10 Transferable Skills You Can Pick Up While Studying Abroad

While academic excellence is something all students should strive for, it is not enough today to coast by on your degree certification - it just opens doors for that critical interview.

In today’s ultra-competitive landscape, it has never been more necessary to develop soft and transferable skills that allow you to stand out from the pack.

This will not only give you the edge in your job but unlocks greater opportunities down the road as you become more versatile and valuable in today’s workforce.

You’ll Want To Develop A Mixture Of Hard & Soft Skills

Transferable skills refer to both hard and soft skills that you can develop that will help you across a variety of situations, either alone is not enough.

You want to have the ability to interpret hard data in order to make swift and accurate conclusions while having the conversational ability to convince and influence people of your findings!

In this article, we will go through 10 transferable skills you can pick up over the course of your overseas degree and how they can help you excel in your career for a lifetime.

10 Transferable Skills You Can Develop

1. Data Analytics

The world is moving towards a data-driven future where business decisions are made through analysing hard facts and data. Learning this will help you become a better analyst and manager in your future positions.

Even the Netflix shows you stream are presented to you based on you and millions of users’ data and interaction.

You can easily develop this skill through computing modules being taught in your university or even join a computer science club for first-hand immersion.

2. Leadership & Team Management

Leadership and team management are more than just getting the task done, it has more to do with motivating your team for long-term success.

Leadership is a soft skill that you need if you want to rise in your corporate career. Excelling is more than just doing your best work, you will need to effectively manage teams when you get the opportunity to lead.

You can easily develop this by joining societies and clubs on your campus and volunteering to take lead for projects.

3. Business Negotiation

Negotiation is key, especially in business where the stakes are high. You will be negotiating not just for your salary in an interview but with actual clients where money is on the line.

To pick up this skill, you can either take business and commerce modules in your school if available to join a business or entrepreneurship club to gain exposure.

4. A Second Language

This hard skill makes you extremely valuable if you can master a second language to the level of business proficiency.

You will be able to find no shortage of job opportunities in various companies and sectors that desire a bilingual expert to help them reach new clients and markets.

To pick up this skill, you can join a language club or immerse yourself in a country like Canada where a second language, French, in this case, is spoken on a daily basis.

5. Communication Through Writing

Writing is essential not just for your academic projects but to influence, convince and lay down a persuasive argument.

You can hone your writing skills by taking up business writing modules as well as joining business-oriented clubs.

6. Project Management

Managing a project isn’t as simple as it sounds. There are timelines, deadlines, tasks and stakeholders’ opinions that all have to be juggled and managed in order to successfully get the project done.

This essential skill can be picked up in your regular curriculum, but you will have to be proactive and volunteer to lead project teams to gain experience.

7. Sales

Sales isn’t easy and it can be nerve-wracking but it is one of the most essential skills that will serve you well for a lifetime. It will allow you to not just sell products or services better, but get into the minds of your customers as well.

To pick up sales skills, you can take part-time sales jobs during your holiday breaks, especially in the financial sector!

8. Social Media Marketing

Social media, be it YouTube or Instagram, is the future of marketing and this is one highly sought after skill in marketing departments regardless of industry or sector.

To build your social media marketing skills, you can take both courses on it in school but seek to manage an active club or association’s social media page to gain real exposure and experience.

9. Research Skills

Research doesn’t just belong in the realms of academic universities, you will also need to do deep research and analysis in the business world.

To really hone your research skills, you might want to take modules that demand such a discipline and instead of heading for industrial attachments, taking up a research thesis might be the better option here.

10. Commercial Awareness

Building commercial awareness is easier said than done. This can only be done by actively being in situations where business negotiations and talks are being done.

You can effectively do this by going for internships during your time in university to gain active experience while sitting in on real commercial business deals.

Begin Your Overseas Study Adventure With IDP Today!

Eager to study abroad and learn the critical skills necessary to become successful in your career path?

We can help! Our team of education experts and counsellors are here to offer you guidance and advice on the next steps ahead.

At IDP, we ensure that you get the best quality education possible by navigating different universities and guiding you through the course application process.

Kickstart your overseas study journey by booking a counselling session today with the enquiry form below.