Hi!
Next semester, I will be studying abroad in Spain.
I'm very excited about it, since I loved the country when I visited and think this would be a unique opportunity to live there and learn Spanish fluently.
However, I know their economy sucks and is not the most obvious choice for a business/finance student. Many of my classmates are going to London, Shanghai, etc . . .. . financial capitals.
If, for some reason, I was asked in an interview why I chose to go to Madrid instead of say London, what are some finance/economy related answers?
One thing I was thinking of is that since I'm already learning about finance in a capital, I want to do it in basically the exact opposite environment.
if you're asked why you chose to go to spain you should say "I'm very excited about it, since I loved the country when I visited and think this would be a unique opportunity to live there and learn Spanish fluently."
if you told me you went there to see the opposite of a financial capital i'd probably hate you
This.
I don't think they will berate your choice. I assume you are studying language to some extent - so just say it interested you. I studied abroad in Spain and Ireland while I was in school, and no one ever asked why I didn't do London / China / some other financial center. Contrary to popular belief, not EVERYTHING you do has to be geared toward getting a job. Enjoy your time
By the way, Madrid is one of my favorite cities in the world. If you're there during museum week go have some drinks and go to reina sophia at like 4am. mindblowing.
This is absolutely retarded.
My god. You are overthinking this way too much ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Language. Studying in london doesn't provide you with the language experience. Also, at the end of the day, where you went foe study abroad shouldn't be determined by your major. I'm assuming its a semester, so you will mostly be partying and travelling anyway with the occasional class thrown in the mix.
Plus, spain is the shit. Madrid is an incredible city
from an Economics stand point, their hot women to GDP ratio is phenomenal.
Jesus, not everything is connected to getting a job. No one will care that you didn't go to a financial capital for a semester abroad- I'd rather hire someone who didn't, if they chose to go to a place they were interested in visiting.
Okay, thank you for all the advice. I definitely didn't make my decision based on major or career, and it is good to see that others share that view.
Lol @ Loki777 The assumptions you make
1) Unless you take lessons, you will not learn fluent Spanish living in Madrid or Barcelona for a semester. They speak more english there than fucking Los Angeles. 2) If you study abroad there and still can't come up with a viable answer for "why you went there," you're probably beyond helping. 3) Just being honest, no one will care
Agreed - Also Barcelona also speak Catalan rather than Spanish mainly. Study abroad is a cultural experience, enjoy it solely for that. Dont worry about the "finance" implications, if you want to come off as well-round talk about how you used this as an opportunity to focus on something other than finance.
good responses above, do spain, bad economy = super cheap right now, good time to come
I'd spin it as the trouble environment in Spain makes for a much more valuable learning experience. Down cycles like this don't come around very often, you already missed the US crisis by virtue of your age. Its a very rich environment to learn in... if you wanted to be at a steady state place, you wouldn't be studying abroad at all, you could stay in the US, so why go to London etc.
I'd stick to that. Its a mess. They have a lot of work to do. There's still quite a bit of uncertainty as to how things will pan out. And that's a great environment to learn about the financial markets. Everyone makes money in a bull market. When shits hitting the fan is when things get interesting.
Thats the spin I'd suggest. That being said, if you go study abroad in Spain and take anthropology classes and don't do a relevant internship, it doesn't really matter what story you spin, its not going to jive.
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