We all love our university years. The long lectures, tight deadlines and late nights are all fun and bursting with opportunities. You may come across influential people during academic years, benefiting your personal and professional lives. An internship can make your academic years a lot more productive. It can bridge to a successful career. 

An internship is intended to gain experience working for a company or business in the field related to one’s academics. It is usually for a shorter period of time. Theoretical knowledge gained at university can be put to practice during the internship period. You get to network with successful people in the industry and are able to experience your industry and work life. You can take this to the next level by interning at a company in a foreign country, offering numerous other benefits as compared to a local internship. 

Let’s take a glance at some of the benefits of an international internship programme. 

Global Work Experience

One key difference that sets you apart with an international internship is the global experience and exposure. An intern works under a mentor, expanding his or her skillset. A domestic internship will give you relevant industry work experience, whereas an international internship will enable you to meet the expectations of the industry in a foreign land, with a global perspective. Such exposure becomes a valuable asset to any organisation intending to hire you upon graduation. 

Develop Interpersonal Skills

You have to come out of your comfort zone while interning abroad. In terms of interpersonal and communication skills, you have no choice but to face it! In a new culture, liaising with new people, different time zones, languages etc, adaptability occurs naturally. This is certainly a much better way to sharpen your life skills. Go with the flow and reward your career with the skills gained. 

Get International Friends

You don’t necessarily have to choose a global metro city for your internship. Even if the company is located in the suburbs, or at remote locations, you tend to make friends with locals. Not just the residents, but depending on the scale and nature of business, there might be many foreign nationals working with you. Socialising is the key here. Engaging with different nationals and people from different ethnicities help you make global friends for a lifetime. 

Improve Language Skills

Not all of us are experts with languages. It is a reality that businesses and companies love working with global citizens who are multi-talented, skilled and well versed with languages. An international internship equips you with language skills. You can learn new languages and enhance your own language skills. Learning globally spoken languages including English, French or German is certainly an add-on to your CV. 

Travel

Who doesn’t love to travel to far off places to see and explore the unseen. One major perk of interning abroad is the travel component in it! The journey begins right from your home. After-work hours can be utilised for exploring your home away from home. Travel is not necessarily the long trips and fly-to destinations. A walk around a new town, trying local delicacies, visiting the parks, and attending social events are all part of travel. Ask pioneers and they all will agree to the fact that travel is by far the best teacher and essence that makes up an individual. 

You will never regret an international internship- once in a lifetime experience! Setting aside the professional aspects that you would like to focus on during this time, it is also an opportunity for self development. An international internship is an eye opener to your career, industry and adulthood.