As a young person currently trying to enter the job market, I understand how tough it is. You study your whole life to be ready for this exact moment in your life: the moment you start working, get your own money and live your own life.

Nowadays, it’s very easy to be just one more statistic, one more number in search for starting their own life and not standing out among the crowd. It’s common to prepare yourself for a job interview and really think you are going to get it, but then when you arrive for the interview you see 20 more people just like you, who studied their entire life to be there and went through a similar path as you to get where they are.

Therefore, it’s very important to stand out wherever you go, now more than ever. The interviewers are tired of seeing the same old experiences and qualifications. It’s not enough to just meet the job requirements, anyone can do that. What you really need to put on your resume are experiences and qualities that will make anyone looking to hire you know that it would be extremely beneficial for them to have a person like you on board. Furthermore, taking into consideration how globalization is a phenomenon that is growing more and more each day and gradually affecting our personal and professional lives, what better experience to put on your resume than international experience?

Showing people that you travelled to different places, met different cultures and interacted with different ways of living and of working can really be a big advantage when you need to stand out. A young person who has had experiences abroad and has been mobile throughout the years is always 100 light years ahead from anyone who has just stayed inside their comfort zone with the same reality everyday. Of course it is not anyone who can afford to have these experiences but there are companies that are starting to invest on these people and are working with lower travel costs because they know how important it is to have international abroad and how these experiences can help people grow and develop.

Therefore, if you are a young person currently on the hunt for a job, look into having an experience like that! Companies are looking more and more for people with ability to be mobile, to step out of their comfort zones and gain new qualities and deeper knowledge from everywhere in this big world that we live in.

If you want to start doing and becoming more, go to aiesec.org.