, it is not just sightseeing that is fun, but also getting the experience of something new, but work and study with new people. This is particularly relevant when the people of that country don’t speak English. This gives you an opportunity to learn and be fluent in another language. Learning a new language is easy when they are working in local environment.
This is particularly relevant when living or working in Europe. As Europe is geographically smaller than the United States, it is relatively easy to travel to different countries and cities at a short notice. One can easily board a train to a day trip to a new trip or even spend weekend in a different country. This opportunity also fine tunes one’s ability to communicate with people from different walks of life. The non-verbal communications skills allow one to be equally engaging with shop floor workers to executives.
For those studying languages at university, spending time abroad experiencing the workplace first hand and, at the same time, improving language skills, is absolutely, by far, the most positive move anyone can make. It helps you on a personal level as well as on an academic level and puts you ahead of your peers in terms of your career, as you’ll have gained experience abroad. Work experience in a foreign country helps you stand out from the crowd which is a benefit in an increasingly competitive market and is also important in terms of emerging economies and globalisation. For graduates entering the job market, real hands-on experience is a great asset; the few who know the labour markets, labour cultures and languages of foreign countries are the ones that will do well.
Even for non-language students, the option of a work placement abroad offers so many benefits and will add something quite unbeatable to the CV; it shows someone as adaptable, confident, and it is also a chance to build a portfolio of contacts, as it can be a ‘foot in the door’.
Educational Experiences
One of the advantages is that many of the jobs that one gets gives one a chance to build skill sets. Such jobs can be challenging as jobs back home would be. It would also give one a chance to learn how to work with people of different cultural backgrounds and become successful in one’s choice of industry. Employers back in the home country still consider positions held abroad as a valuable work experience. It will also show the potential that one is adapt and work in a diverse environment. Also, many domestic companies are expanding their market to work with or in foreign countries. So, someone who has previously worked in a similar environment would be very attractive to the employers.
Looking work in foreign countries can be challenging. It all depends on where all you are looking for opportunities. It may happen that you may need to get application materials translated from that language, but these days English applications are visible. You may also need to supply copies of transcripts and other educational records that are required at the time of applying for jobs in your home country, and you may even have to travel to attend a job interview. One should be prepared to follow up with the employers or universities when applying for a job abroad. The HR or foreign student office of the institution to which you are applying should be able to offer some assistance in this regard.
As a cautionary note, moving to a new country means your whole livelihood is transferred, too. This means taxes, pension schemes, health insurance, and many other things. It is very important to know what all is included in your employment package. So, that you can carry the rest with you. Some countries also require foreigners to keep their passport on them at all times. Other countries offer a foreigner’s registration card which requires you to register at the local city hall or other authority.
Also, by working abroad one gets a work experience of a different kind. So, when you accept a job offer overseas, one is fully immersed into that culture and lifestyle. One gets to experience new foods, new languages, and meet new people. So for most people living in a foreign country for educational purposes, it is not just sightseeing that is fun, but also getting the experience of something new, but work and study with new people. This is particularly relevant when the people of that country don’t speak English. This gives you an opportunity to learn and be fluent in another language. Learning a new language is easy when they are working in local environment.
This migration can also open up job opportunities that one may not have imagined. One should try to be aware of the economic and job climate in the country and look for chances to move ahead. If one’s intends to go there only to live and work there for a short time, then I would recommend keeping an open mind and look for opportunities. One should try to build up a new network in over there and may want to take advantages of one’s career background, as it may come out to be useful.
Moving abroad does not necessarily mean one is annexed from the people and places one has known before. In the age of internet, and its communication tools such as Skype, e-mail and instant messengers, keep in touch with family and friends will help overcome homesickness. It will also help in maintain links ones colleagues and personal network back in the home country. This also allows keeping abreast with what is happening in the industry of interest. Also, if working abroad isn’t as successful as expected, one always has the option to return back to the home country.
A work placement abroad is demanding and challenging, it is a learning experience. You will not only learn about the business world but also about yourself. You will gain a lot, in terms of self-confidence, as well as improve organizational and personal skills. You will also discover what areas of business interest you at a very early stage of your career, which is vitally important when it comes to applying for jobs when you leave university. Most importantly, a work placement abroad gives you commercial credibility.
But even if your work experience is unrelated to future employment prospects, you can still find highlights to strengthen your job applications. Treat your experience abroad as a career stepping-stone, be open to new working environments, and look for ways to make a bottom-line difference to the company. Note your achievements and successes, and apply the usual criteria to selecting the most relevant for the job you’re applying for. Evaluate any skills or personal characteristics you’ve developed (such as flexibility or resilience) and include them in your CV. Make sure you have specific examples to illustrate these, either in your covering letter, or at interview. For example, if you’ve been to a non-English speaking country, one skill you could highlight is fluency in a new language. You can demonstrate that through making the effort to learn the language (to allow you to integrate better into the local culture) you’ve developed patience, determination, as well as linguistic and mental agility.
Teaching English Abroad
In the specific case of someone taking a year to teach English abroad, some new skills would be:
* You develop planning and organisational skills (depending on the set-up of where you teach, you may have to plan your lessons from scratch, organise groups, classrooms )
* You increase your communication skills (speaking with non-native speakers of English means you’ll need to learn how to rephrase, clarify, focus on the most important points, eliminate waffle, get complex ideas over simply and clearly )
* You learn to overcome obstacles, and deal with the unexpected, giving you greater flexibility and creativity in problem-solving. (You may not have course books or teaching materials, your equipment may break down unexpectedly — meaning you need to think on your feet.)
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are a number of key things one can learn by living in a foreign country is that one can put one’s mind into anything, it gets done. It has significant impact on one’s personality, which manifests in terms of world view, self-confidence and maturity. The opportunity to see the world different from home environment allows us to understand the vices and virtues of both home and guest country. It generates tremendous amount of self-confidence by allowing us to cover unchartered territories. All this results in greater maturity among young travelers, and prepares them for life ahead.
Working and living abroad also allows us to better evaluate our own culture; I mean both vices and virtues of home cultures in context of the rest of the world. It also allows us to make friends the world over and enrich our life experience.
Bibliography
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