How would you like to transform your summer job into an international journey where you get to work and travel abroad?
That is exactly what some Carleton students will be doing this summer as they intern in China and other countries around the world.
These students obtained their internship opportunities through the international student-run organization Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (AIESEC).
“Carleton AIESEC currently has five interns abroad right now and will be sending at least seven more out this summer,” says AIESEC vice-president (outgoing exchange) Nicole Cliteur.
AIESEC focuses on building strong leaders and providing exchange opportunities, Cliteur says.
“We have people in Cameroon, Indonesia, Croatia, Egypt and others will go to Turkey and Brazil later this summer,” Cliteur says.
Michael Watt is entering his third year of cognitive science studies at Carleton and has been involved with AIESEC since the end of January.
“I have never worked abroad before. I’ve traveled quite a bit, but never had the opportunity to work outside of Canada,” Watt says.
Watt says he is still in the application process for his chance to teach students English at a summer camp in Changsha, China.
Although he is not guaranteed the internship, he has been given many other opportunities through AIESEC.
“I’ve gotten emails from people all over the world asking if I’d be interested in coming to their country to work at an internship,” Watt says.
“There are lots of other organizations that do the international exchange thing and if you like another one then that's great. But what sets AIESEC apart, and in my mind, above the other organizations, is the leadership aspect.”
Along with Watt, Jacqueline Chen, a Carleton journalism and economics student, is planning on spending her summer interning at a company called New Oriental in Xi’an, China.
Her job will be to teach English to students.
“AIESEC is really organized and they take all the necessary steps to make sure the process of finding a place abroad to work and adjusting to their culture will be smooth,” Chen says.
Carleton student and AIESEC intern Juanita Bawagan just finished her first year studying journalism.
Bawagan is in Indonesia interning at Olga! magazine.
“I’m doing media management so I learn about the role of the editor-in-chief. It’s a really nice internship because I can work in more areas of the magazine instead of just fashion, just layout or just design,” Bawagan says.
“I go to editorial meetings, visit the printing agencies, go over the editing process with the [editor-in-chief], translate some articles, write some and go on reporting trips.”
Bawagan says she started her internship with Olga! magazine on May 1 and will be there for eight weeks.
“I have travelled with my dad while he was working in Berlin and other parts of Europe but I have never worked abraod myself,” says Bawagan.
Applying for jobs can be a strenuous and tedious task, but these interns had to deal with more than just the stress of putting together their applications.
“The company contacted me through Skype for an interview. That was fun, except all the interviews were at 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning because of the 12 hour time difference,” Chen says.
When she got the offer from the company, Chen took the position and is now looking at seven weeks working with New Oriental in China.
“I’ve only been to China once, and as a Chinese-Canadian, I am eager to go again,” Chen says.
Bawagan says, “I really wanted to go somewhere that was the cultural extreme of Canada. Plus, Indonesia is great!”
“I really just wanted to get out of Canada and go explore the world, and live in a different culture for a while,” Watt says.