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The woes of the unpaid intern are a major topic of discussion in the college bars and around the water coolers of North America these days. Internships and extended volunteer positions have almost become a necessary step between education and paid entry-level positions, and recent grads face fierce competition when trying to land an internship with a firm or organization. In order to support themselves for the duration of one or more internships, they must either get support from family members, or go further into debt. But for most, the value of a few extra bullet points on their resumes outweighs the potential struggles associated with unpaid internship positions.
But many unpaid interns find that, although they get to work near people who do the jobs they want to do, they don’t actually build a lot of applicable experience. Instead they find themselves bogged down with administrative duties or the classic coffee-fetching roles.
If you are preparing to apply for your first internship in your field, why not go abroad? By going to a country where interns are treated more like entry-level workers, you’ll give yourself a chance to build valuable skills on the job (while also building cross-cultural skills, of course!), and you’ll get a chance to prove yourself by taking on meaningful tasks in your field. Here’s a short article on the Huffington Post by someone who did just that, in Israel.
Related reading on the main MyWorldAbroad site (for registered users):
