Gap Year Abroad Activities to Highlight on Your Resume

Your gap year abroad is so much more than just adventure travel. Your experiences abroad, especially on a gap year focused on language and cultural immersion, help shape you as an individual. And beyond that, it can help give your resume a competitive edge!  

How? Well, because the skills and abilities you pick up while on a gap year abroad translate quite nicely to a professional career. You just need to know how to position it on your resume.  

Here’s how you can spotlight on your resume the activities and experiences you have on a gap year abroad.  

1. Highlight Your Gap Year Program Under Educational Experience 

Your resume isn’t just for adding school and job experience but for you to proudly show employers or application boards every worthwhile experience that has shaped you into a successful young adult.  

CIEE’s Gap Year programs provide structured language learning, making them a great addition to the education portion of your resume.  

2. Detail the Language Skills You Acquired Abroad 

One of the most highly sought-after skills you’ll acquire in your CIEE Gap Year Abroad is improved foreign language abilities. Employers and college boards are very impressed by those who speak more than one language as it demonstrates exceptional communication skills across cultures. 

CIEE’s Gap Year Programs feature up to 20 hours of language learning classes each week. And living abroad means that you can take what you’ve learned in the classroom and apply it to real-world situations, improving your fluency and confidence when speaking the language. That’s an impressive skill you don’t want to leave off your resume! 

3. Note the Cross-Cultural Communication You Learned While Living with a Host Family 

Not only will you improve your foreign language skills, but you’ll also return home as an expert at cross-cultural communication. Cross-cultural communication is an ability that allows you to understand the different ways people communicate across cultures, and it is invaluable in our ever-connected world.  

The cultural immersion you experience living with a host family will open your eyes to the importance of intercultural communication and how cultural differences are normal across the world. Staying with a host family also amps up the language immersion benefits you’ll experience abroad. 

4. Share Your Newfound Cultural Competence  

Your actual travel adventures also provide you with skills you may not realize. Having the opportunity to interact with the local community imparts empathy, compassion, and open-mindedness. You’ll become a more culturally aware citizen of the world, something employers seek in a globalized economy. 

CIEE Gap Year participants enjoy programmed excursions and cultural activities abroad, typically including one overnight trip and two-day trips to nearby destinations, small villages, UNESCO World Heritage Sites and historically important landmarks.    

5. List Volunteering Under Work Experience 

While on your gap year abroad, you may even consider dedicating some time to volunteering for local causes. Volunteering overseas allows you to give back to your host country and experience the different ways in which people live. Volunteering abroad also exposes you to the unique needs of that community. This helps broaden your horizons and expand your worldview. 

Please note: Those who wish to volunteer abroad while on a CIEE Gap Year Program need to receive prior authorization from CIEE first. 

6. Address Your Personal Growth Under Special Skills 

Soft skills, or interpersonal skills that allow individuals to interact effectively with others in the workplace through adaptability, problem-solving, time management, etc. are essential to your resume! And you may not realize this, but your time studying abroad is sure to sharpen many of these coveted skills. Don’t hesitate to hype up those critical abilities as related to your international experience.  

Here’s an Example of How You Can Highlight Your Gap Year on Your Resume: 

Give Your Resume a Competitive Edge with Gap Year Experience  

If the idea of traveling the world and experiencing the joys of outdoor adventure travel while improving your resume sounds up your alley, a gap year may be right for you!  

Your time abroad right after high school and before college is a pivotal part of your life where you’re making the leap to becoming an independent young adult. And a gap year program can help set you up for success as you take that leap. 

Learn more about where CIEE’s Gap Year programs can take you.