How to Use the COIL Experience

What Your COIL Experience Provides for You

Participating in COIL provides many benefits, including:

expanded cultural knowledge and improved intercultural competency
invaluable job skills (see below)
teamwork opportunities

Articulating COIL Experiences on Your Resume

Key Phrases to Keep in Mind

Your COIL collaboration can set you apart from others as you apply for a job or advance your career. Consider the following phrases to help you articulate your COIL experiences on your resume:

Increased cultural competence
Overcame cultural differences to promote deeper cultural understanding
Gained a greater appreciation for diverse ways to approach problems
Learned about basic surface culture (e.g., food, popular culture, style, etc.) and mid-level functions of culture (e.g., language, norms, symbols)
Advanced an attitude of openness and curiosity
Developed negotiation skills with international team members
Developed a better understanding of foreign cultures within their own unique contexts
Developed intercultural communication skills
- Advanced communication skills through interaction with foreign college students
- Improvised with nonverbal and verbal cues to overcome communication and language barriers
- Cultivated patience and understanding with non-native English speakers
- Expanded second-language abilities
Expanded flexibility and openness to risk-taking
- Adapted to unanticipated situations and created new plans in response to unexpected events due to periodic mishaps and unexpected events
- Participated fully in professor’s first-ever COIL project for the course (or newly established COIL program at my college)
- Engaged in innovative learning opportunity between U.S. and international partners
Exercised responsibility in project planning
- Developed solutions with teammates to maximize project effectiveness
- Collaborated with foreign peers to stay on task
- Managed international time difference to maximize efficiency in group project
- Increased proficiency in social media and online platforms for use in course-based project
Improved technology and social media skills
- Developed global netiquette skills
- Developed professional approach to using social media for team project