The goal of most interns is to leverage the internship into a job either directly or indirectly. Some interns are offered long term positions with their internship host organization, but this can be difficult if the intern isn’t ready to join the workforce, or there are visa complications.

Instead, most interns use their international internship experience to add to their resume, talk about in interviews, and use as a reference when applying for other positions. When putting this experience on your resume, remember the tips we offered back in Module 1 and keep in mind that international internships are very unique, so make sure the international part is highlighted on your resume.

Past interns have often said they talked about their international internship experience more than anything else in their interviews for jobs coming out of college. Being able to talk about your experience with concrete examples will certainly help in any interview.

One of the most important parts of your internship experience can be getting a letter of recommendation from your supervisor. This should be done WHILE YOU ARE ONSITE and not after you’ve returned home.  Even if you don’t know what you might need the letter for, we recommend asking anyway. A supervisor is always more willing to write a letter if you are there in person than after you have returned home.

Remember to network as well! Even if you don’t want to work in your internship country you never know who has a connection to another location. One of the best ways to get to know your coworkers is to ask them how they got started in the field. This will also give you insight on how others started their careers. You never know who might point you in the right direction to find a job or who knows someone at a place you want to work. All these little things help!