Don’t automatically turn down the idea of taking a gap year in between college and your first professional job.
If you spend that time traveling, you could be looking at better job opportunities on the horizon than if you go straight from college dorm to cubicle norm.
Here are some great reasons to fill your backpack and roam if you want to:
You Can Demonstrate Your Independence
Many employers complain that kids go from living at home to living on campus and then starting their first professional job without ever having to be independent. They then end up with young employees who don’t know how to manage their time at work, and can’t manage project tasks without asking everyone within sight for help.
When you do some traveling either solo or with a buddy, you can prove to interviewers that you know how to take matters into your own hands and take care of yourself without your parents’ help.
That says a lot for a 20-something, and it will help distinguish you from other job candidates.
Your Resume Will Grow
If your only jobs prior to college graduation were part time gigs like pizza delivery guy or dog walker, your resume is probably full of a whole bunch of white space. You need to find some way to bulk up your resume so it looks like you’ve actually done something worthwhile.
As the following article looks at, here is how travel enhances your resume.
You can add all the places you traveled to, new skills that you learned along the way, and include some references of places you stayed, such as bed and breakfasts, hostels, etc. If you picked up a new language during your travels, add that to your resume, too.
More to Discuss During the Interview
Interviews can get downright terrifying, especially when your interviewer asks you something, you answer with a couple brief words, and they say nothing more. It’s like they’re waiting for you to fill the empty air, but all you can hear are crickets.
As someone with some traveling under your heels, you won’t be short of stories to tell of your adventures.
You’ll find some way to integrate your travel tales with the job requirements your boss is looking for. Is he looking for a problem solver? Tell him or her about the time your taxi driver didn’t show up, but you made it to the airport anyway.
Is he or she looking for an arbitrator? Tell them all about your haggling skills in the open markets in Morocco.
You’ll Become More Worldly
There’s nothing more boring than a person who’s never been away from their hometown.
If a person doesn’t travel, they have little to no way to truly understand people or world events. There’s just no context in life unless you actually venture outside your front door.
A worldly person can make conversation with just about anyone on some topic or another.
As a job candidate – even one only recently out of college – you’ll exude more confidence and worldly experience if you take some time to travel before you settle in to a professional job.
Don’t let others dissuade you from traveling when you’re young and out of college. There’s no better time to see the world.
This is a time of life when you have no ties, no commitments, and no timeframe when you have to get back.
Roam around the world and come back a better person.
Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com
About the Author: Kate Supino is an experienced traveler and recommends it to anyone who is the least bit curious about the world.
