Posted 31 Mar 2009

Adding your gap year experiences to a CV could help you shine at interview, it has been claimed.

Although adventure and challenges and a desire to see the world are often the drivers for gap year students, taking time out abroad can help to make a CV stand out from "10,000 bland" others.

This is the opinion of Tom Griffiths, founder of GapYear.com, who stated that volunteering abroad during a gap year can demonstrate initiative and ambition to future employers.

He added: "One way to look at it is, […] the top three things employers want nowadays are life skills, initiative and communication and decision-making skills."

Volunteering abroad or taking a gap year is "the type of thing that looks interesting", he concludes.

A poll conducted by the Institute of Public Policy Research found that 81 per cent of youngsters who had taken a gap year aboard said the experience resulted in friendships with people from different cultures.

Category: General Travel