If you’re reading this, it’s safe to say you are interested in securing an internship abroad. Before we get started, you must understand that applying for an international internship, whether in the US, UK, Singapore, or anywhere else, for that matter, is hard work.
The process is relatively expensive and time-consuming. For this reason, you must know why you want an international internship and ensure you’re pursuing it for the right reasons. Here are a few practical questions you might want to ask yourself:
- Why do I want to intern in [insert city]?
- What experience will I gain interning in [insert city/country] that I won’t find in [insert home country name]?
- Can I handle the more obvious expenses e.g. flights, visa fees, and also some of the less obvious ones such as, a whole new wardrobe, paying 2 months worth of rent upfront, et c. required for moving and living abroad?
To answer these questions, I recommend speaking to people who have interned in the city, or at least, the country, you plan on going to. Ask about the process, pros and cons, and if it is worth it. Leveraging platforms like LinkedIn will come in handy in connecting with those who attended the same university as you and have interned abroad before (I will return to this at the end of the article).
First, a little introduction. My name is Chamodi. I work as a Candidate Experience Associate at
. Without further ado, let’s get into the 3 overlooked components you should consider before interning abroad.
Researching the Right Internship Opportunities for Your Career Goals
Researching the right internship opportunities is the first step in securing an internship abroad. You’ve probably seen the word “research” a thousand times and its importance cannot be overstated. For international internship opportunities, your research needs to come in two ways.
Researching the internship opportunities available
Seeking an international internship in London would be great but if you can’t find any good opportunities to boost your career goals, you might want to consider the US or somewhere else. This is why the first step in researching the right internship should be focusing on the availability of good internship opportunities for career growth.
Notice I used the phrase “good opportunities” not “great opportunities”. Waiting for one great opportunity in your search for the right internship might mean waiting a long time. Finding a good internship opportunity and taking your career growth one stepping stone at a time is a great way to ensure you keep moving forward.
Understanding the employment requirements
Most employers, abroad or locally, will only hire someone with the skills necessary for the role. Understanding the requirements for a work opportunity and having an honest assessment of your skills will go a long way to help you prepare and plan accordingly.
During your research, if you find requirements you don’t meet, there’s no shame in upskilling at home. It is much better to be overqualified than to be underqualified. Take a couple of months to develop the relevant language or technical skills.
Highlighting the 3 Top Global Skills in Your Application
In my experience, there are “3 Top Skills” globally valued by employers. These skills will set your internship application apart because they are practical, provide value, and can be assessed by an employer during the application phase. They are:
1 – Effective Communication and Sales Skills
Effective communication and understanding of sales are important. Effective communication is more than how well you can speak or write, it ties into how well you can pass across valuable information, and clarify your intentions through different communication channels. It is an essential skill across all industries.
Once you have effective communication skills, you can take them a step further and use them to sell yourself. This is how “sales skills” ties into this.
. You could be a great interior designer or copywriter, but you must convince a client to pay for your services. That’s sales! As an internship applicant, sales is where you justify your value to an employer.
2 – Microsoft Office Suite (Excel & PowerPoint) Skills
In case you are wondering,
Worldwide, more than 2 billion people use Excel or Google Sheets. A tool like PowerPoint or Google Slides can help an interior designer present the services she offers to clients, while a tool like Excel or Google Sheets can help her track her project budgets.
3 – A “Can do” Attitude (Problem-Solving Skills)
This means, being a problem solver or at least having the attitude of someone who is. An intern willing to take on challenges, even those outside their scope, can be a valuable asset to an employer.
to an employer for the same reason the other two skills are, they highlight the value you bring. Below is an imagined but practical scenario highlighting a problem-solving attitude. See if you can spot any of the other skills.
Employer: Tell me about a time when you worked on a difficult project, how did you get it done?
You: I was given a huge dataset on an Excel sheet with 10,000 rows of data. I was instructed to sort and put the data in categories. I had no idea what to do since I hadn’t used Excel in that capacity before. So, I went on YouTube, spent half an hour understanding the basics of Excel and then spent 15 minutes reviewing some masterclasses that dealt with this exact issue. I made a copy of the Excel sheet so I don’t make the problem worse. I had two tabs on my computer open. One for the video and one for my copy of the Excel sheet I was working on. I ran some formulas and started learning on the go until I completed the task.
Making the Most of Your Human Resources
Remember at the start when I said I would return to the point about leveraging LinkedIn? Research shows that
for graduates, students, and professionals. Log in to search for alumni from your university or college who have worked abroad and reach out.
The fact that you have something in common with someone like sharing university means they are more likely to respond to your message and answer any questions you may have. Here are a couple of questions you can ask:
- How did you get your first role abroad?
- What was the hiring process like for the role?
- What did it cost you to move from [city] to [city]?
- Do you know anyone based in the city I want to move to who might be interested in hiring someone with my skill set?
It is important that when you are reaching out to people, you do so with humility. You might already know a lot but there is always something new to learn. Show genuine interest in them and provide value for their time, should they offer it to you. Here’s a sample of a first-time message you can send to someone you connected with.
Hey,
My name is XXX
I noticed you spent some time in [city], which is really cool. I’m also thinking about leaving [your city/country] and moving to [intended city/country] for work. Do you have 15 minutes for a quick call so I can ask a few questions about your work experience in [city/country]?
I currently am a freelance graphic designer. So, if you need help with any design tasks, I would be delighted to offer my services for the first job for free. No charge at all. I look forward to getting your response.
Conclusion
It has never been easier to intern abroad than it is today. There are many resources to guide you and with social media, you can reach out and speak to anyone without needing to send a letter that gets to them a month later. Leveraging the resources you have now as a student or graduate will ensure you are a step closer to your international internship goals.
I hope that this guide gives you the nudge to do your research and get started on your international internship journey. You can book a call with us at Capital Placement and we’d be more than glad to talk with you about finding the best internship opportunities and our
internship application process
.
