Introduction

Boarders are shrinking, the world becomes more internationalized and the globalization of society has resulted in increasing demands on universities to adjust their education to the labor market. A growing interest among Swedish students to study abroad and receive an international experience has increased as well. The changes in the environment have affected organizations’ recruitment processes and how they manage their human resources.

Problem

Today an ordinary education is not enough, you need to have something unique, something that makes you stand out in the crowd. As a student you are encouraged to study abroad, and many view this as a possibility to broaden their competence. However, it is not known how future employers value and compensate this experience.

Purpose

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how university studies abroad are valued when recruiting white-collar workers. The ambition is to provide prospective and current stu-dents with an understanding of the employers’ view of the subject.

Method

The empirical data have been gathered by using a qualitative approach and face-to-face interviews have been conducted with the human resource manager at eleven medium- and large-sized organizations, located in Norrköping, Linköping, and Jönköping.

Conclusions

We have come to the conclusion that it is difficult to determine specific competences that are preferable in the selection of white-collar workers, however the candidate’s unique competences are somehow reflected in the personality. Organizations view the study abroad experience as rewarding for the candidates personal development and ma-turity. The university study abroad experience might not be valued higher in the future, but the more knowledge and information available, the larger are the benefits for both the organizations and the candidates.