Study abroad in two different countries, fall and spring of same year

blossom
Tue, 13 May 2014 18:45:18 +0000

The only downsides I’ve observed with kids who are away the entire junior year is that it makes a summer job for that important “pre senior year” summer very difficult logistically. Not impossible- but difficult.

The corporations which recruit on campus for summer internships have their resume “drop” dates in September/October, with first round interviews on campus in December or so. Then callbacks in Jan/Feb. A kid who is away for one semester can usually manage these hurdles (resume drop is via email; first interview can be Skype, etc.) but it’s tough if a kid is away the entire year.

For non-profits, small companies, local government or whatever, the interviews are usually March or April for the summer jobs. So being away first semester not a problem, by the time the kid comes home in June those jobs are likely to be gone already.

So I think in addition to the academic planning, there needs to be some pre-employment planning as well. Best case- a kid gets an offer last week of the summer before senior year after a successful summer experience. But even without an offer, that job can be meaningful when the kid is looking for employment senior year. Good contacts, good experience, etc.

Your D can’t expect to show up at Career Services in March of her senior year in the hopes that an employer is hanging around waiting for her. It can take two years to get launched and if one of those years is spent abroad… makes it very tough.