The importance of doing an internship abroad

"Students are unable to secure jobs after leaving university"

Ministers are worried graduates could swell the ranks of the unemployed and have been holding talks with employers to try to find a solution. Four top firms, including Barclays and Microsoft, will take on some of this year's 300,000 graduates. Ministers are due to hold an economic summit, where they are also expected to outline plans for more guaranteed loans for small businesses.

Universities Secretary John Denham is drawing up plans for the internship scheme. He revealed the proposals in an interview with the Daily Telegraph and said the internships secured under the national scheme would last for three months. It is intended that internships will at least improve participants' skills and experience and may in some cases lead to full-time work. Mr Denham told the paper: "At the end, they will be more employable, and some of them will get jobs. Employers won't want to let good people go.

Shadow skills secretary David Willetts said: "A small number of businesses are taking on graduate interns, but this does not match the scale of the crisis facing young people trying to find jobs. "That is why we have proposed focusing more than £500m in the 'train-to-gain' program, on helping young people get apprenticeships and worthwhile job opportunities." In the same interview Mr Denham declined to comment on suggestions the government could bring forward plans to raise the school-leaving age to 18. (Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk, Jan 2009)

Nowadays most graduate and undergraduate students are looking for an internship. According to the latest statistics, graduates competing for jobs against more experienced candidates are experiencing an uphill battle as companies and other organizations are "downsizing" at the moment. Graduates can't compete effectively for jobs without experience, they can't get experience without jobs. Academic distinction and extracurricular activities not with standing, graduates are increasingly finding themselves in need of pre-professional field experience which demonstrates that they can "hit the ground running" and make an impact from day one. Experience counts, but graduates may not be inexperienced. For many, an internship abroad is the answer. But international internships are usually unpaid. Due to the importance of this kind of experience abroad, the European Government is providing a financing plan to support students and their labour and social mobility. The aim now is to promulgate this kind of initiatives.