What would you describe as some of the benefits that students receive when doing an internship abroad?
By interning abroad one gains great insight not only in the field in which they are interning (from an international perspective) but also they are granted the opportunity to see and understand the country in which they are living from yet another point of view. By attending classes and living in a country, one will already learn a great deal about the culture. By interning abroad however, the experience is further enhanced. One is also given another outlet to meet more natives of the country in which they are living.
Can you please provide 2 or 3 examples of internships abroad that are available to students.
Marketing department of an Exhibition and Conference planning organization, Teaching English/Reading classes, Development office of a private institute of higher education, etc.
Many students often become frustrated when looking for internships abroad since there are so many options from which to choose and it's often difficult to compare what each has to offer. Can you please describe what you see as some of the benefits of getting an internship through The Institute for the International Education of Students (IES) versus some of the other programs that are available?
A great benefit about the IES internship program is that they help match you up to the position that will best satisfy your interests and needs. Several of their internship programs are broken down by academic field (ex. Education, Business, Law, etc.). Furthermore, within the given field, there are often a variety of options concentrating on different aspects of it.
Based on my experience, another positive point of the IES internship is that they are a great help in dealing with the process of actually finding, setting up and working out the logistics of the internship. As one can imagine, figuring out all the details for an internship abroad (while still at home) could be rather challenging.
If you had only one piece of advice for students looking to do an internship abroad what would it be?
Do it! It is important to be active in the country where you are living abroad and an internship is a great opportunity to do just that. It is a rare opportunity to be given the opportunity to gain international work experience while still in college so why not take advantage now?
Tell us a little bit about how you went about finding an internship abroad and how you decided that IES was the best choice for you.
I already knew I would be applying to an IES program, since it was an approved program at my college. All I had to do was fill out one more form in my application and get a recommendation. On the particular program I was on, IES gave a class to accompany the internship experience and the professor of that class helped place us into our internship positions.
Please describe some of the opportunities IES offers students for summer?
IES has Summer Abroad programs which offers students the opportunity to live, study and intern abroad for a summer. Some students cannot go abroad for a semester due to prior responsibilities (ex. sports team, classes required for a major) or are wary of missing a full semester at their schools. A summer abroad can be a great compromise.
Please discuss a little bit about your experience as an IES intern.
I interned 2-3 times per week. From my experience as an intern, I learned more about not only the field in which I was working but also about the business culture and practices in Argentina. Interning was also a great opportunity for me to keep practicing my Spanish and learn a lot of new vocabulary words that I would not hear in a classroom or in social situations.
Do you think your IES internship abroad experience will have a positive impact on your job search or career options? How?
Yes. I think I gained great perspective by interning abroad that will help me in my search for a job. Interning abroad also helped me strengthen my communication skills and ability to take on a variety of challenges.
Would you recommend this program to your friends?
Absolutely!
