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Does travel abroad look good to employers? I'm not talking about a one-week trip to Cancun, but a one-month trip to Spain and Morocco or a nine-month around-the-world trip. Is this viewed favorably in certain sectors, or unfavorably (because the worker could quit to go on another trip upon saving enough money, etc.)?
Also, is "my car's transmission didn't work and I couldn't afford a new one, and nobody helped me, so I posted constantly on City-Data forums" a good explanation of eight months' unemployment at an interview?
Does travel abroad look good to employers? I'm not talking about a one-week trip to Cancun, but a one-month trip to Spain and Morocco or a nine-month around-the-world trip. Is this viewed favorably in certain sectors, or unfavorably (because the worker could quit to go on another trip upon saving enough money, etc.)?
Yes, good travel agents travel all the time, and to many locations.
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Also, is "my car's transmission didn't work and I couldn't afford a new one, and nobody helped me, so I posted constantly on City-Data forums" a good explanation of eight months' unemployment at an interview?
I'm hoping you're joking, but I'll bite. No, it's an incredibly dumb excuse. If your car is broken down you can do many things that most employers would EXPECT you to do: Take a bus or cab, get driven by a friend, walk to work or ride your bike, hop of the back of a train like a hobo.
If you are unwilling to find a way to work, I'd be unwilling to hire you.
At my last job I hired a woman in her early 20's that really liked to travel. I was up front and told her that it was the one thing that may prevent me from hiring her, don't want to train her only to leave in 6 months. Plus we only give two weeks worth of vacation time. But at the same time I understood what it is like to hit the road before you are young and have no responsibilities.
Ended up hiring her because I liked her personality and qualifications. Gave in a little and would let her sneak out early on Fridays to go camping or other road trips. We have a slow season in the wintertime and told her that I might be able to give her extra time off, but it would not be paid. She told us that she was tired of being broke from traveling all the time and was willing to commit to our requests.
So you have to be honest, there is a point where you do need to settle down and work. Look hard enough and you may find an employer that understands where you are coming from. You will really need to stress in the interview that you have the travel bug out of your system if you want to get hired. It costs a lot of money to train people, companies today do not have the luxury to train you if you will only stick around for 6 months.
Leisure travel of any type doesn't give you a leg up with me. However if you've traveled extensively for business and I'm hiring a 50% travel job, it will. In that case I know that you already know how grueling and tedious business travel can be, I know that you understand (hopefully) how to keep yourself safe and healthy on the road, and I hope that you've got the experience (and hopefully common sense) to figure out workarounds to various travel issues such as cancelled flights and lost baggage.
On a similar note, if you've lived in a foreign country as an expat, I know that you are able to adapt to working with people from other cultures.
Here's the real answer: if it's unrelated to the job, leave it out!
I'd only bring that up if I am asked "so how do you view diversity at work place?" My answer would be :"I personally enjoy travel a lot and I have traveled all over the world. I have nothing but utter respect for different people and cultures, and I really enjoy working with people from different background."
Here's the real answer: if it's unrelated to the job, leave it out!
I'd only bring that up if I am asked "so how do you view diversity at work place?" My answer would be :"I personally enjoy travel a lot and I have traveled all over the world. I have nothing but utter respect for different people and cultures, and I really enjoy working with people from different background."
A word of warning: extensive foreign travel, particulrly to certain countries, is grounds for denying a top secret security clearance, which is required for many jobs with the federal government and contractors.
On the application, you will be required to list every time you've been out of the country. If you have a lot of trips, they will want to investigate the circumstances of them and any foreign connections you may have. If there is any question as to what happened or why you've been out of the country so much, they will deny the clearance.
Only if it's relevant to the position. For example if you are applying to an accounting position, I doubt they will care that you have traveled overseas, however if you are applying for a position where some of your clients are French and you lived in France for a couple years and are fluent in French, then that would be a notable benefit.
Here's the real answer: if it's unrelated to the job, leave it out!
I might be inclined to disagree. I studied abroad and took actual college coursework which contributed to my second undergraduate major (Spanish). While I don't brag about it as some form of accomplishment, I still put it as a bullet point in my undergraduate education section because after 30+ interviews when I was looking for a job my last year of college, I found that it was a great talking point in interviews.
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