So you want to take a gap year, but you’ve heard that some employers don’t like to see “gaps in your resume.” Well, frankly, that’s a common misconception. As long as you’ve filled your time doing something productive, most employers will be impressed with your initiative. If you want to know the best ways to spend your time off, here is our list of some things to do during your gap year.
Volunteer
There was no way volunteering wasn’t making our list of things to do in a gap year. Taking the time off to volunteer is one of the first things that crosses most of our minds when envisioning any sort of structured time off. Many of us choose to pursue gap years because we aren’t sure about where we want to be in our lives, so we take time off to thinks about hte things that are truly important to us. There’s no better way to put your life into perspective than by helping out where you’re needed.
Try a sport
Being a good sportsman shows employers that you have loyalty, self-discipline, dedication and can work well with others, so don’t underestimate the importance of having sporting skills on your resume. Perhaps one of the most exciting gap year activities for people to pursue to fight the burn out their experiencing is to take on different adventure sports like rock climbing, hiking and mountain biking.
Language Immersion
We could have just listed “learn a language,” as one of your gap year activities, but language immersion goes deeper than that. Language immersion is aimed to teach language as not just as a set of words and meanings but as a pathway to an entirely different perspective on life. In language immersion programs, students are placed in an environment where 100% of their learning happens in the language they are trying to learn. There are some forms of this method where only half of the instruction happens in the foreign language; however, 100% immersion ensures much better results.
Teach abroad
If you want to travel but still want to find a way to earn, teaching in a foreign country is one of the best things to do during your gap year. There a number of countries like Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, Thailand and Turkey that are very popular destinations for people to teach English as a foreign language. There are a number of other countries that offer work permits easily that you can also consider teaching in.
Travel the world
After spending years only focusing on your work or studies, sometimes you just want some time off to experience life outside the four corners of your room. If you’ve been feeling trapped or limited, travelling is one of the best things to do during your gap year. Employers often look for well-travelled people because it displays a sense of cultural awareness and sensitivity that is an increasing requirement in our heavily globalised world. And who knows, you may even have your own Eat, Pray, Love - style journey of self-discovery.
Work part-time
Working part-time is one of the most popular gap year activities among students - particularly those who have taken time off before college. Some students just aren’t ready to dive into college right after they just finished high school so they pick up part-time work. It's enough to help you fund your own expenses while you live at home, but not so intensive that you don’t have anh time for yourself.
Start freelancing
In today’s gig economy cenrtic world, freelance work looks great on your resume. Employers will be impressed to see that you’ve taken on new projects and worked on different things. For anyone who wants to pursue a career in a creative field, freelancing is one of the best things to do during your gap year. Most creative projects for designers, writers and animators have them working as freelancers. Freelancing during your gap year will also allow to improve your skillset so that you have an impressive portfolio to show to potential employers or colleges. It may seem daunting at first, but once you get the hang of how to start freelancing, it’ll all fall into place.
Begin a new job
Getting your foot into the corporate world may sound scary, but for people who are looking to take time off during college, this is one of the best things to do during your gap year. College isn’t for everyone, and sometimes it takes experiencing things to know what you don’t like. If you decide university isn’t for you, a year of hands-on experience in your field is often just as valuable (if not more) than holding a degree.
Learn a new skill
If you’ve made it through high school, or maybe even college and still aren’t sure about the direction of your professional career, learning a new skill should be one of your top gap year activities. Employers love to see the skill section of your resume as filled as possible, so a gap year is the perfect opportunity to take a few courses and learn new things. Cinematography, cloud computing, block chain development and translation are some highly in-demand skills that will look great on our resume.
Start a business
If you’re taking time off, but still want a way to earn money, try starting a small business. Small businesses are a great way for you to pursue passion projects and turn them into lucrative business. They may sink or they may soar but when you’re thinking of things of to do during your gap year, taking chances should be at the top of your list, so go ahead and take a leap of faith. Starting a business will teach you skills and show a level of hard work and dedication that will wow any employer.
Become an Au Pair
Now this may sound a little old-fashioned, but hear us out. For those of you who don’t know what Au Pairs do, they are essentially childcare specialists. Their a little different from a regular nanny or babysitter because Au Pairs are usually from foreign countries, and so they end up becoming very close to their host families. If you love kids and want to travel the world and make new connections, becoming an Au Pair is one of the best things you can do during your gap year. Anyone that has the skill and patience to take of children is very valuable in the eyes of an employer, and you’ll likely even tug on the heartstrings of your employer
Learn music
You may be wondering why we listed “learn music” and not learn an instrument as one of the top things to do during your gap year, so allow us to explain. Producing music goes far beyond simply learning instruments or training your voice. Mastering, composing and mixing are all essential parts of the process. There are a number of new jobs in the market for people who have a good understanding of music including becoming an audio director, concert technician, mastering engineer, music editor and more.
Write a script
This one is for all the movie buffs out there who want to take a stab at writing their own award-winning script. If you’re looking to land one of the highest-paying jobs for English Majors, writing a script should definitely be one of your gap year activities. Don’t be fooled - scriptwriting isn’t a walk in the park. Its not just simple as putting your ideas down on a page - it takes tons of rewrites and first drafts. If you want a glimpse into the life of a scriptwriter, just watch Jay Roach’s 2015 film Trumbo.
Start a podcast
We can almost guarantee that starting a podcast with your friends has crossed your mind at some point in time, and a gap year is a perfect time for you to try it. If you think that employers wouldn’t care about what you have to say, you’d be mistaken. Starting your own podcast means that you’ll have to learn skills like audio editing, producing and marketing which will no doubt look great on your resume. Listen to some of top podcasts of the year to get some inspiration on how to start and maybe you’ll amaze your future employers with the year’s most listened-to podcast.
Create a website
Personal branding is one of the most important things in today’s job market especially with the rise of creator economy. Having your own website will allow employers to see not just your skills, but also get a glimpse of your personality. A website is also a great way for you to document all your gap year activites so you can not only show potential employers how you spent it, but you can also have it as a keepsake to look back on.
That was our list of some of the top gap year activities. What you decide to do during your gap year is entirely up to you - all we’ve done is listed down a few activities to get you started. If you still need some convincing, read about the best ways to explain a gap year on CV and embark on your journey without any regrets.
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