Penn sees increase in overseas internships

In an ever more globalized market, growing numbers of students and working professionals are flocking to overseas firms and organizations for internship experience.

According to a survey of approximately 1,500 educational institutions conducted by the Institute of International Education, the number of individuals taking internships abroad doubled from 6,950 to 13,658 between 2000 and 2008.

Not surprisingly, this nationwide trend has begun to emerge at Penn as well. In recent years progressively more undergraduates are applying to — and accepting — internships abroad.

About 95 students applied to the 30 positions offered by Penn’s International Internship Program, marking a 36-percent increase from the year before, according to IIP Coordinator Cara Bonnington.

“Students are going abroad more often, and there’s been lots of interest this year,” Bonnington said of the hike in applicants to the program, which places students with non-governmental organizations in developing countries.

According to annual summer survey reports provided by Career Services, more College and Wharton seniors are opting to intern abroad each year.

“I think that Penn students are aware of the opportunities out there — there’s an increased demand on campus for international opportunities,” Bonnington said. “And if programs aren’t there to create these opportunities, students create them for themselves.”

While visiting extended family in Korea last summer, College junior Emily Park did just that.

Park, a communications and behavior major considering a career in media at the time, submitted her resume to Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), the largest mainstream television station in Korea.

She later met with the vice president of the company, who was “impressed” with her bilingualism.

Park was assigned to the documentary department, in which she worked as a liaison between producers of KBS Special, Korea’s most widely-viewed documentary program, and select personnel in the United States.

“I helped [a producer] contact Levi’s headquarters to see if they’ll allow us to film,” Park said, explaining that he wanted to include the company’s founder, Levi Strauss, in his documentary about the lives and successes of Jewish individuals in the United States.

In addition, she translated production proposals and interview questions from Korean into English to expedite the production process.

Because of her English fluency, Park was able to secure more contacts than another full-time employee at KBS who had a similar job to hers.

However, at times her status as a foreign intern rendered it difficult for Park to socialize with her coworkers.

“My Korean co-workers treated me somewhat differently because I was studying in the U.S. and because I spoke fluent English,” she said, adding that she had also faced some difficult cultural adjustments.

“Here, I get out of work at 4 p.m.,” she said. “In Korea, you work until you’re done.”

While Park expects to take a job in the United States after graduation, she characterizes her experience at KBS as “positive” and said the company had agreed to invite her back.

Last summer, Wharton senior Carlotta Siniscalco traveled to Kenya to perform volunteer work at an orphanage in Nairobi, the country’s capital.

While there, she helped clean, cook, organize activities for the children and teach subjects ranging from math to logic to English grammar.

“It hit me that I had one free summer to do something that would make me a better citizen and person in general,” said Siniscalco, who had interned at a London bank the previous summer.

“Penn is fantastic in terms of giving you the right knowledge and contacts, but if you don’t step outside the bubble you risk becoming too self-centered and unaware of what’s going on outside,” she added.

After taking an internship at French pharmaceuticals company Sanofi-Aventis last summer, College and Wharton junior Lauren Mifflin said she is “definitely open” to the idea of working long-term overseas, particularly in Europe at a larger French or Swiss pharmaceutical company.

Mifflin, who “loves the opportunity to explore and get to know new cities,” had learned of the Sanofi internship from Roy Vagelos, with whom she had had the opportunity to speak as a result of her involvement with the Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management.

While at Sanofi, Mifflin conducted research concerning the effects of certain toxins on neurons and attempting to find protecting agents that may have applications in the treatment of Alzheimer’s.

She also benefited from the opportunity to “spruce up her French” while in Paris and dispel widespread misconceptions of the French as cold and snobbish.

“I enjoyed every minute I spent in Paris … [and] absolutely adored my colleagues,” Mifflin said.

According to Senior Associate Director of Career Services Kelly Cleary, working abroad affords students invaluable opportunities to master other languages and learn about other cultures firsthand.

“Students develop a flexibility valued by many employers — the ability to make yourself comfortable when you’re outside of your comfort zone and being able to see the world from another perspective,” she said.

In addition, the initiative that students must frequently demonstrate in landing an international internship contributes to setting them apart from other applicants.

“It helps to have international experience on a resume just because any workplace now has some global element,” Cleary said. “Having the experience living and working in another culture is definitely seen as beneficial, especially if you’re interested in working for large global companies.”

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