For many students both on and off Utah State University campus, weighing the pros and cons of unpaid internships is difficult. An internship beefs up your resume, gives you real experience in your possible future workplace, and allows you to network for your specific field. On the other hand, unpaid internships mean you aren\u2019t making any money (in fact, you could be losing money for living expenses), which puts many students in the precarious position of picking a life with or without debt.<\/p>\n
Sara Jensen is the internship coordinator for the Institute of Government and Politics, or IOGP, on campus. While she focuses specifically on recruiting students for domestic political internships in Salt Lake City and Washington D.C., she said the IOGP is the university\u2019s primary leader to help students find an internship abroad.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough our office, students can get academic credit for internships with organizations and companies overseas in all parts of the world,\u201d Jensen said, \u201cand we offer both in-person and remote internships.\u201d<\/p>\n
The IOGP has helped students of all sorts of majors to find all sorts of internships in all sorts of fields.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have placed students with consulting companies in Ireland, mountain bike design companies in Italy, Art museums in Prague and Human Rights Non-Governmental Organizations in Thailand. The variety of opportunities is quite broad,\u201d said Shannon Peterson, who works as the director of Global Programming for the IOGP and thus is at the helm of all international internships.<\/p>\n
Both Jensen and Peterson emphasized the impact on personal growth an internship can have, both in and outside of the academic setting.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can get professional experience in a career field that potentially interests you, increase your cultural competence, as well as your language and intercultural communications skills, explore a different part of the world, develop your professional and personal network, and,\u201d Peterson said, \u201cperhaps most importantly, you learn a lot of about yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n