Students have many opportunities to spend a longer period of time abroad. Whether you're exploring the other side of the world with a backpack on your back, teaching English to Chinese children or doing an internship at a top company in the States - a stay abroad is not only a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it will also help you advance your career ladder crucial step further. In addition, time abroad is no longer exclusively reserved for students with rich parents. Sometimes you can simply earn the necessary change on the go or you can live cheaply abroad by working for free room and board. In this article you will find out why you should definitely spend a longer period abroad during your studies, what specific options there are and how you can save money .
What does a stay abroad bring me?
If you are wondering whether a longer stay abroad is worthwhile for you and your studies, rest assured: everyone benefits from a longer period abroad. In doing so, you acquire skills and knowledge that you do not learn during your normal studies. These are mainly so-called soft skills that are just as important for your career. You don't learn this in theoretical studies, but only “outside” in practice.
The most important qualities, skills and knowledge that you acquire during a stay abroad include:
- Independence
- Organizational and planning skills
- Intercultural Competence
- Excellent foreign language skills
- Flexibility and adaptability
- Social skills
- Tolerance towards other cultures and ways of life
- Courage
- Serenity
- and much more…
Depending on which time abroad you choose, the focus can of course be very different. A work-and-travel stay primarily strengthens your independence, organizational talent and adaptability; an internship abroad focuses more on expanding your professional qualifications and developing your foreign language skills. It is therefore advantageous to know what exactly you want to achieve with your stay abroad. Then you can choose a suitable time abroad. It doesn't matter whether you only have two weeks, two months or a whole year - there are a number of stays abroad for very different needs.
Work and Travel
Work and Travel is becoming increasingly popular as a time abroad among high school graduates and students. This is mainly due to the combination of working and traveling abroad. Work and Travel is therefore also suitable for people with a smaller budget, because you can at least partially finance the trip with odd jobs along the way. With the working holiday visa you can stay in exciting countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Japan or Canada for up to a year. During this time you can also take jobs in your host country and earn money. Workers and travelers find jobs primarily in agriculture, tourism and gastronomy. This makes traveling in the more expensive travel destinations affordable. At the same time, you can really immerse yourself deeply in the local (everyday) culture and improve your foreign language skills. A work and travel stay strengthens your independence, organizational skills and adaptability. You have to organize everything yourself on site: you have to look for a job, find accommodation and make new contacts. Along the way you will meet many other work and travelers from all parts of the world, which will help you strengthen your intercultural competence. A particularly instructive and formative experience is when you do work and travel all alone.
Saving tip: A work and travel trip doesn't have to be expensive, especially if you focus on working in the host country. You can save a lot of money on the road if you travel slowly, share accommodation with other backpackers, cook for yourself and spend a lot of time in rural areas or in nature.
Voluntary work/volunteering
Would you rather use your stay abroad to make the world a little better? Then volunteer work or volunteering is exactly the right thing. When you volunteer, you can finally take the time to volunteer and dedicate yourself fully to a truly meaningful task. Volunteer work is possible in a wide variety of areas, including:
- Education & Teaching
- Health
- Construction and infrastructure
- Tourism development
- Childcare
- Nature and environmental protection
- Animal protection and wildlife
So you can focus entirely on your interests and look for volunteer work that suits you and your studies. You can sometimes have a volunteer assignment abroad counted as an internship. By volunteering, you demonstrate social commitment, which future employers will also appreciate. Volunteering also makes you more aware of global issues, which leads to a greater sense of responsibility. Another advantage of this stay abroad is that it is easy to finance. You hardly have any expenses on site, as accommodation and meals are usually provided free of charge. The biggest cost for you are the program, flight and, if applicable, insurance and visa costs for stays outside the EU.
Savings tip: If you organize your volunteer service yourself, you save the program costs for an organizer. To do this, you contact the local NGOs and organizations directly. It is advantageous if you already know a little about the country and speak the local language.
Farm & Ranch Work
Farm and ranch work is the ideal time abroad for anyone who needs a break from stressful student life and hectic city life. Among other things, it helps prevent burnout and other stress-related illnesses. You will also strengthen your intercultural competence and improve your foreign language skills, as you will mostly live with locals. You can do farm and ranch work in almost all parts of the world: whether on a huge cattle ranch in Australia, a traditional sheep farm in New Zealand, a small organic farm in Japan or in a wine-growing region in South Africa. Particularly popular are farm and ranch stays with horses, as well as the WWOOF program , where you live as a volunteer on an ecologically sustainable organic farm.
Typically, on farm and ranch stays you get free room and board in exchange for a few hours of work per day. However, if you already have experience in agriculture, you can also earn money with it. This is possible, for example, in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada or Japan with the working holiday visa. Of course, you can also earn money from farm or ranch work in all EU countries without a visa. But even without a fixed salary, farm stays are among the cheaper times abroad. Since you mostly stay in rural areas, you hardly have any options to spend money.
Saving tip: If you choose an exciting country in Europe for farm or ranch work, you can keep the costs for this time abroad very low. Ireland, Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries are particularly popular.
