Most people do not travel long distances often, but if you get a chance to travel, you add valuable soft skills to your working experience. You might often travel for work-related reasons, as a tourist or student. While in another country, you learn to interact with other cultures, adapt to new environments, and manage time.
These experiences are important because they can give you better chances to get employed. Your challenge might be knowledge on how to include your travel experiences in your resume so that it looks professional. Here are tips on how to do it.
Know what to include
The most important thing to remember when writing your resume is to know what to include and what to ignore. Not everything will add value to your resume, but if you are not sure what will be important, seek resume help from a resume writing service and they will create for you the most professional resume.
Think about things that will add value to your resume. If you only travel for sight watching, you might not add that to your resume but some of the points that can make a difference are as follows:
Volunteer work: you might have traveled for a year or just a few months on volunteer work to teach, nurse the sick, train communities, or help build for the homeless. These are activities that show resilience, motivation, and love for other people.
International study: you might have quit your job to study abroad. This is a very strong point to let your resume writing services know and include it in your resume.
Traveling for work: you could have worked with a company that sent you abroad often to present it in various business deals. It means you have experience in international business relations.
Know where to include travel in your resume
Your travel experience is good, but important to put it in the right place/s in your resume. If you put it in the wrong place, it will look off or out of place and might not add value to your resume. Instead of making mistakes in your resume and missing a job opportunity, you should contact a resume writer or a CV writing service for professional help.
Before you decide where to put travel, know the relevance of that experience. Ask yourself why you traveled and what kind of experience you gained. If you traveled to work, add it to your work experience. If it was for education, add it to the educational background. If it’s volunteer, add a section on volunteer or extra skills.
Include the special skills you gained
Beyond skills gained in a classroom, there are other soft skills that you learn as you interact with people, go through challenges, and work. These are skills such as communication, organizational, problem solving, social skills, and cognition skills. Most employers are looking for employees with such skills and you should ensure the professional resume services put the skills in your resume.
Relate it to the job you are applying for
Your travel skills must relate to the job you are applying for. Professional resume writers create resumes for different people daily and they know where to put each skill to make it relevant. Understand the job you are applying for and how your travel experience will add value.
If you are applying for a job in the hospitality industry, your travel for leisure might help in a big way. If you want to apply for a job in a retail business, your volunteer work might help. This is because you will have soft skills such as resilience, problem-solving, and cognitive skills.
Focus on self-marketing
Your resume is what markets you to potential employers and you should tell your travel story while focusing on marketing yourself. Highlight a gap and name it an international experience instead of other experiences. You want to focus on soft experience but in the most professional way.
Conclusion
Skills gained through travel can make a big difference in your resume. You might have traveled for volunteer work, education, work, or leisure. Know what to include in your resume and where to put it. Remember to show the skills you learned during travel and ensure they relate well to the position you are applying for.
