Putting your travels on your resume

You’ve come back from the trip of a lifetime, but now it’s time to start job-hunting again. If the economy wasn’t bad enough, there’s also a big gap in your resume from while you were abroad. What to do?

Rolf has recommended putting your trip on your resume. Travelers Notebook did an article on this topic, How to Make Travel Look Good on a Resume.  The most useful part is where the writer included an excerpt from his actual resume.

On a related topic, how have you guys handled talking about travel in job interviews?  How did the interviewer react to your travel stories?

Posted by | Comments (6)  | June 5, 2009
Category: Travel News


6 Responses to “Putting your travels on your resume”

  1. Traveller Says:

    I too have a lot of personal travel experience; but I do not think that I would put my “personal” travel experience (versus travel related to work responsibilities) in my resume. Instead, I might incorporate this information in the cover letter that accompanies my resume.

    The cover letter allows you to use a narrative format that the resume format does not. However, in raising the issue of personal travel, you must relate in the cover letter how your extensive personal travel experience is relevant to the job that you is seeking. For example, did your travel result in learning another language — a proficiency in that language being necessary for the job?

  2. Julie Says:

    I agree with the response above. I would not necessarily put my travel on my resume, but I might put a nonprofit or some similar work experience on my resume. Just seeing the name of another country usually sparks the interviewer to ask questions.

    It is also important to talk about your travels, but not to OVER talk about your travels so much that you might come off as conceited or as a showoff.

    Always bring your travel back to the skills you learned that will help you perform your job better, such as a new language, experience with working with a diverse group of individuals and being able to tackle complex problems.

  3. Nicolaï Says:

    Travel goes on my resume, why not? Sounds like people are afraid of showing their travel experience, despite wanting to take credit for the knowledge they’ve gained from it. Sounds like a gap to me, that might raise questions.

    At the end of the day, an employer who won’t hire you because you’ve travelled is probably not one that would be good to work for.

  4. Travel-Writers-Exchange.com Says:

    Travel is great for a cover letter and resume. In business, you must be able to NEGOTIATE prices and other things. You can put this on your resume underneath a section titled OTHER ACTIVITIES or OTHER EXPERIENCE or whatever category you created.

    If I was looking to hire a person, I definitely would be interested in someone who has traveled the world. It would be a bonus if he/she spoke a couple of different languages. Communication is key in business and when you travel. This is why the “average tourist” freaks out because he has no clue as to how to communicate with the locals. Don’t even get me started on the importance of being “sensitive” to other cultures and diversity!

    Go ahead and put travel on your resume, it will give you an edge over others. FYI: the most common complaint from job recruiters is that people seem “too perfect.” They want to hear about your weaknesses and a good story. Your travel stories will set you apart from the “average” job seeker. Believe me, employers/recruiters will be interested in your stories about traveling through to the Outback or to Indonesia!

  5. road schooled Says:

    It really depends on what type of job you are applying for and what type of travel you did. If you spent a year vagabonding and are applying for a job that would require you to sit in a desk all day doing repetitive work they would say you are not a good fit for the position. But if the position you are seeking requires wearing multiple hat and resourcefulness, vagabonding for a year may be considered an asset and set you apart from the other candidates.