CAPA WORLD

When you study and intern abroad, opportunities will constantly be presenting themselves for you to grow professionally. The overarching benefits of picking up new skills will serve you in the years to come.

In an article written in 2018, LinkedIn Business shared their findings from hiring and recruiting data that they pulled between January-September 2017 (which was billions of data points) to identify the most in-demand hard and soft skills for 2018 and on. From this and several other sources which produced similar data, we’ll take a look at six of the professional skills you need to succeed this year and some of the ways studying and interning abroad can play a role.

Yes, CAPA global cities are bursting with people from around the globe and are inevitably busy places. They're also home to some pretty amazing quieter spaces too that give the introverts among us a chance to recharge and perhaps discover another, more peaceful, side of a bustling metropolis. We recommend picking up a copy of a book called Quiet Barcelona by Siobhan Wall before you go. It’s packed full of ideas, but here are 10 of our personal favorite ways to recharge in the city.

Pick up a book or two to read before you study abroad in Barcelona and, of course, choose one for the journey. We’ll share 10 of our favorite recommendations below, but we’d also love to know if you’ve discovered any you love. If you have, mention @CAPAStudyAbroad on social media with your own suggestions.

Whether you're studying abroad in Barcelona now, making your bucket  list and traveling there soon, or just back in the United States and reminiscing about the food in Spain, here are 10 resources you'll appreciate.

Only a very small percentage of US students intern abroad. The experience alone can make you stand out from your peers in a pile of resumes once you graduate and will no doubt be a conversation starter in an interview. If you put the effort in and set goals for yourself before you begin, it can be even more than a conversation starter. You will have opportunities to learn some truly important life and career skills that you might not gain in a domestic internship.

Here are just 5 skills (out of many) you can gain from interning abroad.

Let’s be honest: studying abroad is an incredible experience, but it’s not an automatic ticket to landing a job when you graduate. Yes, listing an international internship, for example, can make your resume stand out in an inbox full of applications, but it’s not until you learn how to talk about your experience in a meaningful way that your future employer’s ears will really perk up. And it’s not until you take ownership of your experience—by learning how to recognize, pursue, and nurture the skills that are key to your personal and professional development while you’re abroad—that you’ll be able to do that.

One of CAPA’s five Student Learning and Development Outcomes(SLDOs), set for those studying abroad in all of our cities, is a focus on personal and professional development.

When you study abroad in Barcelona, there are a few cultural celebrations throughout the country that are worth looking into attending while you're in Spain!

Here are seven local celebrations for your list.

Before you travel to the land of Gaudi’s magical modernist architecture, endless plates of tapas, and one of the world’s most famous soccer teams, read up on a few interesting facts about one of our great global cities: Barcelona!

It’s only a 13-minute drive or 17-minute cycle from the CAPA Barcelona center to Camp Nou, home to FC Barcelona. If that doesn’t ring a bell, study up before you go because you’ll probably be hearing a lot about the city’s beloved soccer team while you’re abroad—and rightly so as they are one of the best in the world!

There's no doubt that studying abroad is the experience of a lifetime, but it is also one that needs careful planning, especially as it relates to finances. Studying abroad is possible even if money is an issue for you, but you need to give yourself enough time to save and apply for grants and scholarships.

There's really no magic short cut and students tend to fund their programs through a combination of efforts, but we hope these tips will give you some guidance. 

1. GET A JOB ON OR OFF CAMPUS. There's no question that the best best way to save money is to make more than you spend, so send out your resume and ensure you have an income if you're serious about going abroad. If you're already employed, find out if it's possible to increase your hours slightly. For motivation, think of every $10 you make as another meal abroad.

"I saved a decent amount of money before I came to Dublin by working all the way up to the day before I left," said CAPA alumna Kaylen Nese. 

CAPA Sydney alumna Sierra Glasscock had been saving to study abroad since she was 16-years-old. "I had a part time job that helped with my expenses and plane ticket," she said. "I was very blessed that my parents paid for the school side of the program and my accommodation. My parents said as long as I had good grades through college, they would help pay for me to study abroad."

To fund her semester in London, Kathryn Tenney took on more than one part time job. "Ultimately, I took out loans to pay for my time abroad, but I also worked (on campus and as a babysitter) to have a decent amount of pocket money," she said. 

David Kozhuk and Jacquelyn Jones, also CAPA London alumni, shared that they too worked to raise money toward the goal of studying abroad. David spent a summer focusing on his role at an investment bank in New York and Jacquelyn secured a position a local supermarket. 

"I heard countless times that a semester abroad costs about the same as a semester at your home institution, but for me it was double," said CAPA London alumna Cassie Naes. "The first thing that helped me fund my time abroad was working a part-time job at Kohl’s. Although I was making basic minimum wage, I saved for a year and by the time I left for London I had $4,000 saved." 

Photo: CAPA Sydney alumna Sierra Glasscock