How To Keep Your Job While Studying Abroad

These days, the buzzwords for most employees are "job retention" or how to be "recession-proof". What you want to do is to build more personal and professional value by taking additional classes or courses abroad. Doing this will definitely add to your portfolio, and as a result, add more to your value to the company as an individual employee. However, you seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place. How do you study abroad, and make sure that you will still have a job to go back to when you return?

The important thing to remember is that you cannot afford to lose your individual value to the company while you study abroad. The "out of sight, out of mind" adage may seem a little extreme, but remember that you are trying to protect your interests as an employee. Many companies now provide study leaves for their employees. Of course, this is not without its prerequisites. Some companies require you to have worked with them for at least a year, and may require you to use up all your vacation time prior to applying for a study leave. Talk to your company's HR department on how to qualify for study leave. Some companies may even offer to sponsor a scholarship for your course. It would be a good idea to speak directly with the HR department and get all the facts straight.

If you are granted a study leave, make sure that you get everything in writing. Companies normally draft a written memo or training agreement for inclusion in your 201 file. In the contract, make sure that all the terms of your study leave are in black and white, and of the highest importance is your date of return to work. Get a legally binding document from the company that states that they are allowing you to take a study leave under the agreed upon conditions, and that you will return on a pre-determined date. Keep personal copies of this as well, just in case you need backup documents if it comes to proving the legitimacy of your study leave.

Keep in touch with the office. Send regular emails to your boss on how your education is progressing. If you are quite close to your supervisor, send periodic reports on your progress, even on a monthly basis. Bear in mind that this is not a personal letter - your boss does not want to know how you feel about studying. Be very professional about it, and as much as possible try to equate the concepts and ideas you are learning with positive effects on the business and potential increases in revenue. You will also need to show that you will be able to apply these concepts and ideas in practice as soon as you get back to work. Keeping a healthy relationship with your supervisor will eventually pay off in the end, and further ensure your position in the office.