Reflecting on your Global Opportunity (in order to look forward)

At Durham, we promote participation, critical thinking, leadership and citizenship. Regardless of length abroad, a Global Opportunity can fit with these aims as you contribute, develop and consider your place as a global citizen while abroad. On returning from a Global Opportunity we encourage students to reflect in a CV applicable manner on the impact of their year abroad. When doing this we would encourage students to identify skills, attributes and trains that fall into four categories: Update & Include, Demonstrate, Maintain, Develop.

Update & Include: Add your experience to your CV. Employers are looking for students with international skills and experiences that differentiates them from others - even one clear sentence listing where you were and the title of what you did will make a difference. The Careers Service offer support for this, including a Review your CV service.

Demonstrate: You rarely get a job just by sending in a CV. Instead you will often have to write a letter of application and attend an interview. Graduation may seem a long time away, but it is best to act now, while your experience is fresh in mind (though it is never too late!). Things you may wish to think about include:   

• What skills have you gained on your global opportunity?
• Can you provide an example of how you have applied these skills?
  • In demonstrating skills, avoid the pitfall of being generic. I.e. an employer will know that a year abroad is generally a good thing, but can you name a challenge you overcame to show independence?
• Can you give an instance where you have demonstrated intercultural understanding?

Consider writing down and saving a list of skills and examples that you can use in your next (or first!) job application. In addition, you may want to think about how you demonstrate these skills again in future (e.g. through becoming a student ambassador, taking a committee role in a student society or a pastoral role in College)?

Maintain: Can you identify skills from your global opportunity that will require continued active maintenance? This will give you the opportunity to take practical steps to translate this into action. E.g.: if you have gone to Korea and have started learning the language why not maintain this at the Centre for Foreign Language Study? If you have started (professionally) networking, can you maintain and expand this via an Alumni Organisation?

Develop: A global opportunity is just one step. If you have undertaken a short (summer) opportunity, can you develop further by taking a full-year option? Can the skills that you have been able to demonstrate, be further developed and augmented formal training? In reflecting on the skills that you have gained, are there gaps that you realise that you may need to fill. 

All of the above can be done in conjunction with looking at the support offered by Careers, Employability and Enterprise.

Looking forward and developing your skills - Durham Leadership Framework

Global Opportunities are just one of the amazing things that Durham University students undertake while studying. The University also is running an engaging programme of events that you can attend during your time in Durham, at no cost. The programme enables you to explore the core skills that define good leadership, and reflect on how you can put those skills to use yourself. Our innovative framework is designed to support you on your journey to becoming a responsible student leader.

Some of the amazing things that Durham students do is engaging with student societies. Students who have undertaken a global opportunity may consider (re-)joining these societies and taking on leadership roles in order to both share their experience and translate their ideas into practical support. There are internationally focussed societies, including esn_durham: the Erasmus & Exchange Students society. ESN is run by Durham students to support Erasmus+ and Exchange students studying / preparing to study at Durham.  Further details below.