Seven Ways Studying Abroad Can Do Wonders for Your Future

While picking up a new language does become less intuitive once you’re past a certain age, being surrounded by people who speak it 365 days a year certainly helps! Make a concerted effort to learn and perhaps take additional language courses and you’ll be fluent in no time! Having several languages (along with around 500 years of work experience) is almost a pre-requisite for graduates entering today’s competitive job market. Some institutions, such as IE University, offer free Spanish and English language classes to help students settle in and boost their CV with a foreign language. 

A 2006 study in fact found that students enrolled in the Erasmus study abroad program tend to have better job prospects, partly due to their level of maturity and key skills developed during their stay abroad, such as “intercultural awareness, adaptability, flexibility, innovativeness, productivity, motivation, endurance, problem-solving abilities and being able to work productively in a team”. 

Living abroad, there will come many a time when you will have to fix problems by yourself and perhaps even extricate yourself out of thorny situations. You will without doubt experience being locked out of your apartment, get hopelessly lost, and need to communicate complex ideas to someone using only your hands. Expect to become more streetwise than you could ever imagine! 

Depending on your citizenship and visa requirements, studying abroad will grant you access to a second job market and work opportunities in both your home and host countries, while also improving your employability prospects and demonstrating to recruiters that you possess relevant ‘graduate’ skills such as problem-solving, a global mindset and a foreign language. Depending on which school you could choose, there may be some opportunities to make a name for yourself overseas. IE University provides entrepreneurial students with many opportunities to take their project ideas forward. The IE Venture Lab, for instance, helps entrepreneurial students fast-track their business ideas. 

With over a hundred nationalities represented on campus and links with as many as 95 universities in 30 countries, IE University boasts a diverse classroom, with about 70% of its student body being international.

Whether you are planning on studying in Spain or elsewhere, IE University offers plenty of opportunities to spend a semester abroad with a partner university, in addition to a wealth of on-campus support facilities to help international students settle in.

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