Student Work Abroad
Short-Term Placement Programs
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The bad news about working abroad is that you can’t just hop a plane to any country and start looking for a paid job. To work would be illegal without a permit, which you cannot acquire without a job offer, and—Catch 22—very few employers will offer you a job if you don’t already have a work permit. The good news is that a number of organizations can help you cut the red tape and acquire a legal work permit or place you in a job.
If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to experience total cultural immersion, or to simply earn your way through an adventure abroad, here’s a good place to start. The emphasis is on exchange, since your participation in most of these programs enables someone from abroad to have the equivalent experience in the U.S.
The two main program types are:
1) The CIEE and BUNAC Work Abroad exchanges, which enable students to get a work permit in advance, then look for a job on site with assistance from overseas offices.
2) Overseas job placement programs offered by a number of U.S.-based work exchange organizations.
—Selected and reviewed by William
Nolting, Manager of the University of Michigan Overseas Opportunities Office and International Educational Editor for Transitions Abroad.
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AIESEC
AIESEC is a worldwide student-run organization which generates over 6,000 paid internships each year in nearly 90 countries. The internships range from those with a business or technical focus to teaching English. You can only apply through campus chapters.
Contact: aiesec@aiesecus.org; www.aiesecus.org
American-Scandinavian Foundation
Offers placements in Finland for teachers of English as a foreign language. Teachers work in public schools, private institutes, or private firms. Time commitment is from 2 months to an academic year. Eligibility: native English-speaking U.S. university students or graduates age 21-30 who have completed at least their junior year in college. Salary: FIM5,000-8,000 per month ($900-1,550). Housing is arranged but participants are responsible for rent ($200-300 per month). Application deadline: March 1. Application fee is $50, plus a $200 refundable deposit when position accepted. ASF also offers placements for engineering, business, and agriculture students throughout Scandinavia (apply by January 1). ASF can also assist with work permits for those who have a job offer.
Contact: 15 E. 65th St., New York, NY 10021; 212-879-9779; fax 212-249-3444; trainscan@amscan.org, www.amscan.org.
BUNAC Work Abroad Programs, (for Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and volunteering in South Africa). Nonprofit organization provides a work permit and job-hunting assistance. Program fee of $275 (Britain) or somewhat more for Australia or New Zealand. U.S. college students and recent grads (within 1 semester) eligible for Britain. Non-students aged 18-30 eligible for Australia and New Zealand. No other program makes it as easy for U.S. citizens to work in Britain.
Contact: BUNAC USA, P.O. Box 430, Southbury, CT 06488; (800) 462-8622 or (203) 264-0901, fax 203-264-0251; www.bunac.org.
Camp Counselors USA, Outbound Program
Offers programs in Australia and New Zealand which are similar to those of BUNAC and Council. The Australian program requires student status while the New Zealand program does not. Program fee is $365. An “educational work-travel program” in camps and orphanages all across Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union. Placement in camp with full room and board and a symbolic stipend (not enough to cover program fee). Minimum requirements include experience with children, knowledge of the appropriate foreign language desirable but not always required, and teaching/coaching experience. Fee of $1,600 includes roundtrip airfare from New York, visa, travel insurance, orientations (not training) in New York and Moscow, and support during the 4- or 8-week program. Application deadline: April 1.
Contact: 2330 Marinship Way, Suite 250, Sausalito, CA 94965; 800-999-2267, fax 415-339-2744; www.ccusa.com.
CDS International, Inc.
CDS offers many different paid internship programs in Germany, Singapore, and Turkey (unpaid internships are also offered in Argentina). For programs in Germany, at least some knowledge of German is a prerequisite upon start of the program. Check the CDS web site for most updated listings of program offerings.
Contact: 871 United Nations Plaza, 15th Fl., New York, NY 10017-1814; 212-497-3500; fax 212-497-3535; info@cdsintl.org, www.cdsintl.org.
CIEE Work Abroad Programs
Nonprofit organization provides a work permit and job-hunting assistance in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, and teaching in China and Thailand. Program fees from $350 up, depending on the country. Some programs require student status.
Contact: CIEE Work Abroad, 7 Custom House St., 3rd Fl., Portland ME 04101, 800-40-study, fax 207-553-7699, work@ciee.org, www.ciee.org.
Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals
Consists of 2 months of intensive German, 4 months attending a technical school, and a 5-month internship. All expenses paid; no application fee. Specified age of participants is 18-24. Application deadline is mid-December for the following academic year. 60 participants are selected.
Contact: CDS International, 871 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017; 212-497-3500, fax 212-497-3535; info@cdsintl.org, www.cdsintl.org.
Center for Interim Programs
The Center for INTERIM Programs was founded in 1980 to match clients’ interests with a database of over 3,000 non-academic but structured opportunities worldwide (from art to zoology, Australia to Zimbabwe) many of which provide room and board. They have arranged such opportunities for some 3,000 people between the ages of 16 and 70 over the past 15 years. INTERIM charges a $1,500 basic fee, plus program fees.
Contact: West of the Mississippi: Sam Bull, Director, Western Branch Office, 2143 Pine Street #1, Boulder, CO 80302; 303-447-8320, fax 303-447-3765; SamuelBull@aol.com. East of the Mississippi: Center for INTERIM Programs, P.O. Box 2347, Cambridge, MA 02238; 617-547-0980; fax 617-661-2864; Interimcip@aol.com, www.interimprograms.com.
IAESTE
Offers paid internships in 70+ countries for students of engineering and science. Application deadline January 1. Lowest fees of any placement program.
Contact: info@iaeste.org, www.iaeste.org.
InterExchange
InterExchange was founded in 1971 and has official non-profit status. InterExchange offers the following kinds of placements. Contact the program for more specifics.
English Teaching in Spain. Those with experience teaching or tutoring English as a foreign language are strongly preferred (volunteer experience usually available in your community). Only room and board or small stipend provided in Spain. Apply at least 3 months prior to desired starting date.
Work in rural Australia or Norway. Work 2-3 months year round on family-run farms. Stipend is provided. Apply at least 4 months before preferred starting date.
Au Pair. Placements in France, Germany, Spain or Holland for those with some knowledge of the language of the host country. No foreign language necessary for placements in the Netherlands. Women only eligible for most positions. Summer placements possible in Spain but at least a 6-month commitment wanted elsewhere. Apply at least 3 months prior to desired starting date.
Unpaid internships in the South of France or Costa Rica. Apply four months before preferred starting date.
Volunteer in Peru, Costa Rica, India or South Africa. Volunteer placements in education, social work, health care, conservation, environmental affairs, cultural affairs, museums, hospitality, tourism and media projects.
Contact: 161 6th Ave., New York, NY 10013; 212-924-0446; workabroad@interexchange.org, www.workingabroad.org.
International Cooperative Education Program
In existence since 1971, this program places several hundred students each summer into paid, not-for-credit internships. This program is more structured than most and seems to take care to provide individualized placements. Some of the jobs pay well enough to allow modest savings, and others pay enough to cover living expenses. ICEP internships last 2-4 months and are offered in Switzerland, Germany, France (Bordeaux region), Belgium, Argentina, Chile, Japan, and Singapore. Type of work ranges from ordinary jobs to demanding internships in retail sales, supermarkets, hotels/restaurants, agriculture, offices, hospitals, banks, computer science, engineering and many more areas. Applicants must have studied the appropriate foreign language for at least one academic year—note that ICEP’s director interviews you in the foreign language! Relevant foreign languages include German, French, Italian, Dutch, Finnish, Chinese or Japanese. Participants must be between the ages of 18-30. Citizens of most countries are eligible. Best to apply in the fall, or no later than February. Fees: After the initial interview, there is a $200 fee for the extensive application process. The application fee is refunded if no placement can be found, but you forfeit the fee if you turn down a placement offered to you. There is a $600 participation fee if you accept the placement (i.e. fees total $800). Airfare, health insurance, and $800 reserve are the participant’s responsibility.
Contact: Drs. Guenter and Ellen Seefeld, 15 Spiros Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025; 650-323-4944. Please call after 10 a.m. Eastern time, fax 650-323-1104; ICEmenlo@aol.com, www.icemenlo.com.
Internships International
Quality, nonpaying internships in London, Paris, Dublin, Dresden, Santiago, Budapest, different cities in Australia, Bangkok, Glasgow, Ho Chi Minh City, Shanghai, Beijing, and Capetown. Internships in all fields, from 8 weeks to 3 months. Open to college graduates and seniors requiring an internship to graduate. You design your internship.
Contact: Judy Tilson, Director, Internships International; intintl@aol.com, rtpnet.org/~intintl.
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