<p>i was reading a thread "How should a college student make himself competitive for an internship?" and came up with questions..</p>
<p>so,,
1. you're an f-1 student in the US,,(this is not one who did HS in the US,,)2.you hv let's say pretty decent CGPA (above 3.0) and a decent communication skills in english and your native language.
3. do some ECs, got some achivements (not a fancy one, like olympic though), and prob. get envolved in an international student community in your univ.
4. you don't hv any work experiences in HS (since in your country, its not common for HS students work in supermarket/such..),,and the only work you've ever done is an in-campus job,,let say,,they're not related to your major (jobs in library/dining hall/admission office)</p>
<p>what things you should do to make you more likeable for the recruiter (US companies)??</p>
<p>“what things you should do to make you more likeable for the recruiter (US companies)??”</p>
<p>Realistically your first internship is not going to be with a big-name company or a company that has a recruiter for interns. It will most likely be with a small local company which cannot afford to pay you, so you would work for free. On the bright side, you might get a lot more responsibility than you would in a large company with a strict hierarchy. </p>
<p>If you want to earn money but don’t have work experience or a skill that employers crave, your best bet is working on campus during the summer.</p>
<p>If you interview with a large company, try to convince them that you want to stay in the States to work after college. Most companies are seeking interns who are potential full-time employees after graduation.</p>
<p>Another is through connections.. I believe that in your own country, you should have a respectable business and thus connections (if not, you wouldn’t have enough money to study in the US, unless you’re on full financial aid - which I know you aren’t as I kinda read your posts somewhere else). Check with your parents and see whether they know anyone who can find you a summer job in… Indonesia, am I right? With that, at least you can have more “proper job” before you can really apply to the more big-shot companies in the US…</p>
<p>Anyway, in business, like it or not, you know that it depends quite a bit on connections to land yourself a job, if you’re not in target schools (i.e. Wharton and the likes).</p>
<p>not necessarily. My friends from Indonesia who will be going to Wharton, Berkeley, Wash U and other private schools in US are all paying full, and all their parents are either engineers or financial professionals of some sort, not super wealthy business owners. My dad was an engineer in Indonesia too and he’s now in the US, and I’ve observed that a large number of students coming to USA from Indonesia for college are not children of business owners.</p>
<p>Well, there are some internationals who do (like me). I am definitely not super wealthy (not even wealthy) as well but my parents work in <em>some</em> financial institution. And I just finished my 3-month stint in a US investment bank (Goldman-Sachs-and-the-likes standard). And to think that I’m not even in uni yet!</p>
<p>You don’t need to be super wealthy business owners to have connections, that’s for sure.</p>
<p>hey lisieux, what kind of internship was it, and how did you manage to get it? lol, i thought you have to be atleast a sophomore or junior in college to get an investment banking/sales and trading internship..</p>
<p>my parents aren’t that super-wealthy (not even wealthy) indonesians with mansion in singapore..lols..we’re definitely not that kind of family that go to singp. every long weekend.. and they both aren’t financial professionals..</p>
<p>mmm..so in the end..the keys are your native connections and a degree from prestige school??</p>
<p>let say..i dont want to work in jakarta..whatever job it is..
i dont think it will worth all money that i hv spent here,right?
i want to start here..whether ill come back after a few years,well thats another story.
so,i must start to work in a local company voluntaryly..
what else? i dont mind doing unpaid jobs,but it has to make me look good in the future.. </p>
<p>lisieux,can you share your intern journey? thanks</p>
<p>I was attached to one of the back office departments. But it was definitely not coffee-boy/data-entry sort of thing. I actually did the same thing the rest of the people in the department did. On top of that, my boss was actually nice enough to arrange small meetings with the people from the other departments (both back and front office), make me do a presentation and gave me chance to present it to the team, and best, send me to an overseas office for a few days. In my opinion, it was a better learning process than a “real internship” in the front office could have given.</p>
<p>How did I manage to get it:
Like I said, connections… Haha. And well I got interviewed for it and all as well, but seriously I don’t know whether it was formality or whether they really considered the interview seriously. My connection wasn’t a very strong one (i.e. my parents are not owners of multi-million business), but somehow I got it. Yep.</p>
<p>I say, don’t underestimate Indonesia. I think it’s a country with great potentials, and they definitely haven’t been fully utilized today. They need more educated people over there. And why not? A lot of Indonesians make it big to be millionaires, or even some, billionaires. Haha. I think opportunities there are abound, it’s just how you identify them and make use of them.</p>
<p>but, will it worth it and will it be easier, if after one study abroad then he/she goes back to try to find a job in his/her country as a fresh graduate?
i dont think so, people see you as one that will be over-paid..</p>
<p>do some work experiences in the US make one easier to get “proper job=high paid job” in his/her native country? i think they do..,dont they?</p>
<p>anw,when did you start your internship? sophomore yr?
what r the differences between internship and student training?
which one is easier and better? thanks</p>
<p>?? Isn’t that the point of studying overseas, to get better employment when you get back?? Hmmm.. I dunno, maybe I was just making an uninformed assumption..</p>
<p>Work experience will be good anywhere you go, I think. </p>
<p>I did my internship in between high school and uni, I got (am still having actually) an 8-month break right now.. So I’m not even in uni yet, yup.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about student training though…</p>
<p>Well, it’s a lot easier now with the new OPT rules. Anyone who saves enough post-grad OPT to get her through the beginning of May can get her OPT extended to apply for a H-1B work visa. STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) majors get an extra 17 months of post-graduation OPT, which gives them up to three shots in the annual H-1B “lottery” (or more time to find an American spouse :))</p>
<p>thinking about internships/jobs in today US economy condition is really make me down..well..hopefully my major will help me in the future..
just do my best for now and have fun x]</p>
<p>btw.even if you do voluntary jobs,you can put it on you resume, right?</p>
And to think that I’m not even in uni yet!</p>