Internships Can Give You a Competitive Advantage

Right now, college students studying abroad are sipping tea along the banks of the Thames River in London. Others are drinking coffee in French cafes, while still more are downing pints in Dublin. Some students, however, are analyzing financial statements for Citibank, installing works of art at the Hayward Gallery or working for Lloyd's of London.

Many students are taking advantage of the international internship option and gaining global experience in the process. In the last five years, the number of US students learning abroad has increased by 55 percent to over 154,000, according to the Institute of International Education's 2002 Open Doors Report.

What Are Your Options?

Qualified college students can go anywhere in the world via a program affiliated with their institution or a nonaffiliated program. For example, CEFAM (Centre des Etudes Franco-Americain de Management) is primarily a business school in Lyon, France, where classes are taught in English. The Center for Cross-Cultural Study in Seville, Spain, requires previous knowledge of Spanish and offers home-stay experiences. Through AUSTRALEARN, students can study at any of 22 universities in Australia or New Zealand, and the program is open to all majors.

Internship placements can be found in communications, social work, public relations, business, human resources, government, education, environment, law, research and science, and can be arranged for almost any program or major.

How Will You Benefit?

Why would you want to leave a comfortable campus and intern in a foreign land? Studying abroad and international internships will help you:

• Broaden your horizons with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live, work and travel in a foreign country.
• Gain a global perspective by working with diverse people from a different culture.
• Build your resume with the prestige of working for an international organization.
• Prepare for the new realities of the international marketplace, especially for careers in business.
• Enhance your analytical, problem-solving, interpersonal and teamwork skills in a way you might not in the classroom.
• Mature and sharpen the focus of your career goals.
• Move beyond the local to the global.
• Land numerous interviews with your unique international exposure.

While at St. Lawrence University, I spent the fall of my junior year in London as an intern for the Guildhall Art Gallery. There I installed works of art, cataloging part of the gallery's collection and being exposed to English working life. My nine-hour-a-week internship, along with my five courses, was the most important experience I had as an undergraduate.

Connection to Careers

As part of the Siena College London Internship Program, Brian Mills, a finance major, spent the spring 2001 semester working as a treasury intern for HSBC Investment Bank. He states, "HSBC had me doing a variety of responsibilities, including analyzing financial statements and working closely with traders. Plus, I had some level of signing authority."

Additionally, Mills took one class at Birkbeck College of the University of London and spent four days at his internship in the city's financial district. "It was real work with real responsibility, and I got academic credit for it," he says. "American employers in England informed me that it was a necessity for employees to have international travel knowledge. When I got back home, recruiters were impressed with my international experience and it played a large factor in obtaining interviews and receiving offers."

Landing an International Internship

The international programs advisor on your campus can help you clarify the type of experience best for you. A minimum GPA is required for most programs, and you may be asked to fill out an application and submit a resume. Interns are expected to demonstrate professionalism, motivation, flexibility, initiative, teamwork and communication skills.

An international internship will be attractive to many recruiters, since multinational corporations are increasingly seeking employees who have an international orientation. Whether you're pursuing an international internship for credit or not, paid or unpaid, it can pave the way to multiple interviews when you get back home.

© 2008 MonsterTRAK