Profile Building Tips to Study Abroad

A good and attractive profile to study abroad can open up vast chances of getting admission to top universities abroad. While persistence, dedication and hard work play important role in helping you to secure your goals, it is imperative to understand that if you want to be successful you have to start early. 

GPA and test scores fall short of providing admission to the universities of your choice. While academic performance is a primary criterion for university applications to study a desired course, universities have adopted different strategies to assess and select students for their prestigious institutes.

It is, therefore, necessary to plan a course of action, experiment with numerous pathways and formulate a long-term strategy that will help you achieve your goals. The criteria based on which the overall profile will be evaluated are your interests, skills, ambitions, abilities, goals, academics, work experience and more. If you are bent on creating a strong profile and wondering what would be the right tips and strategies, then this article will be your perfect guide. 

What is Profile Building?

Profile building refers to a systematic process of showcasing your strengths and accomplishments while going beyond academics and emphasising projects, and extracurricular and co-curricular activities.

The goal of developing your profile is to create a database or portfolio that reflects your interests. Any activity that creates awareness of your knowledge, skills, and involvement in order to enhance your professional or educational aspirations is a technique to profile building.

Why is Profile Building Important to Study Abroad?

As mentioned above, profile building can be a great way to boost your chances of getting into the university of your choice. Given below are some reasons why profile building is important to study abroad:

• A growing number of universities abroad are adopting a holistic approach while evaluating candidates. Apart from your GPAs and academic background, universities are keen to find out about your involvement in extracurricular activities, community service and so on.

• Profile building is important to develop your overall personality and the same cannot be achieved overnight.

• While building your study abroad profile, you may end up developing some new interests or skills that you might want to acquire from the chosen course.

• Starting to build your profile at an early stage can help you reflect on your source of motivation. It can further allow you to identify the challenges that you might face while studying abroad.

Apart from profile building, wouldn't it be worthwhile to know a step-wise approach to identify your strengths and enhance your USPs? Take a quick look at the following video to know everything about how to prepare for your dream university abroad:

Key Profile Components to Study Abroad

After knowing about the meaning and importance of profile building to study abroad, let us check out some of the key components that you should consider at the time of your profile building. These will be discussed in the later section of the article.

• Academic record

• Academic transcripts

• Statement of Purpose (SOPs)

• Letter of Recommendation (LORs)

• Well-edited and updated CV/Resume

• Extra-Curricular/Non-Academic activity records

• Year gap (if any) and an accurate reason for the same

• Entrance exam records like IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, Duolingo, GRE, GMAT, SAT, ACT, etc.

• Online courses, licenses and certificates

• Summer School or student exchange program

• Olympiads

• Work experience

• Professional achievements

How to Start a Strong Profile Building?

Building a strong profile is important to study abroad. A deep knowledge of the field and building a well-rounded personality are two considerations. Most of the students aspiring to study abroad have impressive profiles with high academic standards. Moreover, they are focused on making their profile unique through different co-curricular activities. Here are some of the essential tips that you need to follow for building your profile:

Try to Find Out Your Uniqueness

There will be students who will have a better academic history than you. Therefore, you will have to figure out your uniqueness that sets you apart from the rest. Jot down your strengths and positive aspects. Give examples and substantiate your academic and professional life. All the strengths should be categorised into academic, professional, technical and communication prowess. 

Improve Your Personality

The next step is to develop a strong personality for a strong profile once you have identified your USPs. Employing candidates with a broad perspective, focus, and well-rounded personality is preferred by any university or company. If you have a stellar academic record and extensive professional experience, it's time to get in shape and focus on developing a more all-around personality. You might be a fan of sports, an artist, a chef, a business owner, or a volunteer for a charitable organisation. Don't forget to emphasise each of these in your profile.

Build Your Resume/CV

Most people overlook the value and potential of a strong resume or CV. It serves as your initial point of contact with the college you hope to attend. As a result, it becomes the most crucial factor when you begin developing your profile. Think about how challenging it must be for a university committee to weed through thousands of applications and select qualified candidates for their programme or opening. Building a dynamic resume or CV that highlights both your strengths and limitations is so crucial.

Ask for  Letters of Recommendation

 To find people who can promote your candidature based on your talents, it would be wise to refer to the strengths you have listed in your USP list. Based on abilities like outstanding academic standing, achievements at work, creativity, inspiration, communication capabilities, honesty and other necessary abilities. You must ask academics for assistance writing a letter of recommendation because they are the only individuals who are truly qualified to evaluate your performance and attest to your academic qualifications.

Pro Tip: Use short and brief sentences along with paying close attention to grammar and language. Remember, the tone is very important! Your resume should be able to provide you with a clear picture of your academic achievements, work experience, professional achievements, extracurricular activities, research papers, certifications, community involvement, and other relevant facts should all be included in your resume.

Write an Impressive SOP

SOP or the statement of purpose is also an essential component of strong profile building. An engaging and persuasive SOP allows you to highlight to universities your zeal, skills, distinctive traits, and interest in the chosen program and specialization you intend to pursue.

You must devote your complete attention to outlining the goal of the program you wish to pursue (together with relevant facts and examples, if possible) and why you have chosen a certain university for this program. The SOP should include a brief introduction to yourself, your academic history, career ambitions, and the motivation factors that drove you to pursue this program.

You must also explain why you chose that particular curriculum at that particular university. The paragraph necessitates extensive research on the program, staff, and curriculum that make the university your top option. You should also discuss how you can provide value to the university and how you plan to be an asset to the university once the program is completed along with the future plans for your career.

