AIFS Abroad: Intern Abroad in Ireland

The GE internship program is a must going into your young adult life. Volunteering abroad was an experience like no other. Meeting new people, getting work experience, discovering your likes and dislikes in your personal field, experiencing new culture, was priceless. I discovered that I really loved working in a nonprofit company in the field medicine, I am more confident in my goals for my future career because of this GE program. Throughout this experience, not only did I get to meet people in my host city Dublin, however, I made friendships that will last forever with other GE students. As we worked through out the week, we also had the opportunity to travel Europe on the weekends. This GE experience made out to be the best summer ever.

This was a fantastic experience, both for getting to see the world and for professional and personal development. It was a journey of self-discovery and guidance for my future career and interests for the remainder of schooling. Ireland is a beautiful country, with tons of hidden gems and attractions beyond what is advertised and presented in social media. Discovering these little areas and attractions was the highlight of the journey for me, being able to go around wherever I could feasibly get and finding each and every activity, park, group of people, and corner of Ireland that I could in the time I was not working. Work itself was great, as it not only exposed me to people who had been immersed in the culture for a long while (and provided fun conversation with comparisons between cultures), but also gave a profound look into my own professional career path and where I intend to take my life from here on out.

Being in Dublin this summer was an amazing experience! I got to travel to many new places in both the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland. I have also had the opportunity to make new connections with the people that I have met through this program, which I am incredibly thankful for. Global experiences has helped to prepare me for what it is like to be abroad, especially within Dublin. Through all the orientations they had online I can say with confidence that I understood what to expect while I was here. Once here, I was able to contact any of our location coordinators if there was an issue and they would respond in a decent amount of time to help. Overall, Dublin is a great city with many sights to see, and Ireland is a beautiful country to explore. If given a second opportunity I would definitely do this program again.

Global Experiences seems at first like no more than a convenience service, a program that finds an internship for you based on what you're looking for so you don't have to. While it's great at this, having gotten me a job with a senator, it helps you in many more ways than just getting you connected with an employer that will benefit you throughout your career. Global Experiences provides you with one on one resume and cover letter help that is quite insightful, for example. Furthermore, the program lets you take a professional personality test that, while at first seemed a bit like a Buzzfeed quiz, is nonetheless employed by real companies all over the world. So, you'll get it out of the way, be able to provide those results to future employers, and be able to use the test to inform your cover letter because the results reveal your top five strengths as a worker that can help inform what kind of rhetoric to employ. Yeah, the test seems pretty wonky and fake, but trust me when I say it's eerily accurate. Beyond all this, they will always be available for whatever kind of advice you need throughout the process, both before and after you secure the internship and even during. If you're looking for a service that is all about making sure you succeed now and in the future, Global Experiences is the one for you.

The Global Experiences staff do everything they can to ensure the transition into a new culture goes as smooth as possible. They provide whatever support is needed, and were very helpful throughout the duration of the internship. Lots of social events were planned to help immerse you into Ireland's unique culture, and I definitely recommend taking advantage of these opportunities! Traveling abroad enables you to broaden your perspectives and grow as an individual, both personally and professionally. My internship itself was in the government, and definitely helped me gain a clearer understanding of what I want to do in the future. Working as an intern as provides valuable professional experience to prepare you for the work force while also building your resume. This was an experience like no other, and I guarantee you would not regret it!

I had the best summer ever in the Dublin, Ireland global experiences program. The staff was amazing! They helped me with my internship by improving my resume and cover letter, giving me a Clinton strengths assessment, and interview prep. They also prepared me for my time abroad by having a pre departure phone call that went over everything I should expect, internship tips, how to get a phone there, how to figure out transportations, then set me up with insurance, and showed me how to cope with a new cultural environment. The staff helped me meet people in the program too by coordinating tons of social events, so don’t be nervous if you don’t know anyone before you get there, I didn’t and made a lot of friends. The staff is constantly making sure everything is going well with your internship and that your satisfied with the program. After two weeks into my internship I had a phone call with a staff member that made sure I was happy with my internship. Halfway into my internship I had another staff member meet with me and my supervisor to talk about all that I had learned and what my internship responsibilities were. Overall I had such a great time this summer and highly recommend the global experiences program.

GE provided me with such an amazing opportunity to intern abroad but even more than that, their on site staff were terrific. They only had two weekend excursions, which was really nice because it wasn't so many scheduled trips that it felt like we had no freedom on the weekends but the two we had were totally awesome. This summer has not just taught me so much about the world, immersing myself in a different culture, but it has also taught me a lot about myself. I was terrified to enter the real world after I graduate next year, but now, although I am still nervous, I feel so much more prepared to be on my own and living and working independently. I cannot recommend this organization highly enough, they gave me a summer I only ever dreamed about.

The location coordinators in Dublin were amazing. Any time I had a question or a concern they were always so willing to help out. There were multiple ways to get into contact with them at any time of the day and they usually answered in less than 24 hours. They were very personable and easy to talk to. I was never nervous to ask them any questions I had. Because they were so open and personable it made the things we did as a group more enjoyable. We did a few things as a group, such as Galway City, the Cliffs of Moher, Belfast, the National Museum of Ireland and even a scavenger hunt to get know the city of Dublin better. With each of these we would get a dinner and a drink. It was a great way to get to know everyone in my program and create friendships with people. I would most definitely recommend Global Experiences especially in Dublin.