Retail Internships: Intern abroad in Dublin, Ireland
Retail internships in Ireland are intended to provide entry-level experiences for high school graduates, seeking to build confidence and practical skills. Come prepared to give your resume and real-world experience a boost, as you learn about professional requirements for success. Internship placements are available within diverse high street and convenience stores.
What to expect from your Retail internship:
- Gain a deeper understanding of customer service and customer’s needs.
- Enhance your practical industry and business knowledge.
- Learn and implement sales techniques and interpersonal skills.
Your internship abroad host organization:
- High street stores
- Convenience stores
Internship details
Retail interns in Dublin take part in a bustling industry, helping stores in their day-to-day operations with a broad range of tasks including inventory, customer service, merchandising, procurement and data recording. These internship placements are available for recent high school graduates at entry-level, seeking opportunity to grow and build transferable skills. Participants with higher degrees of experience are welcome, as this will be taken into consideration when making internship arrangements.
This is an in-country internship, with accommodation and select meals included. You can explore remote internships, if you are looking for an internship program that you can undertake from home.
Retail is an industry that can open doors into diverse careers and sectors. Skills gained through retail experience can relate to a broad range of career paths, including administrative, sales, marketing, management roles, and more. Come prepared to build knowledge related to the day-to-day of store operations and how sales teams can operate effectively.
The practical tasks for Retail interns may relate to stock replenishment, data inputting, phone orders, customer service, and may include other administrative tasks. For interns with a higher degree of experience and demonstrated competency, a broader range of placements and responsibilities may be available - more advanced internship tasks and opportunities will always be subject to availability, in addition to intern expertise. The specific placement that you’re assigned will depend on review of your resume and your current level of studies and experience.
In all cases, interns should expect that the first week of your experience will focus on settling in and gaining some introductory knowledge, as you will not “hit the ground running”. Rather, you should start with learning about the placement to gain an understanding of what you can build upon, develop, learn, and contribute. Ensure that you ask questions and provide feedback during the introductory period, so that your supervisor(s) understands how you’re progressing. This will help them to better understand important details, such as how quickly you learn, what you find challenging, what you find interesting, etc.
Typical Schedule
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Approx. Monday to Friday, 6-8 hours
What are the career benefits of interning abroad as a Retail Intern?
Retail interns learn from a qualified and experienced supervisor, and can be involved in:
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Customer service.
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Stock replenishment.
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Inputting data and generating reports.
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Taking phone orders.
Professional development opportunities:
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Gain a deeper insight of what drives customers to make purchasing decisions.
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Enhance your communication, networking and relationship building skills.
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Develop an understanding of diverse customer service components.
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Gain practical skills and boost your employability, with guidance from Intern Abroad HQ’s Experiential Learning Curriculum to support your learning and cultural intelligence.
Are you eligible for this internship?
Submit a free application so we can confirm your eligibility and check availability for your preferred dates.
Not sure which program to join?
Ireland photo gallery
Academic credit available for all internships
Get course credit from your college or university while completing your internship abroad or a remote internship program. It's a great way to meet your academic requirements and gain valuable experience at the same time.
Learn about course creditProgram fees
Applying for our Retail Internship is completely free! The support package covers the assistance we provide in finding your internship and arranging your living accommodations in your host country, ensuring you thrive during your program.
Please note that a deposit of US$499 is required to confirm your place. The remaining balance (minus your initial US$499 deposit) is due at least 60 days before your internship start date.
Duration |
Program Fee |
|---|---|
| 4 weeks | $3,800 Equivalent to $135 /day |
| 5 weeks | $4,178 Equivalent to $119 /day |
| 6 weeks | $4,581 Equivalent to $109 /day |
| 8 weeks | $5,337 Equivalent to $95 /day |
| 10 weeks | $6,148 Equivalent to $87 /day |
| 12 weeks | $6,904 Equivalent to $82 /day |
- Airport pick-up
- Daily breakfast and dinner (except for Tourism Operations internships)
- Accommodation
- 24/7 in-country support
- Program orientation
- Dedicated support before, during, and after your internship
- In-country guidance for social and tourist activities
- Sourcing and securing your internship placement
- Personalization of your internship plan
- Coaching from your supervisor
- Documented portfolio of your experiential learnings
- Academic credit facilitation
- International reference letter
- Certificate of Internship Completion
- Meals
- All in-country transportation
- Transfer back to the airport at the end of your internship program
- Visa (if required), flights, travel insurance (mandatory), vaccinations, criminal background check
- Personal spending money for snacks, drinks, public transport, laundry, and leisure activities during your free time.
Activities and tourism
During the weekends, free time is available to relax, engage in tourism activities and explore other parts of Ireland. Dublin’s history goes back thousands of years and there is a lot to explore! You’ll find museums, castles, theatres, parks, festivals, art galleries, cafes, and pubs abuzz with various happenings, year-round.
The city is sometimes described in quarters, comprising of the “Medieval Quarter” (including Dublin Castle, Christ Church, St Patrick’s Cathedral and the old city walls), the “Georgian Quarter” (including the area around St Stephen’s Green shopping mall, Trinity College, and Merrion Square), the “Docklands Quarter” and the “Cultural Quarter” (around the Temple Bar district).
Make sure you get “The Dublin Pass” which is a must-have sightseeing package. It grants free entry to over 25 top attractions, museums and monuments, as well as a free 24-Hour hop-on, hopp-off bus tour. You can choose from 1, 2, 3 or 5 day passes and it’s free to pick up the pass if you collect it from Dublin collection desks, located within the city, or - have it sent straight to your smartphone.
