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How Learning New Skills Abroad Can Help You Approach Jobs Differently at Home

To travel, live or study abroad offers many exciting opportunities. Whether you decide to study overseas, or get an internship away from these shores, it will give new insights for a return to working life here in the UK.

One of the advantages of either studying or working abroad is that it will give you the opportunities to experience other cultures. The ability to speak and write fluently in a foreign language is ever so important, and those skills can be best mastered when living overseas. To live among other cultures and be fluent in a foreign tongue can be all but essential for working life either in the UK or on foreign shores as many companies nowadays, especially the big ones, operate across borders.

It is also very important to understand that studying or working abroad will look good on a CV when applying for a job in this country, particularly if the company in question does business overseas. Your experiences in other countries can increase your chances of being accepted for that much cherished job back in the UK, and the experience and added skills gained may have widened your expectations further, allowing you to approach jobs differently and seek newer and fresher opportunities.

Living and studying abroad can provide much more than the opportunity to learn work skills in a new environment; it can also allow you to develop new life skills. This can be especially important for students whose life is balanced between university during term time and home during holidays. By spending time abroad, you will be in a completely new setting where you can achieve independence while learning the merits of self-discipline – these virtues will stand you well in the workplace, either here or overseas.

In short, studying or working abroad can help you gain valuable experience and develop essential skills, including language, which will alter your job-seeking approach and improve your chances of finding work back home. What is more, companies do tend to like candidates with international experience.

Of course, having lived or worked abroad, you might decide that you do not want to work for an employer. Instead, you might decide that you have the skills to strike out on your own as a freelancer or contractor. For those wanting to work for themselves, there can be rewards aplenty. Anyone deciding to work as a freelancer or contractor should seek expert advice, especially over such essentials as taxation and advice with IR35. This is also important if you are working as a contractor while living overseas, as the rules of taxation are quite different nation to nation.

There are many benefits to be gained by studying or working abroad. Your eyes will be opened to a whole new world, both professionally and personally. By availing of those overseas opportunities, you will be widening your expectations, and by so doing, you will be preparing yourself well for life and work back here in the UK.

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