If you’re in college and want the adventure of a lifetime you’re probably considering doing a Semester at Sea or a traditional study abroad program. Think again. You can have the adventure of a lifetime while setting yourself up to be an international rock star. How? By doing an international internship. Here are 7 reasons to do an international internship in 2017.
It’s Awesome
Like a study abroad program you get to live in an exciting global city and travel from there to beautiful places you never thought you’d see.
Unlike a traditional study abroad program you will get international work experience. If you choose a good internship placement company, the company you work for will be an established startup. An established startup is a company that has been around for a minimum of 3 years and is on track to do exciting things. Fortune 500 companies may look good on a resume, but in most cases you wind up fetching coffee. Working for an established startup in a foreign country will allow you to actually contribute. You will see your ideas and your contributions come to fruition. That is what looks GREAT on a resume and is something interviewers love to hear about.
Differentiate yourself
If you’re graduating in 2017 and looking for a job you’re going to be doing so with about 1.9 million other people. They have your degree. They have your GPA. So do the 51% of graduates from the last two years that are working in jobs that don’t require their degree. You’re competing with them for an interview and they are hungry. In some cases, literally almost 40% of them are earning less than $25,000 and itching to move out of their parents’ house. What the millions don’t have is the experience of living and working in a foreign country. Studying abroad sets you apart from the crowd, working abroad makes you in demand. Having an internship abroad on your resume will get you that coveted interview whether it’s for a job or graduate school.
Learn a Language
Interning abroad allows you the opportunity to learn a language. This will further differentiate you from the crowd. Only 18% of Americans speak a second language other than English, meaning that fluency in a foreign language is a huge resume enhancer. It opens you up to opportunities around the world which increases your chances of landing a job. It can increase your salary potential by up to 20%. The amount of the increase depends on the language you learn. For example, if you learn Spanish you might only receive 1-2% because so many people speak Spanish. If however, you learn Mandarin Chinese you can expect closer to the 15-20% range because few Americans speak it; so demand is high. Not only does learning a language benefit you monetarily but it also has lifelong benefits. It makes you sexier now and then slows the progression of Alzheimer’s disease later in life.
Develop an International Network
If you want to get onto an international career path then an internship is a great way to start building an international network. Expats are among the friendliest people on earth and are very willing to help “newbies” out. Most internship programs offer opportunities to take part in young professionals networking events. This allows you to meet young people who are already succeeding abroad. You’ll hear about what it’s like to actually live in that country. Having a group of people that you know before you commit to living in that country for a year or more is invaluable. It will help you set reasonable expectations and succeed once you arrive full time.
Building your international network not only increases your opportunities abroad but enhances your hire-ability here in the US. When you can put recommendations down from people outside the US it makes you more attractive to employers regardless of where you’ll be working…see below.
US Multinationals Don’t Need You, They Need International Talent
So go get some. A recent study done by Rosetta Stone revealed that over 40% of US companies said that they lost international opportunities due to a lack of internationally cultured employees. At those companies, 80% of executives said that having internationally cultured staff would help their organization operate more efficiently. If your goal is to become one of those executives, 71% of them believe that you will need an international assignment to reach that goal. Whether you want to reach the pinnacle of a Fortune 500 Company or start your own company, international experience is a must.
International Experience Breeds Entrepreneurs
Some of the best and most innovative entrepreneurs of our time were foreign born. Elon Musk, Arianna Huffington, Sergei Brin, and Peter Thiel were all born outside the US. These people lived and worked in a number of countries, all the while discovering new ways of doing things and encountering fascinating new ideas. Living and working in foreign countries opens your mind to new and different ways of problem solving. It also gives you a higher appetite for risk and forces you to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. All of these qualities are those required to be a successful entrepreneur so why not become an expatreneur?
It’s Deeply Rewarding
Because of the reasons listed above doing an international assignment during your career is financially rewarding and the best way to get there is to do an international internship. While doing an internship abroad is not financially rewarding (you usually pay for the experience) it is personally rewarding. The friends and colleagues you meet will become friends for life. The travel opportunities during your internship are incredible. The sites you’ll see and culture you’ll experience will be forever etched into your soul. If you’re still looking for a New Year’s resolution, make 2017 the year that you go global!