Global Internships

Global internships are increasingly a focus of international education, and there are a number of providers that facilitate the internship experience, clearinghouses that list internships in various fields, and organizations that provide scholarships for global internships. Certain countries also offer working holiday programs.

Do I have to pay for a global internship?

While the focus of our LPC Career Center and Handshake is primarily paid internships, global internships are experiences where students pay, which might be a surprise but is understandable:

• students have to pay for flight and room and board
• students do not have access to work visas in many countries
• for a working holiday, which some countries offer as a way to pay workers from other countries, income is provided, but students have to prove that they have access to some savings to support themselves for a short period of time

The good news is that you can apply for scholarships for global internships, just as you would for study abroad opportunities. (See below)

What are the benefits of a global internship?

As is the case for study abroad, living and working in another country helps students develop a number of skills that employers say are vital in the workplace (World Economic Forum "Future of Jobs Report" 2025):

• Analytical thinking
• Resilience, flexibility, and agility
• Leadership and social influence
• Creative thinking
• Motivation and self-awareness
• Technological literacy
• Empathy and active listening
• Curiosity and life-long learning
• Talent management
• Service orientation and customer service

How can I start to learn about global internships and working holidays?

• Providers like Máximo Nivel, AIFS, CIEE and many others
• Clearinghouse websites like GoinGlobal
• LPC's Handshake and/or the LPC Career Center
• "The 9 Best Countries for a Working Holiday": information about working holidays for U.S. citizens, in New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, South Korea, Singapore, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Austria

How can I learn about funding opportunities for global internships?

Some organizations that provide internships are selective and fully fund their students' experiences. For example, CIEE's Douglass-O'Connell Global Internship is fully funded. Other internships can be funded with scholarships like the U.S. Department of State's Gilman Award (for Pell Grant holders) and Gilman McCain (for veterans and their dependents) and Fund for Education Abroad (for a wider variety of students with financial need.

How can I access some of these global skills at home?

• Seek internships and jobs with companies that have a global reach or non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
• Seek internships and jobs with companies and nonprofits that work with diverse local populations
• Seek internships and jobs with companies and nonprofits that work on global issues, whether climate change, health and wellness, or poverty
• Build on the intercultural skills you already have, perhaps as a result of speaking more than one language, being a child of immigrant parents, or living as a minoritized person in the U.S., and seek out companies, nonprofits, and volunteer opportunities that will help you apply and refine those skills.