If you want to get some exercise and fresh air outside of the city, there are plenty of activities that’ll help keep you fit (you’ll need to bookmark these ideas, to ensure you burn off your Guinness and fish n’ chips). You can go kayaking in Dalkey, kite surfing in Clontarf, or hike around the Hill of Howth. Dublin Discovery Trails offers a series of self-guided walking trails, or rent a bicycle to cruise around the city. If you want more cardio, check out Ticknock Mountain Bike Trail to ride the 8km loop within the Dublin Mountains.
Arrival and Orientation
When are internships in Dublin available?
Internships in Dublin begin every Monday and interns may choose to spend a minimum of 2 weeks, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. Exceptions to start date availability may occur when start dates are closed due to public holiday disruptions or if the program has already reached capacity.
When do you need to arrive and check-in?
Airport pick up and accommodation are included in the Program Fee. The accommodation is covered from the Sunday night before the Monday start date. Interns are asked to arrive on the Sunday before their Monday start date only.
All participants fly into Dublin Airport (DUB), in order to receive their airport pick up and be transported to the accommodation by a pre-arranged driver. Upon arrival at the homestay accommodation, interns are met and greeted by their host family, who will assist with settling in.
If you are planning to spend time in Dublin prior to your internship and will not require an airport pick up, we can arrange an alternative pick up from another location within the central city. Extra nights of accommodation in advance of the start date are not available. If you do arrive early, you’ll need to make alternative accommodation arrangements, up until the instructed check-in date.
For departure, the last night of the accommodation is the Saturday night of the final week, leaving interns free to depart on Sunday. Return transportation to the airport is not included in the internship program fee but local staff can assist you to make arrangements.
Participants are advised not to book flights until they have first registered to confirm their participation and internship placement details.
What does the internship orientation cover?
Orientation takes place - usually on your Monday start date - and covers important details for the internship, including introductions, information about culture, customs, rules, expectations, safety, language lessons, cultural excursions, and more. You will be contacted via WhatsApp, prior to the orientation, to confirm plans directly.
Check what's required to visit Ireland
Check out the widget below to learn about the visa requirements for the Retail internship in Ireland, based on your country of residence.
Accommodation and WiFi
What kind of accommodation is provided for interns in Dublin?
Interns in Dublin are hosted in friendly and welcoming homestay accommodations. In the event that home-stay accommodation has reached maximum capacity, interns may be offered alternative accommodation in student dormitories (but meals are excluded in these circumstances).
Cleaning is provided ahead of a new occupants arrival. Outside of this, occupants are responsible for respecting common areas, keeping them clean, tidy and comfortable for all guests. Laundry facilities are also available within the accommodation.
Any requests to exclude the accommodation service from your internship experience, in order for you to make independent arrangements, must be discussed and confirmed in advance.
Note that the accommodation pictured in the photo gallery of this webpage is provided as an example. Since we work with more than one option for accommodation, the exact accommodation that you’re assigned may differ from the photos. However, you can expect a similar standard and similar amenities, to what is shown.
Is the accommodation shared?
Yes, it is intended to be. However, all homestay guests are provided with their own private bedroom. While homestays may have capacity to accommodate several student/intern guests, interns may also find that they are the sole guest within the home. If you are interning alongside a friend, please let us know and we can aim to ensure you’re accommodated together.
Bathrooms and common areas are shared, so interns should be prepared to share living arrangements. The homestays themselves may be mixed gender.
Where is the intern accommodation located?
Due to the layout of Dublin city, host families are usually based in suburban areas outside of the capital. Your internship placement will always be arranged first and your accommodation plans will be made secondarily. This ensures that your assigned accommodation takes into consideration the location of your internship.
What is required for commuting between the accommodation and internship placement?
It is wise to anticipate an average commute time of up to 45 - 60 minutes via bus or Dublin Area Rapid Transit system (“DART” is an electrified commuter rail railway network, which serves the coastal and city center of Dublin).
Interns can purchase a weekly Dublin bus pass (LEAP card), which allows interns to ‘top up’ and enjoy unlimited travel on city center forms of transport. Expect to budget approx. €40 (approx. US$47) per week for this.
Meals
Are meals included?
The homestay accommodations include meals, provided by the host family. This consists of breakfast and dinner, served Monday through Sunday.
In all cases, we advise interns to budget independently for their own lunches, snacks and treats. You’ll find the meals to be sufficient but likely different from what you’re used to eating at home. If there are special snacks you like to have, please budget for them and take care of your own preferences independently.
A weekly budget of approximately US$100 should be sufficient. However, depending on your own spending habits and lifestyle choices, personal budgets can vary enormously. Dublin is very active and there is a lot to see and do. A meal at an inexpensive restaurant may cost approximately US$25. If you want to frequently purchase beverages, such as coffees (approx. US$5), then you’re definitely going to need a higher budget over the course of a week or month.
Can various dietary requirements be catered for?
Vegetarian and other dietary requirements must be communicated in advance. There is an additional weekly surcharge if a gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian or vegan diet is requested. Once you have confirmed your internship participation, you can book and pay for this weekly surcharge in advance.
Essential country information
| Capital | Dublin |
| Population | 4.77 million |
| Languages | English, Irish, Ulster Scots |
| Currency | Euro (EUR) |
| Time zone | UTC+00:00 |
Weather and climate:
Ireland has a mild, temperate climate with warm summers and mild winters. However, the weather likes to keep you guessing, so you’ll probably experience a little of everything - four seasons in one day! So be flexible and pack for all seasons. You just never know what you might get! In Dublin, the warmest months are June through September, with an average daily high temperature above 62°F (16°C). It is cold and wet from November through March, with an average daily high temperature below 51°F (11°C). Varying degrees of wind, rain, and cloud cover can be expected year-round.
