Internship is that exciting idea that always comes to your mind during your student years. Everyone thought about it at least once. However, as exciting at it may sound, it has a few “problematic” stuff that come along the way with signing up for one abroad. If you’re currently thinking of doing an internship abroad you need to consider a few things before making your final decision. After all, most of the international internships are not financially supported from your college or company and it will cost some money to actually go there. The costs include meals, accommodation and a few others. In this article, we’re covering everything you need to know about doing an internship abroad. Here’s what you need to know.
The benefits of doing internships in another country
Internships abroad will gradually increase your cross-cultural skills and sensitivity. Most of the times you will be working with locals from that country that most likely won’t speak or barely speak any English. “Handling” such situations will give you the needed practice which will greatly help you in the future should you find yourself in a similar situation. Take Korea for example. About ninety percent of the locals there don’t speak English. And although it’s a challenge to do an internship in such a place, it will be of great use for your portfolio and future career in general. If you’re someone that wants to have an exciting time doing internship in a foreign country you should definitely look at an Asia internship program.
Another benefit is the opportunity to learn how foreigners work there and what’s different than what you’re doing back at home. There’s no doubt that you’re going to learn a lot of new things that you can use to both improve your workflow and also impress your current or future co-workers. And when the time comes for signing up for a real job back home, you will have a much bigger advantage over other prospects just because you have shown willingness to adapt to an entirely new and foreign working environment. Flexibility and the sense of adaptation are always valued a lot in an employee.
Internship is amazing when it comes to building your own network and connections for the future of your career. The time will come when you’re going to need all the people you know in order to create or kickstart something amazing. Having a small group of people that supports you in a foreign country such as Korea will be a great helping hand considering the market there is a completely different world. The people you meet there and develop a relationship with can help you a lot in the future. A good word spreads fast and who knows, you might even get a job offer there. There are many examples when a person really performed good during a foreign internship and he was immediately given a job before the internship time period even ended.
As a conclusion, any internship is great when it comes to gaining experience and developing flexibility. However, foreign internships give you an even larger advantage. You should definitely consider signing up for one. A great adventure combined with all the benefits you get for your future career is a big “yes” in our book.
