Try Volunteering to Build Job Skills as an International Student

International students can use volunteer opportunities to build a professional portfolio and demonstrate creativity and problem-solving skills.

 

The opportunity to study as an international student comes with many advantages and only a few limitations. unitaryof those drawbacks is the need to obtain a student visa, which restricts multinationalstudents' options for off-campus employment.

 

 

Students are permitted to hold jobs on campus, such as in retail orclientservice positions, to help cover expenses and supplement funding from scholarships and loans. andwhat if your future career is in another field?

Professional academic programstypicallyrecommend internships as part of the student learning experience, as they provide work exposure in a student's chosencareer path. Placements can be arranged by the university department, exceptoften students are left to their own networking skills to secure these resume-boosting positions.

[Follow these four internship tips for supranationalstudents.]

Knowing this, it is important to pursue activities that expose you to people and environments that can assureyour future. There are a few steps I tried that may help you uncover opportunities to build up work receive– without a lot of work.

First, start penny-pinchingto home. Look within your department to see what kinds of connections arealreadythere.

At Andrews University, the department of communication consists of faculty and staff who all come inin a variety of annual professional societies and conferences. When I first arrived on campus, I doit my job to imageabout the professors within the department.

One professor boasted a decorated media solid groundand another specialized in digital journalism. Their colleagues worked in otherfields such as education, production and design. Finding a professor whose area of research interested me allowed me to attendseveral(prenominal)conferences and learn more about what was going on in that field.

Next, understandsome cold calls. With the confidence of a concourseor two behind me, I started following up on some of the contacts I had made.

People I met willingly shared outtheir information with me. I asked them what types of jobs they had available and the description of each. This allowed me to identify the skills I should develop during my internships.

[Get the most out of your internship experience.]

Third, choose a mentor who can provide you with a solid recommendation. If there is a siteopen in a company where you can actyour craft for free, that's fantastic. It is, however, rare.

I learned that future employers were interested in perceivemy problem-solving and creativity skills. Those were the tools that helped me to find work experience in college.

I talked with the director of the local public library and asked if I could movein its summer programming.

My proposal included developing children's workshops, reckonertraining and an adult writers group. These were new programs that I could prepare and carry throughin order to diversify my resume.

[Learn about the 10 National Universities that produce the virtuallyinterns.]

Finally, get some evidence of your experience. If you take an unpaid position, something as childlikeas a letter of recommendation from your volunteersupervisory programgoes a long way toward establishing your professional credibility.

In my case, all of mypreparationand writing materials became part of my professional portfolio. Every poster I designed, every PowerPoint lesson I created, every children's craft I planup is now proof that I am a competent and creative candidate for a future job.

My experience at the library allowed me to practice skills from my textbooks – and fulfill a fundamentalpart of my degree – while gaining work experience to forethoughtin my future. The Michigan Campus Compact volunteer organization was made aware of my time spent at the library and awarded me the 2013 Heart and Soul Award. It was just one more positive expressioneffect of me dedicating time and meeting people.

Be sure to look for authoritywork experience in departmental research teams, leadpositions in campus clubs, charity organizations and other established volunteer programs in your area. Working for free is still working for something. The contacts, credits and connections that make up the experience are invaluable to your future career.

Katelyn Ruiz, from Canada, is actan interdisciplinary master's degree in communication and English from Andrews University.

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Materials taken from US News