The World's a Workplace

JUMP START What if you could intern at Google, the UN or the World Bank? Experts tell you why you should consider the option of international internships even if they are not entirely paid for, and how you can best prepare for it

ORGANISATIONS SUCH AS THE UNITED NATIONS AND GOOGLE OFFER INTERNSHIPS THAT ARE OPEN TO STUDENTS AROUND THE WORLD

As colleges begin to prepare for the summer, so must students. Most graduates take the nearly two months of leave to intern, which get them hands-on experience and can bring a degree of clarity to how they want their careers to unfold.

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Increasingly, students are opting to do these internships overseas.

“Universities in countries such as France, Germany, Egypt and the US reach out to students because many of those who intern at an international university return there for further study, after graduation,” says Arjun Krishna, co-founder of WeMakeScholars, a studyabroad portal.

Organisations such as the United Nations and Google also offer internships that are open to students around the world.

The benefits are immense, from cross-cultural benefits to an extended global network to help jumpstart your career.

“With increased opportunities, student queries and interest in international internships on our portal have gone up by nearly 50% since 2015,” says Krishna.

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There are several portals that aggregate such internships — WeMakeScholars, InternShala, overseas education portal IES Abroad, global youth organisation AIESEC, Canadian nonprofit organisation Mitacs. Together, they offer a wide range of options that cover communication design, sustainable development, engineering, primary education and youth organisation, science and the humanities.

How does one select the right internship? “There are broadly three parameters — organisation, job description and financial implications, says Udit Bhatnagar, senior counselor at study abroad consultancy ReachIvy.

Even if it is paid, the stipend may not always cover all your costs.

And not every foreign internship will add value to your career. “Accounting internships are generally restricted to research. If you want a career as an analyst, this may not help much,” says Bhatnagar. “For lawyers, consider going abroad only if you plan to specialise in universal areas such as human or animal rights, or international law. Pick an internship if you plan to study further in that country.”

The US, Singapore are good destinations to pick for software engineering internships, Germany for mechanical or automobile, adds Hiren Rathod, business head at Imperial Overseas Education Consultants.

Source: Hindustan Times dated April 4, 2018