Internship Abroad: The Best of Both Worlds

If you are looking for an international internship opportunity, the search is over. United Planet now offers Internship Abroad programs, a wonderful melting pot of work experience and cultural immersion. Who wouldn’t take advantage of gaining real-world experience in an exciting, new culture?  It is really the best of both worlds, so seize the opportunity before you start over analyzing! With a minimum four weeks required, you can easily squeeze this in the summer or a long winter holiday. It gets harder to resist these internships knowing they are offered in wonderfully exotic places like India, Romania, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Tanzania, Ecuador, and Cambodia.

Depending on your area of study, you are placed in education, healthcare, psychology and social work, tourism and hospitality, environmental work or community development projects. Even if your area is not listed, you can still achieve general management experience and organizational skills through every internship program. Like the real-world, you will be working 30 to 40 hours a week. But the program isn’t all work and no play. As a part of the program fee, you will also take part in cultural activities and go on excursions. Through living with a host family and taking language classes, you are submerged in the country’s culture. Your amazing cultural experience will be filled with making new friends, helping the local community, eating delicious foods, seeing historical sites, and exploring a new country you otherwise wouldn’t have.

“I volunteered in Cusco, Peru for six weeks during the summer of 2008, and it was the kind of experience that I could not possibly obtain any other way. I worked at a rehabilitation centre for men with drugs and alcohol addictions,” explains Logan Nealis, United Planet Alum. “Working with a psychologist, I had the opportunity to be a part of the rehabilitation process, helping conduct interviews, psychological assessments, and group meetings.”For those of you who are anxious (And you aren’t the only one), don’t worry because United Planet, with its extensive network of local coordinators and connections, will place you somewhere credible and safe.  During your internship, you will also have an experienced professional supervisor by your side, giving you ongoing support and feedback to make sure your learning goals are achieved.

The United Planet Internship program is really an invaluable experience in more ways than one. Interning abroad not only teaches you about a new culture, but also brings positive attention to your ethics and credibility to your skill set. Think about job interviews when employers see hundreds of resumes for each position. Are you going to stand out?  Through an internship abroad, you not only gain experience relevant to your career but also have a solid foundation of cultural understanding.

“International interns walk away with the critical 21st century skills needed to ensure job security and opportunity creation within a fiercely competitive global economy,” explained David Santulli, Founder and Executive Director of United Planet, in his Huffington Post Blog, “not to mention a higher level of understanding and responsibility for the shared challenges that we face in an increasingly interdependent world.”  Every year the world becomes a smaller place. Countries and companies are more interconnected than ever. Employers value students who take the time to immerse themselves in a whole new culture both inside and outside of the workplace. It shows compassion, dedication, and understanding on a multitude of levels.

United Planet is really excited about its new internship programs, and with an endless list of benefits to interning abroad, you’d be crazy not to go! Students must be 18 to apply for a United Planet Internship (a few exceptions apply) and must be available for a minimum of four weeks. There are plenty more ways you can get involved! If you are interested in our internship programs, visit our Internship Abroad homepage to read more about each internship opportunity. If you would like to volunteer abroad, check out our interactive map to see where we offer volunteer trips!