Have you ever considered going abroad for a while? Spending time in a new country? Travelling to new places? Learning a new language? Working in another environment? In other words, doing an international placement.

With a placement abroad you get the opportunity to work and operate in a different cultural (work)setting. You will be able to live in a new environment for some time and after a while you will probably even start to get accustomed to this new culture. Think of long siestas, different working hours, a more formal way of communicating with superiors, or the fact that in some cultures it is completely normal if everyone shows up 15 minutes late for the meeting. By going on an international placement you get the chance to dive into a country’s (working) culture, as you usually mainly interact with locals from that specific country/culture.

An international business experience

Spending a longer time at an international organisation doesn’t just allow you to familiarize yourself with the company’s culture, but also the country itself. In future jobs you could benefit from your international experience because you have demonstrated to be flexible by going away and doing something different. You might be seen as the expert who is able to understand that country’s culture and therefore will still be working with that culture a lot throughout the rest of your career. 

After your working day you are finished. Which means that your new environment can be explored in your spare time with fellow (placement) colleagues, housemates or other friends you made. 

Scary? That’s ok. Of course, for some students it is already a big change to start working after years of classroom lectures. When going abroad we expect you to be (at least a bit) outgoing and independent. With a bit of a curious and open mind-set you will be able to have a great time abroad. 

You’ll also notice that you will become much more independent, since you suddenly have to stand on your own feet in an unfamiliar context, and you will have (perhaps new) working responsibilities. So, to sum up why you shouldn’t miss out on this opportunity you, among other reasons, should go abroad because you:

• Enrich yourself;
• Experience new cultures;
• Get out of your comfort zone;
• Become independent;
• Improve your CV;
• An extraordinary work experience;
• Learn a new language and/or improve your English.