ADD ADVICE TO FAVWork experience abroad
Travelling during your summer vacation or gap year doesn’t have to mean missing out on impressing graduate employers. Doing a work placement or some voluntary work abroad can make a huge difference to both your personal development and your career prospects. Working abroad can help you:
- add value to your CV and enhance your future career prospects
- develop self-confidence and self-reliance
- gain valuable insight into different employers and career options
- develop interpersonal, problem-solving and foreign-language skills.
What sort of work experience is available?
The following are just a few of the many organisations that offer work placements or voluntary work abroad.
Raleigh International
Raleigh International is a charity committed to the personal growth and development of young people from all backgrounds and nationalities.
Currently, Raleigh operates overseas programmes in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, Ghana, Malaysia and Namibia. Whether you are building schools in Malaysia or tracking endangered species in Namibia, all the projects are supported by host-country government ministries and international development organisations.
www.raleighinternational.org
AIESEC
AIESEC is the world’s largest student organisation, present at over 800 universities. AIESEC offers a Work Abroad Programme in 88 countries. The placements last between three and 18 months, but cost only £225. Participants can choose from a wide range of management, technical, development or education traineeships, most of which are paid. The placements are a great way to develop highly marketable business skills, through practical experience.
www.aiesec.co.uk
Madventurer
Madventurer is a development travel organisation. Its adventures combine team projects in rural communities with adventurous overland travel. Projects are available in Africa, Central and South America, Asia, the South Pacific and even Antarctica. By joining the Madventurer tribe you will be actively supporting grass-roots development worldwide, and can gain experience in your area of interest, such as medicine, teaching or building.
www.madventurer.com
European Commission
The European Commission offers two five-month traineeships for graduates running from March and October each year. To qualify, you must have a very good knowledge of one of the working languages of the Commission (English, French or German), and of a second European Community language. The European Commission regularly receives more than 15,000 applications annually, but only 1,200 places are available, so it’s highly competitive, but the rewards are worthwhile if you’re successful. Applications are accepted ten months in advance, so apply early.
www.europa.eu.int/comm/stages
BUNAC
BUNAC offers paid and voluntary roles of varying durations. There are opportunities available worldwide, including jobs in summer camps in the USA, voluntary projects in Ghana and Cambodia and the chance to work and travel in New Zealand or South Africa.
www.bunac.org
Council on International Education Exchange
Council on International Education Exchange’s cultural-exchange programmes offer the opportunity to work or study abroad. Their aim is to help people acquire knowledge and develop global skills for living in a culturally diverse world. Participants can undertake an internship with a company in the USA, or combine travel and seasonal work.
www.ciee.org
Cross-Cultural Solutions
Cross-Cultural Solutions’ Volunteer Abroad and Intern Abroad programmes give you the chance to gain invaluable international work experience, while making a real difference to people’s lives and experiencing another culture. All the initiatives are community-led and include orphanages, schools, health clinics and hospitals, homes for the elderly and centres for people with disabilities. You’ll really get to know the local people by working side-by-side with them, but still have time for your own personal adventures and reflection. Choose from ten countries and from programmes ranging from two weeks to three months in duration. The one-week Insight Abroad programme is another option for those with limited time.
www.crossculturalsolutions.org
i-to-i
i-to-i trains about 15,000 people each year in how to Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and assists them in their job search overseas. There are three ways to study: online courses, intensive weekend courses in the UK, USA, Ireland or Australia, and three-week courses in Barcelona, Bangkok or San José, Costa Rica. i-to-i also offers paid and voluntary projects lasting between one and 24 weeks.
www.i-to-i.com
