Increase the Value of Your Stock

With an International Internship

By Dr. Daniel Ferguson, Pittsburgh State University ,

and Dr. Richard Paulsen, Michigan State University ,

Co-Coordinators of the Global International Internship Congress

 

In a global marketplace, the people with the most to offer, or who are the most attractive to recruiters are the ones who seem to secure the most interesting and lucrative jobs. There are many ways to make yourself stand out in a crowd of prospective employees which is what is required to get a first and especially a second interview. A powerful way to enhance your attractiveness to employers is to “increase the value of your stock” by completing an international internship.

 

Consider what an international internship can do for you as both a student and as a prospective employee. In today's job market the value of practical experience which provide students the opportunity to apply classroom theory in a work environment cannot be over stated. An internship provides students with the opportunity to try out what they have been learning in the classroom in an applied situation with structured supervision.

 

International education experiences also provide significant opportunities for professional and intellectual growth through experiencing another culture. Coupling an internship with an international experience enhances the outcomes of both for the student.

This unique academic program benefits students in a myriad of ways, far beyond just practical work experience under supervision with academic criteria to be met. Examine each of the following points in view of how they might enhance an individual as well as a career.

 

1. Successful completion of an international internship is recognized by potential employers as an indicator of a student's initiative, maturity, self-reliance, flexibility and independence. The competencies gained from immersing one's self in a foreign business and social culture become marketable assets, which set students apart from their colleagues who lack such experiences.

 

2. Students gain a first hand understanding of the culture of the overall society in which they have to live. They begin to see, for example, that if you want to do business in Latin America you must first have a personal relationship with your clients; or they appreciate how communist ideals still shape the thinking of many people in formerly communist countries; or how tourism and industrial development impact both the natural and the social environment. This type of understanding is best gained through practical experience.

 

3. Every organization has a culture all of its own. It is a micro-culture within the cultural of the larger society. Students become involved in during daily activities before and after internship hours. This engagement helps them to better understand from a cultural perspective, why things are done as they are within the organization.

 

4. International interns usually acquire new skills that cannot be developed or enhanced in their own culture. These might be language skills, computer skills, sophisticated use of the internet or any number of other useful abilities. Students may also have the opportunity to work in settings, which do not exist in their own country such as the Mexican student who completed an internship at a large convention center in the United States . He chose this internship because convention centers are just beginning to develop in Mexico and he wanted to work in a state of the art facility to be more marketable in his own country than other graduates.

 

5. International internships provide the opportunity to live and work abroad while exploring career options in the international arena. Working in a foreign country after graduation sounds very romantic,

The above is an excerpt from The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need: How to Find and Get the Job or Internship of Your Dreams, which is available for sale for $19.85 in our bookstore or $27.00 at Amazon.com but for free to those who subscriber to our free career newsletter. This hot new book contains job search secrets of the most experienced, most knowledgeable and most respected career experts. Learn career planning, job hunting tools and tactics, interviewing, cover letter and resume writing (lots of samples!), networking, and how to find an internship. Written by 149 career experts. To receive a free copy, subscribe to our free career newsletter.

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