You studied abroad. You visited companies in Japan, walked through Reykjavik at 6am, sat across from executives in Milan and actually asked them questions. Now you’re in an interview and the recruiter says: “So, tell me about your study abroad experience.”
And you say: “It was really eye-opening. I got to experience a different culture and it made me a better communicator.”
That answer loses jobs.
Not because it’s wrong. Because it’s the same thing every other candidate with a passport stamp says. This post is about saying something better — something specific, something true, and something the interviewer will actually remember.
How to Talk About Study Abroad in a Job Interview
Why “it was eye-opening” doesn’t work
Interviewers hear study abroad stories constantly. Most of them sound identical: transformative, culturally enriching, broadened my perspective. These phrases have been said so many times they’ve stopped meaning anything.
What interviewers are actually listening for is evidence. Proof that the experience produced a skill, changed a behavior, or gave you a specific insight you can apply to their company’s problems.
“Eye-opening” is a feeling. Employers hire people, not feelings.
The good news: if you did a program that included real company visits — sitting in on executive briefings, seeing how international businesses actually operate — you have the raw material for interview answers that nobody else in that room can give. You just need to know how to structure them.
The framework: STAR, but make it global
STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. It’s the standard behavioral interview format. Most candidates know it. Few apply it to their study abroad experience, which means you can stand out immediately by doing it well.
Here’s how it maps:
Situation: Where were you, and what was the context? (Specific company, city, industry — not “a country in Europe.”)
Task: What were you there to do, or what problem were you observing?
Action: What did you do, notice, ask, or decide?
Result: What did you take away that you’ve since applied, or that changed how you think about the work?
The result doesn’t have to be a number. It can be a shift in approach, a question you now ask in every meeting, or a framework you use when working across teams.
The five interview questions you’ll get — and how to answer them
“Tell me about your study abroad experience.”
This is the open-ended one. It sounds simple. It’s actually a test of whether you can distill a big experience into something relevant and precise.
What not to do: Give a chronological recap of everywhere you went.
What to do: Lead with the most professionally relevant moment, then connect it directly to the role you’re interviewing for.
Example answer structure: “During my program in Japan with GLO, we visited [name of company or industry sector] and sat in on a briefing on their supply chain operations. What struck me was [specific observation]. I’ve since applied that thinking when [concrete example from class, internship, or other work context]. That’s part of why this role caught my attention — [tie to the job].”
One minute. Specific location. Specific observation. Concrete takeaway. Done.
“How did studying abroad prepare you for this role?”
This is where most candidates go generic again. Don’t.
The question is asking you to connect your experience to their needs — which means you need to do your homework on the company before you walk in.
What to do: Pick one skill the job description emphasizes. Then give a study abroad example that demonstrates exactly that skill.
If the job mentions cross-cultural communication: talk about a moment where you had to navigate a communication style completely different from your own — a business meeting in Germany, a factory tour in South Korea, a negotiation you observed where everything you assumed about directness turned out to be wrong.
If the job mentions adaptability: talk about a moment where the plan changed and you had to adjust in real time — which, if you’ve traveled internationally with a group, happened multiple times.
If the job mentions global market awareness: talk about what you saw on the ground in a specific market that no industry report had prepared you for.
The formula: “The job description mentions [X]. My study abroad experience gave me a direct example of that. When we visited [company/city], I saw [specific thing]. It changed how I think about [relevant concept]. I’d bring that perspective to [specific responsibility in this role].”
“Can you give me an example of a time you worked across cultures?”
This is a behavioral question, and it’s increasingly common in any company that operates internationally or has a diverse team — which is most companies worth working for.
What to do: Use a real moment from the program. If your GLO experience included company visits, you almost certainly have this: a room full of executives from a different cultural context, speaking through an interpreter or in a second language, explaining business decisions that were shaped by norms you didn’t grow up with.
What to avoid: Vague “I worked with people from many backgrounds” answers. Be specific about the cultural difference, what you did with it, and what you learned.
Example: “During a company visit in [city], I noticed that the way decisions were communicated was completely different from what I’d seen in American companies — there was much less public disagreement, even when people clearly had different opinions. I asked one of the executives about it afterward. What they explained shifted how I facilitate group discussions now. When I’m working with quieter team members, I’ve started [specific behavior change].”
That’s a real answer. It has a moment, an observation, a question you asked, and a change you made. That’s what interviewers are looking for.
“What’s something you learned abroad that surprised you?”
