amorica wrote:
question..
I had my interview at Vanderbilt the other day and I was asked about any overseas experiences I've had.. well...maybe it was nerves..not sure really...but even though I have no professional experience overseas...I have visited relatives who live in another country...spent 6 weeks overseas in high school..
well... I answered "no" to the question!.. I think I thought the question specifically pertained to professional experience overseas. Well, I noticed on the application there is a similar question, which asks for any time spent working, visiting, or traveling abroad..
My question is...how do I address this question..I feel like I'm going to sound like:
A) An Idiot...
B) I'm lying..
Should I reference that I got mixed up and answered incorrectly? Thanks!
Overseas expereince is nice to have but may not necessarily be a showstopper if you dont have one.
What does an overseas experience provide more than working at your home ground?
I can think of two imp things
1) multicultural experience, ability to work with culturally diverse teams
2) Client facing roles (if on work)
1) Overseas experiences is a general term and yes a 6 week stay ( a part of a student exchange program perhaps ) can be a good learning exp and a good point to mention about.
2) Yes could talk of going overseas to Visit relatives and perhaps to enhance your hobbies (say photography of tourist attractions, meeting people of different cultures)
To defend lack of professional experience overseas
If you work in an organisation which intakes international candidates you can say you have worked effectively in a multicultural environment to compensate for lack of professional overseas travel.