Overseas Internships Give Lehigh Students an International Edge
By Courtney Buchanan
Lehigh University graduates can set themselves apart from the competition in today’s tough job market by gaining global experience through study abroad programs and international internships.
In fact, the Lehigh Study Abroad Office offers more than 180 programs in over 60 countries, many of which include overseas internships. Each year about 500 to 600 students study abroad, about half going overseas during the summer. Thirty-six percent of the graduates from the class of 2011 studied abroad.
When it comes to internships, there are four different types of internship opportunities: semester, summer Lehigh-led, independent summer and experiential learning. All of the programs are unpaid and credit-bearing.
Semester programs are offered to students beginning spring of their sophomore year through senior year. Summer Lehigh-led and independent summer programs are offered to freshmen through seniors.
“No matter what year you are, you should think about the skill set that you have,” says Katie Radande, the associate director of the Study Abroad Office.
The semester internships are either in the local language or in English. In addition to interning, students take courses during their programs. Several programs that Lehigh offers include Boston University’s London and Geneva programs, IES Abroad programs and Butler University’s Australia and South America programs.
The Lee Iacocca International Internship Program is a special summer internship program that is very competitive with only 10 to 12 students receiving the internships. This experiential program lasts six to eight weeks and includes a full scholarship. This is the only internship program that is not credit-bearing. The application for summer 2012 is due Nov. 22.
The Lehigh-led summer programs feature destinations including London, Belgium, Prague, Ireland and China.
The Lehigh in London program, partnered with Arcadia University, runs for eight weeks from late May to late July this summer. Students earn three humanities credits and three internship credits.
Radande says that she sees business majors participate in the internship programs the most. Because of the prior focus on business internships abroad, the London program was created to provide opportunities to non-business majors.
“It’s important for all majors to get experience,” Radande says.
The four-week Lehigh in Belgium program, led by professors James Maskulka and Paul Salemi, targets marketing majors. Only about six students go for the internship each summer because there are so many prerequisites, says Noel Panebianco, the short-term study abroad advisor. Students who don’t qualify for the internship can still go and take other marketing courses there, without doing the internship.
Business and computer science majors should look into the Lehigh in Prague program that runs from May 24 to June 23. Similar to the Belgium program, there are many prerequisites involved as well as an interview with the professor so that he can match students with internships to the best of his ability, says Panebianco.
The Galway, Ireland program offers a supervised research practicum in addition to a course for students. Usually the program is six weeks, but this year it has been extended to seven weeks, lasting from June 8 to July 26.
The Lehigh in Shanghai, China program is great for many majors, especially business and engineering students. The program combines an internship with a Chinese language and culture course.
Radande says that only the Lee Iacocca Internship and the Lehigh in Ireland programs have definite descriptions of the internships. For the others, the applicant must have flexibility as the office will do its best to find a good fit for both the student and the company. “The more you give us, the more they have to work with,” says Panebianco.