This question is designed to see how self-aware you are and whether you can learn from unfamiliar environments. It’s also where most candidates give their most rehearsed, least interesting answer.
What to do: Tell them something that genuinely surprised you. Not “I learned that people are more similar than different” (everyone says this). Something specific to your program, your destination, the company you visited, or the conversation you had.
If you visited a manufacturing company and watched how they handled a quality control issue, and it was completely different from the process you’d studied in class — say that. If you expected a certain industry to be a certain way in Japan and it wasn’t — say that. If an executive said something in the Q&A that contradicted everything you thought you knew about that market — say that.
Surprises are memorable. Interviewers remember the candidate who said “I expected X and found Y, and here’s what that taught me.” They don’t remember the candidate who said “I was surprised by how open everyone was.”
“Where do you see yourself in five years?” (and why your study abroad matters here)
This one feels unrelated, but it’s not. If you’re interviewing for a company with international operations, global clients, or ambitions to expand, your study abroad experience is evidence that you’re not just interested in global work — you’ve already done it.
Use this question to signal that the experience wasn’t a one-time trip. It was the beginning of something you’re actively building.
“My time abroad confirmed that I want to work in [international context/industry/region]. The company visits we did in [destination] showed me what that work actually looks like on the ground — and it made me want more of it. In five years, I’d like to be [specific goal that connects to their company’s global work].”
What not to do in any of these answers
Don’t lead with how much fun you had. The experience can be — and probably was — fantastic. But the interview isn’t the place for it. Lead with what you learned, not how you felt.
Don’t name-drop without context. “We visited BMW in Munich” means nothing on its own. “We visited BMW in Munich and sat in on a presentation about their European supply chain strategy, and I asked the operations manager about [specific thing]” — that’s something.
Don’t over-generalize. “I became more adaptable” is not an answer. “Here’s the specific moment I had to adapt and here’s what I did” is an answer.
Don’t apologize for a short program. Two weeks abroad, done well, produces better interview material than a semester of tourist experiences. Length is not the point. Specificity is the point.
Before your next interview: three things to do
1. Write down three specific moments from your program. Not themes — moments. A conversation with an executive. A company visit that surprised you. A decision your group had to make in real time. These are your raw material.
2. Run each moment through the STAR framework. Situation → Task → Action → Result. If you can’t get to a result, push yourself harder on the “action” — what did you do with what you saw?
3. Match each moment to a skill the job description mentions. Cross-cultural communication. Adaptability. Global market awareness. Stakeholder management. Pick the three that appear in the job description and have a STAR story ready for each one.
You don’t need ten stories. You need three good ones that you can tell crisply, specifically, and without filler.
Frequently asked questions
How do I talk about study abroad in a job interview?
Use the STAR framework — Situation, Task, Action, Result — applied to a specific moment from your program. Avoid vague language like “it was eye-opening” and instead describe a concrete observation, what you did with it, and how it changed your approach to work. Lead with what’s relevant to the role, not what was most memorable to you personally.
What if my study abroad program was only two weeks?
Length matters less than specificity. Two weeks that included real company visits, executive Q&As, and hands-on exposure to international business gives you more interview material than a semester of classroom instruction abroad. Describe what you saw and what you learned from it — not how long you were there.
Should I mention study abroad if the job isn’t international?
Yes, if you can connect it to a skill the role requires. Adaptability, cross-cultural communication, independent decision-making, and comfort with ambiguity are all valued in domestic roles. Frame the experience around the transferable skill, not the destination.
What if I’m not sure the interviewer will care about my study abroad experience?
Bring it up anyway — briefly. If it’s on your resume, they may ask. If they don’t, weave it into a behavioral answer where it’s genuinely the strongest example you have. Don’t force it, but don’t hide it either. A specific international business experience is a differentiator. Use it.
How do I answer “tell me about yourself” if I want to include study abroad?
Lead with your current role or academic focus, then include one line about study abroad tied to something professionally relevant: “I also did a short-term business program in Japan through GLO, which included company visits and executive briefings — it’s shaped how I think about global market entry and cross-cultural team dynamics.” That’s it. One line. Save the details for the behavioral questions.
GLO programs are designed to give you exactly the kind of specific, credible, story-worthy experience that holds up in any interview room. Company visits, executive Q&As, real access to international business — that’s not something you can fake, and it’s not something interviewers forget.
If you haven’t gone yet, browse GLO’s upcoming programs and see what’s available for this winter or summer.
If you’ve already been, you have more to work with than you think. You just have to tell it right.
