Introduction

So, you’ve had an international learning experience, and now you are back, and wondering what comes next. How can you use your experience abroad to get into the job market? What did you learn about yourself that might make you a desirable employee? How can you explain the ups and downs of life in another country in ways that highlight what you learned about yourself and others and the skills you gained?

Borderless Benefits is here to help! This short, interactive, self-directed resource will provide you with the tools to identify, value, and articulate the experiences and skills gained from your international learning experience in ways that will help you learn about working across difference. This resource will also equip you with the tools you need to continue to develop the skills you acquired while abroad and find your place in the world of work.

What Borderless Benefits Covers

This resource is divided into three chapters.

• Chapter One looks at what you learned about yourself and asks you to reflect on your identity and how it influences how you see others and how others see you. What does that have to do with employment skills, you may ask? Good questions. According to smart people who research these things, a deep understanding of your own identity is a precursor to intercultural competence. What is intercultural competence? Also, a good question, and we’ll answer all that in Chapter One, but suffice it to say, employers will be very happy if you can articulate your intercultural competency skills.
• Chapter Two will build on the self-reflection activities from Chapter One to identify additional skills and knowledge gained from your international learning experience, with a continued emphasis on not only intercultural competencies but also other transferable employment skills. We’ll additionally help you understand how you can communicate these skills to future employers.
• Chapter Three will point you toward the future and explain how you can continue to grow and develop the skills you acquired abroad. This unit will introduce you to the growth mindset and suggest ways you can continue to develop the skills for working across difference in both your work and personal lives. Those intercultural skills don’t just develop while you are outside your home culture; there are plenty of intercultural opportunities wherever you call home.

Learning Outcomes

After reviewing this resource and completing the activities, you will be able to:

• Articulate how various aspects of your social and cultural identity influence your intercultural development and ability to value and navigate differences in a workplace setting.
• Apply various aspects of your social and cultural identity and self-knowledge to your career development, planning, and decision making.
• Describe how your international learning experience has helped you develop and strengthen the transferrable skills, knowledge, and abilities that contribute to your employability.
• Develop accomplishment statements to articulate your transferable knowledge, skills, and attitudes in professional or career development settings.
• Use a growth mindset to write SMART goals for continued personal and professional growth related to intercultural learning and transferable skills.