Have you decided to do an internship abroad? Is it a mandatory part of your programme or you need to gain international experience?
Our highly professional and committed colleague, Shaun Girigori, International Business and Languages Student at Rotterdam Business School in the Netherlands, is currently doing his Sales Internship in the student recruitment field in Barcelona.
We asked him about the criteria when choosing an internship and here what he strongly recommends you.
7 Smart Internship Selection Criteria
- Look for a company that can allocate an experienced manager as your mentor. It is very important to have a knowledgeable colleague willing to guide and inspire you. This colleague needs to have time to sit down with you in order to give you a good overview of the co
mpany’s operations and a clear explanation of your everyday tasks, as well as, check on you, help you out and contribute towards your growth.
- Choose a company that can offer you the transition opportunity into a full-time position. Don’t be afraid to
ask when applying. Depending on your performance the possibility of turning from a newbie intern 😉 to a full-time experience and valuable colleague exists and you should use it.
- Choose an internship that offers you flexible work hours. The idea of doing an internship abroad is to gain
more work experience but you would also like to have some free time to explore the country and the culture, travel and make new friends.
- Try to find a company or an institution that can offer you an intern remuneration or an intern compensation. Not all internship positions offer you a salary, but in this case, you should choose a
company that offers you some good benefits that would help you in your daily life course.
- Look for a company that values its employees and organises social activities and team bonding events for them. This is a great way to get to know your colleagues at a more personal level and who knows, you can even make new friends! These activities will make you feel as a part of the team and will allow you to
work in a more relaxed environment.
- Choose a medium size company. Working in a medium size company rather than an international
corporate will be less stressful and you will have more personal interaction chances with your new colleagues. Also, try to go for a company with people around your age as it will be easier for you to
connect with them and have fun.
Consider the location of the company’s premises. Your working place should be accessible by publictransportation. Don’t go for an internship at a company that is far away from the city center. If youmust travel a long distance, this will tire you and make you less motivated after a certain time.
Stay in alliance with your values. Do an internship that makes you feel good and it’s not against your life principles. I’m doing my internship at The Study Abroad Portal and I feel very proud of being part of a team that organises Online Open Days, or in other words webinars, to help students decide about their Bachelor, Master or MBA programmes.
A last piece of advice, would be to do an internship before you start with your Master’s programme as the internship will offer you the experience you need to make a more mature decision when choosing your Master course. If you need some orientation about that, you are warmly invited to The Study Abroad Portal Free Webinars any time.
Of course, don’t forget that studying or doing an internship abroad is a great chance to indulge into a new culture, learn about the history of the country, taste the local cuisine and improve your foreign language skills, so try to make the most out of it! In case you are considering Barcelona, I can assure you that you won’t regret it! 😉
To attend the Online Open Days with a great range of prestigious universities worldwide, you can register now! Join the 45-minute interactive webinar and get informed about the programme of your choice, the course content, the job prospects, the admission requirements and so much more.
Do youn need more tips about your internship? You are welcome to contact Shaun at [email protected]
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