Can I Intern Abroad During My Junior Year of College?

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For those who want to gain hands-on professional experience in their field before college graduation, a junior year internship abroad is an excellent option. Internship experience during your academic career will set you up for professional success and impress employers as you begin applying for jobs after graduation. 

Landing an internship as a junior will give you career-focused experience that will inform your college education and help you grow academically and professionally. An international internship is even better—it allows you to live in a city abroad and develop a global network while you develop your career and travel the world. 

Are you a third-year college student who’s wondering, “Can juniors intern abroad?” The short answer is YES, juniors can intern abroad, depending on some key factors.

AIFS Abroad offers amazing internship opportunities for juniors and college students of all grades. Discover how and why juniors should intern abroad! 

Why Intern Abroad as a Junior? 

Many people consider junior year the perfect time to intern abroad. By your third year of undergrad, you likely have a good sense of which direction you want to take your career or at least have a few ideas you want to explore. You can use an international internship to do just that—try out different professional pathways or focus on advancing your career within a specific field. 

Some of the benefits to interning abroad as a junior in college include: 

• Unlock post-graduation career opportunities: Getting an internship before you graduate from college will make it easier to land a job after graduation. 
• Test out various careers: As a junior in college, you’re likely thinking critically about the direction you’d like to take your career in. While you may have some ideas about what you want to do after college, getting some real-world experience will help you test out different paths and confidently make a decision. 
• Apply real-world experiences to your studies (and vice versa): Interning abroad allows you to take what you’ve learned from your studies and apply it to your internship and vice versa. When you return to your home university, you can then use your internship experience as context to better inform your courses. 
• Intern or study abroad more than once: Interning abroad as a junior allows you to intern or study abroad again during your senior year if you choose to do so. Also, if you want to land a competitive internship during your senior year, a junior year internship will provide you with the resume and experience you need. 
• Develop a global network: When you intern abroad, you’ll develop professional and personal relationships with people from your program destination and beyond, allowing you to create an international network. 
• Increase independence: Want to enjoy more independence and grow as a person? An international internship is a great opportunity to do just that!  
• Standout to employers: An international internship during junior year will show employers that you’re passionate about your professional career and have experience collaborating with people from various backgrounds—helping you to distinguish yourself when you apply for future jobs. 

Intern Abroad Requirements 

Yes, juniors in college can intern abroad. AIFS Abroad provides a wide variety of internship opportunities across many career fields and international destinations for both underclassmen and upperclassmen. Junior year is a very popular year for college students to intern abroad, and most students should be eligible. However, you should check with your college advisor to make sure. 

Some schools require students to earn credits during their international internships. Fortunately, AIFS Abroad offers optional credit-bearing courses that can be taken with your junior year internship abroad. Credits are issued through Fairfield University, our school of record in the U.S., allowing students to easily earn transferrable credits while they intern abroad. 

If you’re a junior who’s having trouble deciding whether you want a study abroad program or an intern abroad program, look no further! AIFS Abroad offers Study + Internship programs that combine the study abroad experience with a part-time internship. 

How to Intern Abroad as a Junior 

Your first step to intern abroad during junior year is to speak with your college advisor.  Your advisor will be able to tell you if you can intern abroad as a junior and what you need to do to make it happen. For the vast majority of students, interning abroad during junior year should be easy—all you have to do is apply! 

If your specific course load prevents you from interning during the fall or spring semesters, there are summer internships with your name on them! A summer internship abroad is perfect for any student who can’t intern during the school year or wants to make the most of their summer. 

TLDR: The short answer to “How to intern abroad as a junior” is apply here!