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Do your traveling while you’re young. Then, you can focus on your career and not get carried away by wishful thoughts of visiting new places and sipping cocktails on a beach. For the most part, that is the prevailing wisdom when it comes to mixing travel and work. So, if you’ve already been away and are looking for a job, you might not believe you’re in the best spot. Or, maybe you’ve got the travel bug and are hooked to jet-setting around the globe.
Regardless, you shouldn’t view your experiences, or the desire to create new ones, as career-killers. The truth is that they make you more employable, and here’s why.
You Get Work Experience
Usually, traveling for a long time includes cash-in-hand or legitimate work experience. Sure, it might be in a bar in Australia, but you learn transferable skills. Plus, specific traveling is centered on building your resume through working. A TEFL online certification is perfect for people with wanderlust because the qualification is in demand and it’s a flexible position. You can do it anywhere in the world, too. Remember that Australia is excellent for getting your foot into the door of a career that you want in the future. Whether it’s journalism or architecture, the Aussies seem as if they have more accessible opportunities for foreigners.
It Makes You At Ease With New People
You’ll never get a job without the ability to be comfortable around strangers. Firstly, the interview process is the art of ‘who can be less nervous in formal surroundings,’ which is tough. Tank it and you’ll have to start at square one. Secondly, some roles force you to convince strangers to buy products as employers pay you a slice of the commission. If you’re a sales rep, traveling is going to help massively. Finally, you will want to navigate the office politics of being a newbie. Learning how to be disarming and charming is something lots of travelers pickup in foreign environments.
Languages Aren’t Completely Foreign
Okay, you’re by no means a linguist. Put you on the phone with a client in South America, and you’ll be in deep water. Still, those years in Latin America have taught you basic Spanish, and that’s better than none whatsoever. For one thing, being able to have a conversation, no matter how limited, impresses employers. Another thing – it’ll offer you opportunities others won’t be afforded. Whether it’s Spanish, French, or Mandarin, the company will want people with some background in the country for the business trip.
You Have Contacts
You might not know it yet, but Sara from Germany and Arthur from Brazil also work in your industry. And, it turns out you traveled together for a while and have a connection. Great! There’s nothing wrong with touching base again and seeing where they are at in life. Mentioning that you work for X could help all parties, and enable you to forge relationships for the sake of the company’s bottom line.
As soon as this happens, you’ll fly up the corporate ladder in no time. And it’s all because of traveling!
