Getting Started
International internships offer a fresh and exciting way to gain an experience linked to your academic and professional goals. Regardless of whether you will eventually be looking for U.S. or international employment, an overseas internship will enhance your resume and can enhance your future prospects in the job market.Whatever the reason for your interest in an overseas work experience, remember to keep in mind your goals for working abroad as you undertake your search. You may be considering an internship for the following reasons:
- As an adventure
- As a chance to gain in-depth knowledge about another culture and yourself
- As an inexpensive way to improve foreign language proficiency
- To enhance your resume
- As preparation for an international or domestic career
Defining Your Internship
This may depend on several factors. A good place to start is by identifying your strengths and weaknesses and the types of experiences you wish to gain from the internship. For example, consider the following questions:
- Have you previously traveled abroad?
- Where and how far do you want to travel?
- How good are your language skills?
- Are you prepared to live without modern conveniences?
If this is your first travel abroad experience, try to find an internship in a structured program or one with specific tasks that have been previously determined. This will make your job search easier and maximize your learning and performance outcomes.
You should give yourself plenty of time to find an internship that best suits you. This process may take a few weeks, or a few months, so start your internship search early. Finding programs that will suit your needs is the most challenging part of the search process. It is a good idea to consider your interests and skills. Then when applying for your internship, include these two categories in your personal statement or cover letter. The answers to these questions can greatly determine where you should start looking for internships
Finding an Internship
Once you have identified the kind of internship you want, you should contact as many organizations or individuals as possible, talk to other students who have worked abroad, and talk to your academic advisor for support and advice. You may also want to visit the Career Resource Center (CRC) and the University of Florida International Center for answers to specific questions you may have about this process.
The CRC also provides many additional resources such as career counseling, job search assistance, resume and cover letter preparation, career events and fairs, GatorTrak, and various other workshops and activities. For more information about internship, externship, and co-op opportunities, please click here or stop by the CRC and speak with our professional staff members Monday through Friday, 8.00 am to 4:45 pm.
A good way to begin your search is by going to internship search engines on-line. For example, Idealist.org lists over 25,000 nonprofit and community organizations in 153 countries which you can search or browse by name, location, skills, interest, or mission.
The type of organization you want to work for will help you determine how to best search for an internship and which search engines are most appropriate to assist you in your search. Several are as follows:
- Idealist.org
- Institute of International Education
- Intern Abroad
- Intern and Study Abroad
- Monster International
- Planet Edu
- Study Abroad Links
If you are more interested in corporate internships, look at international corporations that may have opportunities for work abroad. For example, Proctor and Gamble’s global job center offers internships worldwide, such as in Asia