There’s nothing like interning abroad. Not only does the experience offer some crucial life lessons, but it also adds some serious weight to your CV. Unfortunately, as appealing as the prospect of international work sounds, money ends up becoming a major hurdle for most aspirants.
Living abroad, as you might already know, can be terribly expensive. With many students already struggling with a mountain of student loans, adding even more to the ever-growing pile isn’t always an option. Therefore, if this is you, what should you do?
Find a paid internship abroad
You could make money a non-issue by looking for an international internship that pays you. While these opportunities are comparatively rare, they do exist. A lot of internships now pay almost the same as an entry-level full-time job. Others will go so far as to cover all your expenses – including travel, rent, commute costs, and living expenses – in addition to paying you a full salary.
Large corporations based in developed countries are more likely to offer all-expenses-paid internships abroad than non-profits and small companies in developing countries. Therefore, Look at organisations with an established presence and a huge outreach to give yourself the best chance.
In addition, You could also try your luck with a well-funded startup. It’s not uncommon for them to offer fully-paid internships in an effort to secure the most promising talent.
Where to get a paid internship abroad?
1. Capital Placement
Capital Placement takes the sting out of your internship search by doing all the legwork for you. Our company has partnered up with over 1500 companies across 30 industries globally to provide internship programs for students and recent graduates.
You can sign up with Capital Placement if you want an internship that matches your current skillset and planned career path, regardless of what it may be. Depending on your preference, Our company can match you with multinational corporations, startups, or small companies.
The company offers partially paid internships as well as fully paid internships in London and Singapore:
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Paid internship in London
You can sign up with over 500 top-tier companies in London for your internship in one of 30 major industries. Capital Placement will take care of your Tier 5 visa sponsorship. You get help with finding accommodation and get comprehensive medical insurance for 6 months. In addition, paid summer internships with a stipend are also available in London.
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Paid Remote Internships
A paid remote internships allows you to grow your international career in the comfort of your home. Capital Placement’s remote internship program offers you the opportunity to take part in an internship from 6 to 12 weeks starting from 10 hours up to 40. Once, you’ve completed your internship, you’ll also receive £750 towards any of our internship abroad destinations. So, if you’re not ready to go abroad or can’t right now, but want to still build an international career, then this program might just be a right fit for you.
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Fully paid internship in Singapore
If you’re up for interning in Singapore, Capital Placement can guarantee a paid internship there. Your visa sponsorship and medical insurance are included in the program fee and the company also helps with finding accommodation. In other words, you could work at one of over 600 companies in the country.
Also, look for a specialised internship in one of these leading industries:
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Advertising internship
If you want to jumpstart a career in advertising, Capital Placement can find you an internship in London, Singapore, Bangalore, or Mumbai. Duties include tasks in account management, advertising strategy, market research, administration and media planning.
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Business internship
For students in a business-related field, there are internships available in cities like London, Bangalore, Mumbai, Singapore, and Dubai. Roles available range across business operations, business development, project management, administration, client communications and customer service.
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Fashion internship
You could find fashion internships in London, Singapore, or Mumbai. The tasks involve merchandising, fashion management and fashion design.
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IT internship:
For aspiring techies, there are internships available in prominent companies in London, Singapore, Chennai, and Bangalore. You can gain work experience in UI and UX design, data science, back-end development, front-end development, product management, and project management.
2. Enternships
Enternships has placed over 45,000 candidates from the best universities since 2009. This type of company specialises in placing students in business development and marketing related roles, though you should be able to find internships in any field with them.
All the internships posted on Enternships comply with National Minimum Wage legislation. In other words, you should be able to find at least a partially-funded internship there. Enternships acts as a middle man of sorts between you and the company, so you won’t get a great deal of personalised assistance from them.
3. Work In Startups
Starting your career in a startup can be incredibly fulfilling and enormously challenging at the same time. Work In Startups is a full-blown job search portal, but it also lists jobs for interns. It has been active since 2011 and has a good reputation in the market.
At the time of writing, the company lists several thousand open internship positions. They have ties with top startups like Amazon Web Services and Uber VU. Many of the internships are paid. Note that since the site is essentially a job board, you’ll have to find your perfect internship by yourself.
4. eFinancialCareers
eFinancialCareers is a niche site if you’re in a finance-related field. They don’t put up a lot of open internships – usually only a few dozen – but the ones they do are worth a look-see. At the moment, the eFinancialCareers portal is the world’s leading financial services career website.
These days, many of the top financial organisations and investment banks require you to complete an internship with them before you can sign on for a full-time role. Therefore, You can sign up for an internship while studying.
If you impress the company, they will offer financial support for the remainder of your study time. All-expenses paid internships for the best performers are also common.
5. TARGETjobs
The TARGETjobs portal is used by over 170,000 new students each year, many of which come from the top 30 universities. This portal is a good place to find internships and graduate jobs and schemes. A large number of internships on offer are paid.
Multinationals based in the UK favour finding skilled talent on TARGETjobs. They usually offer attractive internship packages to current students as well as recent graduates. Therefore, You’ll find internships in fields like medical, engineering, law, education, and public service.
6. Erasmus Intern
ErasmusIntern is a non-profit organisation based in Belgium. The company offers placement services to over 180,000 students annually. If you’re looking to find an internship abroad in Europe, this is an excellent place to start your search.
Top tips for securing a paid internship
As you’ve probably gathered, the competition for snagging a paid internship is high. Here are some tips that should make it easier for you to land one:
- The longer the internship period, the more likely it is that you’ll be compensated. It might be a good idea to set your sights on an internship that lasts anywhere from a few months to a year.
- Some industries are more likely to offer paid internships. If getting paid matters more to you at this point in time than getting specific work experience, consider interning in another industry. You’ll still get international experience.
- Be upfront and set clear expectations with the employer from the very beginning. Let them know you can’t afford to work for free. It’s likely you’ll manage to sway the employer into compensating you in some manner.
Alternative Internship Options
If you cannot find a paid internship, there are alternative options which can be just as good, if not better, than a paid internship. Here are some tips that could help make up for the lack of pay:
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Academic credit:
Some universities offer academic credit to students as payment. This isn’t direct financial compensation, but it works out to be the same anyway. How? With academic credit, you can spend less time in university and more time working to earn money – not to mention the tuition fees you have saved. Check with your university to see if they offer academic credit for internships.
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Scholarships:
Universities often grant scholarship internships for current students and recent graduates. These scholarships can cover travel and living expenses partially – or even fully – and last anywhere from 1 month to a year.
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Living stipend:
Finally, there are companies that pay you a living stipend every month. For students, this may be less than the minimum wage, but at least it will take some costs off your back. Some companies may pay for your housing, food and/or travel costs directly. It is definitely worth asking if the employer can look into covering some of the living expenses in lieu of payments, especially in countries where you may not be able to get paid due to visa restrictions for internships.
What about unpaid internships?
Are unpaid internships worth your time? That depends on the internship in question. Not all companies can afford to pay interns with an as-of-yet-untested skill set. However, if you impress them enough, you could catapult yourself into a rollicking career. Sometimes you have to give first to receive.
Conclusion
Whatever you decide, always pick with an eye to the future. Look for paid internships abroad that can help prop up your career in some way and teach you something worthwhile. Prioritise internships that give you stellar references or full-time employment opportunities.
You could hold out for an all-expenses-paid internship, but that might not be a realistic option. Often it’s best to be satisfied with an arrangement that offsets your living costs while helping propel your career forward. Do your research first before committing to either course of action.
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Julia Hurtado
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