This post doesn't aim to send you to sleep with boring advice but rather to teach you the basics regarding your internship search.
From having lived the experience, I know finding an internship abroad is complicated when we don't have any relations abroad among our family or in a company. I had other difficulties too such as the time constraints (the search is time-consuming), weighted against me. All of this enabled me to have, in retrospect, clarity on the way I should have done it.
Here are the three big steps you have to set up : the preparations, the research and reaching out.
Let's start with the first step : the preparations.
1) Target the country in which you are interested in
If it is the first step, it is simply because, depending on the country where you will go, the papers you will need won't be probably the same. Each country, to stay in, will have specific criteria. Certain countries ask for visas, other for vaccines.
That is why you must consider carefully which countries you are interested in and what you have to plan in administrative terms to get there.
Memento :
Material : an adapter for the wall outlets.
Currency : if you stay inside the Euro area, no problem but if you go to England, India, the United States, ... Think to enquire about the currency used and inform you on the exchange rates.
Necessary papers : ID, passport, visa depending on the country you target
Health : European Health Insurance Card
Be careful :
Before leaving, check the validity dates of your documents such as ID or passport. And if you need to renew them, consider the time periods which can be, sometimes very long and postpone your departure.
2) Don't race against the clock
You probably know it already but nothing is worse than working against the clock. And if this happens during your internship search that can be an issue....
So, don't leave it until the last minute. If you target a far country then try beginning your research, your proceedings at least one year in advance. If you are looking for an internship at a precise time then I suggest you to begin at least 6 months in advance. Initiate the proceedings earlier as possible while respecting your planning.
Good to know :
Three months afterwards, I continued to receive answers to my applications... The recruitment process is sometimes very long, so don't lose patience !
3) Have a CV, a cover letter
To find an internship abroad, it is obvious you must highlight your skills and life experiences on a CV and indicate why you are a good and motivated applicant to join the company on a cover letter.
These 2 documents are important and allow the recruiters to identify applicants for a job. When applying for an internship abroad, don't forget to translate these documents to the appropriate language. Ensure you that your CV and cover letter are easy to adapt depending on the offer to which you are applying for.
Depending on the offer, skills as well as life experiences won't be the same to underline.
Tip :
When you are reading an offer, some key words are recurrent. It is important to target them and reuse them on your cover letter if they are in lines with your profile. While reading it, the recruiter will notice them and will be more likely to retain your application.
Interesting :
A piece of advice someone gave me and helped me "Think about all that could make the difference between your application and another. What makes you unique ?"
Anything that sets you apart from the norm is worth including : involve in a charity, ability to speak several languages, high-level athlete, starting a micro-enterprise, valedictorian, ...
Think about asking one of your teachers for a recommendation letter. This kind of letter can make the difference between two similar applications.
A surprising article : How to get a job by fining a recruiter ?
When you have performed the preparations step, you can jump to the research step.
4) List companies in the desired country
It is important to target the companies and their fields of activity depending on what you like doing and what you are good at. From this list, you could send your applications.
5) The National Research Centers
The National Research Centers are places which no one think about but they provide internships and jobs, while being most often paid !
Here are some examples :
CNRS in France
ESA in different countries such as Germany or Netherlands.
CSIRO in Australia
RISE in Germany
Good to know :
There is at least one for each country !
6) The universities
Think also about applying to universities because they offer internships (be careful though, the internships are not paid). Instead of getting paid, you can ask for scholarships (ERASMUS, CROUS, AMI). They will compensate in part the wage you won't have. Depending the destination where you go, the time period you spend in the country and your wealth level, the scholarship you will get will be different.
Tip for the research step :
When you begin to apply, think about writing (in an excel table for instance), the dates when you send your application, to which company you send it but also your usernames and password of your candidate account.
This will allow you to stay up to date, cross out rejected applications, know which applications are accepted and relaunch unanswered applications that are more than a month old…
7) School's partnerships
Schools often have partnerships. This means that partner universities can send internships offers for students from your school.
Think enquiring about this possibility with your international relations department.
We finish with the last step : reaching out.
8) The social medias
It is easy to find a range of abroad internships on LinkedIn with the help of filters !
When you go to the job tab, you then have access to a search bar that allows you to enter keywords. You can combine them with linking words like “AND” or “OR”.
In the same way, the Jobteaser website gathers a large number of internships . You only need to fill in your profile and do research with some criteria. You then obtain the offers corresponding to your filter.
9) Use your network
Do you have a relative working in a company in a foreign country ? Globetrotting neighbors ? Family abroad ?
If yes, get in touch with them and ask for them if they have information, contact that could be useful while searching.
10) The blogs
A wealth of information can also be found on blogs ! Numerous people share their experiences. There are so many free tips and tricks.
So, don't hesitate to surf on the Internet, go on blogs, or subscribe to groups for a precise country on Facebook...It can be useful.
These main 3 steps will help you to find an internship abroad successfully. According to me, I think the most important piece of advice while searching for an internship abroad, it is to speak about it to those around you. You may not know it, but someone you know may have a relative who will have a relative that will allow you to join a company in an international country.
In addition, the more you talk about it, the less likely you are to get stuck.
In my next post, we come back in Ireland to discover an emerald...
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