Doing an internship, in general, has enormous value, gaining international internship experience just adds a whole new layer of skills to your resume. Interning abroad is a chance to develop global and professional skill sets while experiencing a new country. Besides the academic component of doing an international internship, interning abroad will also lead to personal life enrichment and fulfilment that will ultimately stay with you for the rest of your life.
Let’s break this down to see what an internship abroad really offers:
1- Fine-tune your intercultural skill set
Living abroad is the best way to develop awareness of the world, and our place in it. With an international internship, you’ll build valuable job skills, such as cultural awareness, language proficiency and communication. Whatever setting you find yourself in after graduation, you’ll be grateful for the variety of hard and soft skills you gained while interning abroad.
2- Independence and Adaptability
Anyone who has lived or interned abroad will tell you that nothing makes you learn faster than by immersing yourself in a new country. You will quickly adapt to understand the nuances of workplace behavior and learn to cope with working with different mindsets. Further, once you are there and interning on your own it gives you a very real sense of independence and empowerment--- a feeling you cannot replace!
3- Improves language skills
Immersing yourself in a country that speaks another language is the fastest and best, way to improve your language skills. If you happen to intern in a non-English speaking country you will have to face the challenge of a language barrier, but you will dramatically increase your fluency within that language.
4- Develop a global network
By interning abroad you’ll cultivate a community of international colleagues and professionals that you can reach out to for years to come. Your internship abroad will bring you numerous connections, which otherwise you wouldn’t have the opportunity to meet if you don’t work abroad.
5- More Opportunities
An internship abroad showcases your willingness to relocate for work. This may allow you to gain opportunities that are not location bound. An employer may see this as you being flexible and may favor your resume for the same reason.
An internship abroad can be everything from life-changing, hectic, nerve-wracking to stressful but it will also always be fun. An internship abroad is a fun adventure filled with new skills, breathtaking views, lasting friendships, and tons of memories. Moreover, it makes you a global citizen!