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Overview: Comparison of Work and Study Abroad

About Work Abroad

You may be considering an overseas work experience for many reasons:

  • a life-changing adventure
  • a chance to gain in-depth knowledge of another culture and of yourself
  • an inexpensive way to improve foreign language proficiency
  • experience which looks good on a resume when applying for jobs or graduate school
  • preparation for an international career

Keep in mind what you want from working abroad:

  • Will an internship working with Americans in a U.S. Embassy do as much for your French as working in an ice cream shop in Paris?
  • Would a U.S. Department of State internship be a better choice if your long-term goal is an international career?
  • Or do both in two successive summers?

Whether you are interested in an international career, or simply in working abroad, the best time to seek an international work experience is while you are a student (or soon after graduation). There are numerous special programs available only to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as recent graduates.

Work Abroad Options

Work abroad programs offer the same kinds of benefits as study abroad programs, including in-depth cultural immersion, personal development, and rapid improvement in foreign language knowledge (where applicable). If you want academic credit, there are programs that combine coursework with an internship or volunteer (“service-learning”) placement. If you do not want or need credit – for instance, if you just want a summer work experience or are graduating – many work abroad programs provide some kind of compensation, or are considerably less expensive than study abroad programs. For more information see Work Abroad Options.

Work Abroad Challenges

Be aware that it is extraordinarily difficult to be hired into a career position located abroad, unless you have a scarce skill and professional experience. But there are ways to build towards an international career by gaining overseas experience. This can be done through programs for internships, short-term paid work, volunteering, and teaching abroad. See International Career Web Resources and Books to explore long-term options.

Visas and Work Permits: One of the major challenges to working abroad is the law. All countries (including the U.S.) require special permission for foreigners to either work or reside for longer periods of time, called visas. Whereas short-term tourists sometimes do not need a visa, and student visas are granted relatively easily, work permit visas are normally available only through application by an employer who has offered you a job. The employer must prove that you have unique skills and abilities not possessed by local citizens.

This is expensive and time-consuming to prove, so most employers will not offer a job to a foreigner who does not already possess a work permit, since employers who hire illegally are subject to heavy fines. Student work exchange programs are one of the few legal ways around this situation.

Working for pay without a work permit is usually illegal. Such jobs may turn up in restaurants and agriculture as well as in teaching English. We do not recommend working illegally because it puts you at risk of immediate deportation, possible fines, lowest wages (or failure to pay wages at all), other types of exploitation, and lack of legal protection or health insurance in case of injury or illness. Note that unpaid internships and volunteer positions may or may not require a work permit, depending on the host country's regulations.

Work While Studying Abroad

Work abroad may sometimes be combined with study abroad (before, during or after), helping you to possibly defray the cost, and perhaps more importantly, to gain experience in a very different environment from that of the classroom.

The easiest way to combine study abroad with a work experience is to choose a study abroad program that offers an internship or service-learning experience as an integral part of the program. See International Internships for more about study-internship programs.

Advantages:
  • Provides logistical assistance and a structured learning environment, which can be especially valuable if you are going abroad for the first time.
  • Provides the quickest way to achieve fluency in a foreign language, a prerequisite for many international careers.
  • For those interested in working abroad, the study abroad situation can also provide a secure base from which to explore job possibilities and make contacts with potential employers.
  • Credit towards your degree is available as long as you check with the proper offices before going.
  • Financial aid may be possible to use for study abroad, and scholarships may be available.
Disadvantages:
  • Cost ranges from about the same to considerably more than the cost of study at U-M as an in-state student.
  • If you don't need academic credit towards a degree (if you are graduating or have graduated, for example), study abroad might simply be impractical.

Things to Consider

  • Do not expect to finance study with part-time work. At best, it can provide extra spending money. Savings can usually be accumulated more quickly by a job in the U.S., contrary to myths that lots of money can be made by working abroad.
  • Carefully investigate whether and under what circumstances work is allowed by a specific country for Americans who are studying abroad. For example, American students might teach English or take a part-time job to earn spending money. But some programs or localities expressly forbid work by students. Many countries do not allow foreign students to work, and you may run into difficulties with the local authorities (including deportation) if you work when your student visa does not allow it. Check with your study abroad program administrators, and with the country's embassy. Most embassies have information about working as a student, or temporary work permits, on their web sites (look for words like consular, visa, or employment). For web sites of all foreign embassies in Washington, see the Electronic Embassy. For invaluable first-hand reports on working abroad, see Transitions Abroad magazine.

Post-Graduate Work While Studying Abroad

Fulbright, Rotary and other scholarships are available to support a year of overseas study (not necessarily for a degree) after graduation. These prestigious awards and the contacts they open up have often been stepping-stones to international careers.

Scholarship Deadlines: Apply 1 to 1-1/2 years before the intended year of study.

Rotary - March
Fulbright - September

Direct enrollment in a foreign university is another post-graduate possibility. Tuitions for direct enrollment are low in some countries (low, for example, in much of continental Europe and in many regions outside of Europe, but relatively high in such popular destinations as Britain, Ireland and Australia). Student status may allow you to work part-time or during vacations in some countries.

The main disadvantage of attempting to work your way through an overseas university is that you may find yourself marking time, neither making headway towards a degree nor progress in a career. You would also want to be sure that a degree earned from an overseas university would be as well-recognized in the U.S. as a degree earned from a U.S. university.

More Information

For more information, see “Work Abroad Options.”

Last reviewed: 5/07