Gap Year Experience
- What is a Gap Year?
- Advantages of the Gap Year
- The Potential Employer or School
- Is a Gap Year the Right Option for You?
- Options for the Gap Year
- Getting Started on Your Gap Year
- Useful Links and Career Center Resources
- To the Parents of Gappers
A Gap Year is time used by someone to explore their options and the world around them. There are typically four types of Gap Year experiences where you take one semester to one year off from a certain point in your life. These four points are 1) a year between high school and college, 2) a year during your college career, 3) a year between college and the ‘real’ world, and 4) a year off from your professional career. All four of these situations have people who may be struggling to find themselves and their place in the world around them and by taking a Gap Year they can discover what and where they want to be.
• Have a break so you will not
burn out of school
• Take a financial break from school
• Gain additional experience
• Help someone
• See the world!
What will Career & School Recruiters think? The Potential Employer or School
One concern many of you may have is that if you take a Gap Year potential employers or school admission representatives will look at you negatively. Not the case! Employers are seeing the benefits in new hires who have taken a Gap Year. These people have developed skills and maturity other new hires lack. It is an opportunity to build your resume. If you go abroad state it in your resume and highlight the advantages of that time. Look at this website for some more advice: http://www.gapwork.com/gapsmart/impressing-employers
Many colleges are also seeing the benefits of their students taking a Gap Year before enrolling. It gives students time to mature and gain some experience before throwing them into a heavy dose of education than they have previously had. Some schools offer the option on their admissions applications while others are providing their students with Gap Year information.
Is a Gap Year the Right Option for You?
Are you . . .
• Burned out from taking classes or working the same job 8 hours a day
for the last 10 plus years
• Wanting to gain ‘real’ world experience before settling
down to the 9 to 5 job
• Wanting to work with your hands and help someone
• Wanting to see the world
There are a lot of different options available to
you if you are interested in a Gap Year. Choose just one or use a combination
to make the most of your experience.
• Alternative Work Experiences: A job that does not
necessary “fit” into your career goals but allows you to gain
a wide range of valuable skills and abilities you would not normally have
received. There are a lot of different organizations that can help you locate
these different opportunities see the below links. Possible settings include:
teaching abroad, internships, or part time work in the U.S. or internationally.
• Volunteering: this can be locally, regionally,
nationally, or even internationally. There are a lot of different organizations
out there that offer you the opportunity to volunteer your time in community
and service projects. Possible settings: building houses and other buildings
in the U.S. or around the world, community aid to low income families and
areas, or helping out at your local shelter.
• Learning Opportunities: One option for you during
your gap year is to keep studying but to do it somewhere besides your current
school. This allows you the opportunity to break the barriers you find yourself
in. Possible study experiences include: study abroad in a foreign country
or a semester at sea.
• Traveling: This option gives you the chance not
only to see places around the country but also around the world. Possible
settings: hiking the entire Appalachian Trail, road trip across the country,
back packing across Europe, or camping in the Australian outback.
Getting Started on Your Gap Year
A Gap Year should not happen at moments
notice, but begin after thoughtful planning at least six months
before you want to start. This lead time will also help to meet deadlines
if you are planning on doing a formal program. Think about the following
questions when planning your Gap Year:
1. Why do you want to have a Gap Year experience?
2. What do you want to gain from your experience?
3. Do you want your Gap Year to be organized or a less in formal experience?
• Alternative Work
o CISTERN
Online
o BUNAC
o Language Corps
o Escape Artist
o Dynamy
o Work
Abroad and Seasonal Positions
• Volunteering
o Americorps
o Village Studies
o City Year
• Learning Opportunities
o Sea-mester
o CofC Center for International
Education
o Center for Interim Programs
o National Outdoor Leadership School
o World Learning
Career Center Resources
• The Au Pair and Nanny’s Guide
by Susan Griffith and Sharon Legg
• Taking a Gap Year by Susan Griffith
• Work & Study in Developing Countries by Toby
Milner
• Teaching English Abroad by Susan Griffith
• International Voluntary Work by Victoria Pybus
• Work Your Way around the World by Susan Griffith
• The Gap-Year Advantage by Karl Haigler and Rae
Nelson
• Invest Yourself: A Guide to Action by Susan G.
Angus
• The Peace Corps and More by Medea Benjamin
• The Directory of Third World & U.S. Volunteer Opportunities
by Joan Powell
• How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering Overseas
by Joseph Collins, Stefano DeZerega, and Zahara Heckscher
For some of you it may be hard to understand why your
student would want to take a year or so off from education or from their job.
For others you may understand it but do not understand how taking a gap year
can be beneficial. Below you will find a wealth of information to set you
at ease and answer all the questions you have regarding Gap Year.
• Real
Gap Experience Parent Advice
• The Possibilities
of the Gap Year by Holly Bull
• Don’t
Let School Get in the Way of Your Education
• Benefits
of Volunteer Work