From Study Abroad to Career: Finding Your First International Internship

Studying abroad exposes you to many new experiences and cultures. You’re able to meet new people, eat good food and see the world, so naturally you’d want to explore the world while working. An international internship can be the spark that lights the flame in your career journey. But finding an international internship can be hard when you don’t know where to look. This will be your guide to finding and applying to that international internship. 

How Studying Abroad Can Help Your Career?

Having already studied abroad, you’ve gained skills that are unique to being in a new country. Being in a foreign country can be intimidating; you’re alone and usually on your own. Skills you’ve most likely picked up while studying abroad could look like: 

• Adaptability
• Communication across cultures
• Independence
• Confidence navigating unfamiliar environments
• International perspective

These skills don’t inherently make you more employable, but these skills translate into working in an international internship and could be an advantage compared to someone who hasn’t studied abroad before. 

What do you want from an international internship?

Before you begin searching for an international internship, it’s important for you to know and understand what it is you want from this internship exactly. There are many factors to go over. 

Industry Specific 

You should know and understand what industry you want to be in or where you want your career to go. You may want to go into: 

• Marketing
• Finance
• Technology
• Communications
• Hospitality 

It’s important that you research what will be expected of you in the industry you choose; you should research what an international internship in your industry looks like. 

Where do you want to work?

Before you choose to do an international internship, where exactly do you want to intern? Would that be the same country you studied in? Or another country? 

Your priorities 

Carefully consider what’s important to you when searching for international internships. Are you looking for an unpaid or paid internship? How long would you want your internship to be? Are you able to work full-time or only part-time? It’s important to note that the average length of internships is 6 to 6 months; the length usually depends on the type of program you join, visa rules and your schedule. 

The more specific your questions, the easier it becomes to narrow down exactly what you’re looking for, making searching more effective. 

Where to find an international internship?

Understanding what you want and where you want to go helps you narrow down your search. There are many places you can find international internships. 

1. University Career Centre

These are great if you’re still studying and your university offers these types of services to its students. You can be informed and take the initiative to learn more about internships that are based in the country you’re currently studying abroad in. 

2. Company Career Pages

If you’ve been eyeing an international company that you’d like to work for, you can check their career page; most medium- to large companies have a career page. You can check their page to see if there are any openings or internships abroad in the role you’re looking for. This is a great way to familiarise yourself with the company early on. 

3. International Job Boards 

These are dedicated websites where international jobs are advertised. If you’re looking for an internship in another country, then searching on these websites is a good start, especially if you’ve narrowed down what and where it is you want to work. To join international programs, you can search for platforms like Jobleads which help you find work overseas. 

4. Professional Networking Sites 

These are digital sites that are designed to connect people to professionals, help find jobs, build career experience and share industry expertise. Places like LinkedIn and Indeed are examples of networking sites.

5. Internship placement organisations 

There are many internship providers that help place students and recent graduates into international internships. For instance, Capital placement offers guaranteed internships abroad across big hubs like London, New York and Singapore.

But if you’re interested in an international internship based in a place like London, you would need to secure a Tier 5 visa, particularly the Temporary Work GAE, which is designed for students and graduates wanting to intern in London. Capital placement offers end-to-end on ground support to their candidates including complete visa assistance and personal career coaching.

6. Study Abroad Organisations 

Checking the very same study abroad organisation that helped place you in an international study abroad program can be the exact same avenue to find your international internship. There are a few places that you could do research on that are study abroad organisations, like International Education Link, which helps place students to budget friendly across 30 countries. 

Remember, don’t search just for international internships, as this is too broad; rather, narrow your search to industry, location and role for the best results. 

How to tell if an international internship is legit?

When applying for international internships, you should make sure they’re trustworthy and legitimate. Joining an international internship involves relocating, fees, visas and an unfamiliar organisation.

Check whether companies have a real online presence, whether the role you’re applying for has real responsibilities and a real job description. You should be assigned a supervisor who you will report to, along with their responsibilities. 

You need to be briefed on the payments and fees that will be involved during the process. If anything happens, you need to also know the company has verifiable contact information. IF you are unable to get in contact with the company, is there a way to get in contact with previous interns who have worked with the company before?

Red flags to watch out for

A few more things to keep aware of are if any company or organisation asks for any sensitive informations, whether they have a vague job description, or if they promise a guaranteed employment position after your internship. A big red flag to watch out for is a blatant refusal to provide basic information regarding your role and internship. 

How to apply for your first international internship?

Now that you know what you’re looking for in an international internship and you’ve done the research, you have to prepare for your application. This is an important step, a step you can not miss. 

Tailor your CV 

When tailoring your CV, make sure to highlight and have a clear section dedicated to your education and the skills you have. Since you’ve studied abroad, this is a huge plus as you already have the skills to adapt to a new environment. Highlight the skills you gained from studying abroad and highlight where you studied while abroad. 

Targeted Cover Letter 

A cover letter should explain to future employers why you’re the right fit for the role being advertised, so your cover letter should cover why you’re interested in the role and how the skills you have are transferable to the role. 

Prepare your LinkedIn Profile. 

Employers are always searching and researching applicants’ profiles, so it’s a great idea to have all the necessary and important information readily available on your LinkedIn profile. List your education, experience and current skills. Its important that you communicate your interest in the role.

Prepare for your interview 

Once you’ve secured your interview, you should prepare for it by writing down possible questions they may have and how you will answer them. You should also prepare a few questions for them; this will show you’re interested and have done your own research. 

You should prepare a section to discuss your time studying abroad. Explain how you adapted to an unfamiliar environment; this is a great segue into the skills you learned that are unique to your time while abroad.

Conclusion 

Your time studying abroad has helped and prepared you for an international internship. The skills you’ve picked up from your time abroad are transferable to an international internship. You have identified your goals; you’ve researched opportunities that will help you secure your internship. You’ve checked the legitimacy of the company and have applied strategically. The next step is to secure that internship.

Read more articles about Work Life on the MumAbroad blog