How can you cultivate your own success through an internship?
If you’re searching for an internship - in any field or industry - you want to ensure that it will help you reach your career goals and cultivate success. It can be overwhelming in the beginning, even a bit frustrating, when you’re weighing up opportunities and trying to figure out what the best move will be.
We get it! Our team can 100% relate to being in your shoes. That’s why we’re here to break it all down, keep it simple, and help determine what internship options are going to inspire you the most.
We invite interns to plan with a “Personal, Professional, and Educational” goal strategy in mind (that’s your “PPE” for a healthy internship experience!) This approach enables us to learn about what drives, motivates and compels you - to ensure that your internship placement will be a well matched investment.
What is it like to intern abroad and what happens afterwards?
We share lots of intern experiences to help others get inspired and learn more about what it’s like to intern remotely, or to intern abroad.
We recently reconnected with one of our superstars, Aaron Menz, who first interned with us in 2018. Back then, Aaron shared details about his Public Health internship in South Africa, to provide more insight into what he achieved, and the advice he’d have for other interns looking for a similar opportunity.
We were lucky enough to catch up with Aaron again (in 2020). Although it’s hard to believe how quickly the last two years have flown by, it’s not hard to see that Aaron is thriving in his career and moving from strength to strength!
How did your internship help you get where you are now in your career?
This internship was literally the initiation of my professional career. It is humbling to look back at the quality of my health education delivery to where it is now. I’ve seen my skills improve within the past 2 years following this internship. However, it is amazing how certain skills continue to stay uniform through my professional career such as cultural competence. This skill is one of the best skills people will capture when they choose Intern Abroad HQ. In the public health work field, it is imperative to have technical skills that can be applied within a patient to provider relationship as well as with a clinical team. And this internship helped enhance that skill in multiple ways.
How did the internship support your personal development?
This internship gave me the courage and confidence to try new things and to take risks. After living and working in South Africa, I have a permanent excitement to travel and live in other countries so that I can see how the rest of the world lives.
What made you decide to do the internship with Intern Abroad HQ?
I decided to do an internship with Intern Abroad HQ because I live in a city where obtaining work experience for Public Health is very saturated. When I found Intern Abroad HQ, I was so happy to know that they help young professionals gain experience even with little prior experience. Intern Abroad HQ also provides opportunities that align with my goals as well as prerequisites that future public health employers look for such as travel experiences, cultural competency, intrapersonal skills, and health education.
What support did you receive in the lead up, during and after your internship?
Leading up the internship, I was provided pre-interview questions in order to find a facility that would match my professional goals. I was also constantly followed up with regarding other logistics such as living situations, safety, and a list of recreational activities. During the internship, I had to provide a summary of work accomplished and answer questionnaires that helped me evaluate and improve my work ethics. After the internship, I continue to receive infinite networking and support such as letters of recommendations.
Now it’s your turn! Use the following framework to help select your internship and cultivate success:
Identify your Personal Goals and what you want to achieve…
- What kind of experiences are on your “bucket list”?
- What does having a global mindset mean to you?
- What work environments, interests and causes do you feel passionate about?
Think about your Professional Goals and where this internship can take you…
- What kind of professional experience do you want to gain? What skills do you want to learn or improve upon?
- How do you want to strengthen your resume and develop important areas of growth?
- What professional contacts do you want to gain through your internship to have stand-out references?
Reflect on your Education Goals and how this internship can benefit you…
- Do you want to gain experience in a new field, to explore your passions and interests?
- Are you seeking an internship which will fulfil criteria to earn course credit through your academic institution?
- Do you need to complete a certain number of experiential learning hours for your studies?
Feel inspired? Ready to make a plan of action? Here are some useful next steps:
- Contact us for a helpful chat, or check out how it works.
- Submit an enquiry if you prefer an initial consultation via email.
- The most important step - apply for your desired internship to kickstart your action plan.
