How did you get involved with Intern Abroad HQ?
Providing impactful internships through Intern Abroad HQ is an exciting new development for International Volunteer HQ (IVHQ), and I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in designing these programs from the beginning.
Over the last few years we realized that some volunteers were using IVHQ programs to meet the requirements of an internship and achieve course credit, and we also noticed that traditional internships are often hard for a lot of people to take on because they are expensive and typically require a long time commitment.
With Intern Abroad HQ, we’re looking to address each of these challenges by offering a specially designed set of internship programs that are highly affordable, supported in a comprehensive learning framework, and flexible with durations starting from just two weeks.
As a rather new division of IVHQ, what do you think makes Intern Abroad HQ unique?
We know that cost is a barrier that prevents a lot of people from taking on an internship abroad. So first and foremost the low cost fees of Intern Abroad HQ programs make them unique, and make internships more accessible than they have ever been before.
We’ve also spent a lot of time developing our experiential learning reflection framework, included in every internship program, which helps participants to develop competencies in areas that we know are critical for a wide range of career paths.
People who complete an internship with Intern Abroad HQ come out with skills and experiences that make them better prepared to take on the world of professional work, and more attractive to potential employers.
Why do you think internships are a sustainable way to travel abroad?
Intern Abroad HQ internships are a sustainable way to travel because they involve making an active contribution to community projects.
Participants interact with a local community as part of their internship and this not only makes a positive difference to that community, but it also shapes and broadens the intern’s understanding of the world and different cultures. Participants leave their Intern Abroad HQ program with a greater cultural awareness and understanding than they would if they had taken on a traditional internship, and this is a great thing for the world.
Of course this is only a truly sustainable form of travel if the programs are governed by a clear set of standards for responsible and ethical practice. As is the case for IVHQ programs, Intern Abroad HQ programs are all assessed and monitored against policies of child protection, animal welfare, risk management, and sustainability.
What makes the selected destinations valuable places for impactful international internship experience, in your opinion?
Our program destinations are chosen based on a combination of factors. The project work needs to be necessary and meaningful for the local community, the location must be affordable and shouldn’t have cost barriers that make it hard for a diverse range of interns to participate, and the setting and culture should challenge and inspire interns to think differently from what they are used to.
We also aim to select destinations that we know are desirable as tourist destinations. A lot of people use their weekends and free time to explore the regions and engage in tourism activities. This is a really attractive component of the programs, as participants really enjoy being able to make new friendships with others and combine learning with other fun adventures.
The project work needs to be varied and aligned with specific vocational fields, but we find that for professional development internships, it is more important that the setting is unique enough to stimulate genuine cross-cultural learning and personal growth.
The conversations that matter
Why do you think international experience is more important than ever in the global job market of today?
International experience is absolutely critical in the modern job market and the reasons are pretty simple. Workplaces and communities are made up of an increasingly diverse mix of people from different cultures and backgrounds, and businesses today serve customers in a multitude of countries.
People who can demonstrate cross-cultural competency and experience within culturally diverse settings have desirable employability skills that are relevant across any industry. They can better communicate, adapt, understand and empathize with colleagues and customers, which is conducive to a resilient career over the course of a lifetime.
For example, a medical practitioner who has experience working abroad has the opportunity to better understand diverse cultural perspectives on health and wellbeing compared with someone who has only ever interpreted healthcare through their own cultural lens.
What does a typical day of work look like for you?
A typical day for me is always a mix of working with our program teams on risk management initiatives, examining and implementing new ways of enhancing the positive impact our programs have around the world, and working alongside Dallas, the Global Internship Manager at Intern Abroad HQ, to ensure we’re delivering a brilliant learning experience to all interns.
We’re a truly global organization and I feel lucky to communicate with interns and local host teams from a wide range of different cultures and backgrounds each and every day.
How do you help ensure interns are safe and satisfied during their internship abroad?
Our approach to intern safety and satisfaction is based around having the right systems and practices in place in every country, ensuring monitoring of our programs happens regularly, and providing the right training and preparation to interns before they leave home.
Working with the best
All Intern Abroad HQ programs have been risk-assessed and all of our local teams have a range of measures in place to ensure interns are supported to stay safe. This includes things like having smoke alarms in accommodation, having evacuation plans in place, and providing detailed safety briefings to interns during orientation. Detailed information provided to all interns as part of their pre-departure preparation defines risks specific to their chosen destination and provides advice on how to avoid them.
The best gauge of satisfaction is always speaking to interns directly. We have regular contact with participants before, during, and after their experience and this means that we can closely monitor their feedback to ensure the program is delivering to their expectations and, if necessary, make changes and improvements.
What is your best piece of advice for prospective interns?
The best advice I would give to a prospective intern is to not rush into an office-based internship. You have your whole life to work in an office setting and you’ll probably learn more from an internship that is based in a unique setting, where you can get hands-on experience in a different culture than you would from a typical internship.
From personal experience I know that we all learn more from being placed in a situation that might be outside of our comfort zone, then we do from sticking to what we already know and feel familiar with.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love that we get to support people to have experiences that have a genuine impact on their own personal learning and growth while also doing something good.