If you want to know more, you should read more tips about all the possibilities for farm work and ranch stays in different countries around the world.
Semester abroad
The semester abroad is the classic time abroad for students, but one that is definitely worth it. As long as your study regulations allow it, you should definitely take advantage of this opportunity. A semester abroad allows you to experience everyday student life in another country, get to know your field of study from a different perspective, make many international contacts and perfect your foreign language skills at the same time. On your CV you demonstrate foreign language skills, flexibility and intercultural skills by spending a semester abroad. Since you usually write exams and term papers in the respective national language during a semester abroad, you will become extremely confident in this language and will also learn the technical terms in your field of study. This will enable you to later be able to speak fluently in this language at work. Thanks to the international bachelor's and master's system, it is now very easy to have achievements completed abroad counted toward your studies here. This means you don't lose any valuable study time with this time abroad. You can find out what needs to be taken into account and what preparations and planning steps are required for a semester abroad at the link mentioned.
Saving tip: A semester abroad can cost a lot of money. But that doesn't have to be an obstacle for anyone, because there are now a number of scholarships for semesters abroad and financing options for committed students, from foreign student loans to educational loans and scholarships.
Internship abroad
It is more important than ever for students to gain practical experience during their studies. An internship abroad is ideal for this. Not only do you gain practical experience in your industry, you also strengthen all the skills that come with a stay abroad. This includes excellent foreign language skills as well as intercultural competence, cosmopolitanism, courage, tolerance and flexibility. You will also get an intensive insight into the working world in another country and make international contacts, which may open many doors in the wider world for you on your further path. You can do an internship abroad almost anywhere in the world. Unpaid internships of up to three months are possible in most countries with a tourist visa. If you would like to complete a longer, paid internship, it is best to do it in an EU country or take care of the appropriate visa in advance.
Saving tip: Internships abroad are often expensive, especially if they are unpaid. There are also scholarships for this, for example from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Robert Bosch Foundation or the EU Leonardo scholarship. If you can't get a scholarship, you should look for an internship where you can earn at least some money or where room and board are provided. Sometimes you can also have volunteer work counted as an internship. You almost always get accommodation and food, so you can keep your running costs abroad low.
Language trips
A language trip is an ideal opportunity to learn a desired language so well that you will be fluent in it at the end. At the same time, you will get to know the country of this language in depth - an experience that you will remember for the rest of your life. A stay abroad always looks good on your CV; However, if you don't have that much time or money for a whole semester abroad, a language trip during the semester break is a good idea. Length and countries vary, so you can choose exactly the language trip that fits your concept. The classics include Great Britain, France, Spain and Italy. But other destinations such as Russia, China or Japan are also possible. And let's be honest: a language trip is not just about cramming vocabulary, fun and leisure time are certainly not neglected here. In principle, a language trip is like a vacation in that you learn a language in a very short time.
Savings tip: The cost of a language trip varies depending on the country - countries that are further away can easily cost several hundred euros or often exceed the 1,000 mark. Luckily, there are also scholarships for language trips . Of course, you can also get a job in advance and save a little money to finance your language trip.
Summer jobs/summer camps
If you would rather go abroad during the summer or semester break instead of sacrificing several months or even a whole year of your study time, summer jobs are a good choice. One of the most popular summer jobs abroad are the traditional summer camps in the USA. You will experience the diverse country up close, perfect your English, gain educational experience and usually spend several weeks surrounded by breathtaking nature. The best thing about it: You get paid for this assignment and have hardly any expenses on site.
Summer jobs are also possible in other parts of the world. For example, southern European holiday countries such as Italy, Spain or Greece are popular. For example, you can work in large hotels and holiday resorts as an entertainer, tour guide, receptionist or service person. Accompanying a youth travel group as a team member is also an exciting experience that you can have with a summer job. Other options include language lessons or farm jobs with horses abroad.
Savings tip: Summer jobs abroad are not in themselves expensive stays abroad, as you are mainly going abroad to work. If you want to save even more money, it's best to choose a country with high wages. It should also be relatively inexpensive to reach, for example with a low-cost airline. Jobs that also provide accommodation and food are ideal. This is often the case in tourism, the hotel industry and agriculture.
Conclusion
Students should definitely not miss the opportunity to spend a longer period of time abroad. Later in your career, it is much more difficult to fulfill your dream of spending a longer period abroad. During your studies, however, you have a number of opportunities to go abroad. This doesn't even have to cost a lot. During periods abroad such as work and travel, summer jobs and, in some cases, farm and ranch work, you earn the necessary change abroad yourself. However, you can finance other periods abroad, such as a semester abroad or an internship abroad, with the help of a scholarship. You will strengthen important soft skills such as independence, personal responsibility, organizational skills, foreign language skills, intercultural competence and so much more. These skills are insufficiently taught in traditional studies and are actually priceless.
The opportunities for students to earn money, expand their horizons or visit foreign universities during a stay abroad are huge.