Include Work Experience

It is a positive point for your profile if you have worked with a company or completed internships in the domain in which you want to establish your career. Your work experience demonstrates that you have hands-on experience in the field in which you intend to further your education.

Every university or organization, in general, seeks people with relevant and quality work experience in the field in which they wish to pursue their higher studies. If possible, look for well-known companies or multinational brands while applying for internships. These names can add a lot of weight or brownie points to your profile building.

Submit a LOR

You should hunt for people who can endorse your candidature based on the skills that you have listed in your USP list. A good academic record, workplace achievements, creativity, motivation, communication skills, ethics, and other essential skills are used to write a letter of recommendation.

You must require the support of professors/HODs/managers/supervisors in writing a letter of recommendation because they are the only individuals who are actually qualified to evaluate your performance and attest to your academic credentials. Your LOR can also highlight your academic and extracurricular achievements, as well as other equally important characteristics such as leadership and discipline.

Remember: A student aspiring to pursue a master's degree abroad must submit three types of letters of recommendation: one professional and two academic letters. This will allow the university admissions committee to properly assess your academic and professional qualities.

Take Up Online Courses and Certifications

One of the easiest ways to add quality and boost your profile building is via indulging in and completing various online courses and earning the license and certificates post that. It can add immense value to your profile.

Online courses in a related subject/skill to your area of interest will help you obtain some understanding of the field you want to pursue. This would also provide credibility to your claim of having an interest in that particular field of study. If you want to stand out among the thousands of applicants for a certain program, these online courses related to your field of study or domain will significantly boost your profile and will further help you gain a competitive edge over others in your domain.

Diversify your Profile

One of the important things that most of us tend to overlook while concentrating on profile building is diversity. In addition to the technical skills you have acquired, you should mention this if you have acquired other new skills through the certification course or any other experience or skill that can diversify your profile.

For example, if you apply for a special/autonomous/online project, or attend a conference or convention, you should emphasize these points and contact your university admissions committee. This is where your unique attributes add value to your profile, thereby increasing your chances of admission.

Publish your Research Paper

Another excellent strategy to boost your profile is to emphasise all of your research work and publish it in international or national journals. Undoubtedly, published research work adds value to your profile in terms of research skills and speaks volumes about your academic interests. A strong publication record is always a strong indicator that you will contribute to the research community at that university.

So, if you have written any research paper in the past, that is related to your field of study or domain, it can add extra brownie points to your profile. This will give you an advantage over other applicants to the same program at the same university.

Attend Overseas Education Fairs

Attending university fairs, when they engage with all of their potential candidates and students, is another excellent approach to learning about the prerequisites of your selected university(ies) and creating a strong profile accordingly.

These university fairs are held both online and offline and allow you to meet and interact with universities from around the world while asking questions about courses, admissions criteria, entrance exam scores, exam waivers (if any), networking opportunities, student and campus life, student diversity, culture, university accommodation, scholarships, post-study work, internships, and more

Reach Out to University Alumni

An additional step that you can do to highlight your profile is via connecting with university alumni at the university where you want to study. This will indeed help you prepare for higher education in a systematic manner. Insights from alumni can help you understand what the admission committee looks for in a candidate and what will help you secure admission. You will be able to improve key aspects of your profile in order to increase your chances of acceptance.

You can easily find the university pages on platforms such as LinkedIn and look for the career insights page on the school page. Then, look for the top companies where the alumni work and try to connect with as many alumni members as possible.

As a result, connecting with your alma mater in this manner will allow you to easily reach out to them and learn about the areas where you need to improve. You can also seek the advice of alumni to learn more about the university, the program curriculum, the faculty, post-study work opportunities and other aspects that are specific to that particular school.

Reach Out to Professors

As you have contacted the alumni of the university where you wish to study, you can also contact the faculty or other professors of the university. To improve your chances of acceptance, make contact with professors at your preferred university.

Visit the university's website, and once you've determined your desired major or program, check for the faculty and communicate with professors in your study area via email. This will allow you to become acquainted with the research that is taking place in your domain while also introducing yourself to the instructors via email.

Right Time to Start Profile Building

It takes time, therefore the earlier you begin, the better your chances of attending your dream university or college anywhere in the world. It is stated that "time and tide wait for no one." You can only reflect on what has passed once it has passed. As a result, as a student or a study abroad aspirant, every decision you make can make or break your career.

Profile building is not just a one-time or a one-day process. Things like CV/resumes and personal profiles are built every single day as you move ahead in your career and life. As we are living in a highly competitive and fast-paced life, we should start working on things at an early age that we want to achieve in future. Hence, there is no right or wrong time to start working on your profile building. The earliest you can start, the better it is going to be for you. Having said that, you should ideally start working on your profile from your school days only. With more time in hand, you can start your profile-building journey.

• 9th-10th standard: It is the ideal time to kickstart your profile-building journey to study abroad.

• 11th standard: Its not too late and you still have time to start building your profile.

• 12th standard: You really have to buckle up and create an impactful profile that continues to attract foreign universities and keep on working on it on a regular basis.

An admissions officer at a foreign university will need to see your career orientation, area of interest, and overall achievements, as well as lateral and inventive thinking. They will want to notice your patience and dedication, as well as analyse you on a variety of factors to ensure that they are only selecting the best candidates. However, this is only possible if you commit sufficient time to a profile-building exercise.

Contact us at abroad@collegedekho.com to learn more about foreign university profile building and one-on-one mentorship with our counsellors.