Volunteering Abroad Post-Graduation Prior to FT

Does anybody have recent experience doing this? Could they share their thoughts/experiences? Assuming everything works out, I could have 3-4 months of time to travel and would really like to spend that time volunteering abroad. One of the regions I'm interested in going to is LatAm/S. America, but my Spanish is shit. Has anybody done volunteering abroad w/o being able to speak basic Spanish?

Also, I have done some cursory research and found some reputable volunteer placement organizations. However, it would be great if anybody had any recommendations for organizations (particularly if they helped offset any costs) that they directly volunteered with versus going through a volunteer placement organization.

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Best Response

I volunteered abroad post graduation but the major caveat was I had a job already locked down. I highly suggest doing it and who gives a damn if your Spanish sucks. The idea is you will get better.

If you are wondering what kind of doors volunteering abroad may open it really just depends. Is what you will be doing super unique? How did you take that experience and apply it to your career? A decent amount of people travel/do the whole Europe thing right after graduation so heading down south already sets you apart; however, I don't think that in itself will be enough to really WOW a b-school admissions team. It will for sure give you some great stories to tell your colleagues and maybe make the working world smaller for you (i.e. you went to Colombia and your VP Finance is from there or something). I can't tell you how many times my international experience has benefited me in the office.

 

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