Overseas research = Internship-worthy experience?

Career Opportunities & Internships
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<p>Hello everyone,</p>

<p>First, I hope everyone is enjoying a nice relaxing summer! Here in Seattle it's been surprisingly sunny and warm. Hopefully it stays like this before all the rain comes back. :) </p>

<p>So I am currently a senior at my university, majoring in Applied & Computational Mathematical Sciences (a joint program in Applied Math and Computer Science). Starting this September, I will be studying abroad for a year as a research student in Tokyo, Japan, where I will be conducting High Performance Computing research at my partner university's supercomputer research lab. It was a dream come true, as it was a very selective program (only 17 students chosen worldwide) and will be a very challenging but hopefully rewarding experience.</p>

<p>However, I do have some concerns about "undergrad research" and how it pertains to internship/employment. When I return the following year, I will start looking for internships (particularly software development), but as many already know internships and employers really like to see a candidate with some good (working) experience. Be that a part time job, or a previous internship, experience is very important (perhaps more so than grades). I have heard from some that research experience is only good for applying to graduate school, and internships/employers don't really care about it. But from others, I've heard that any experience, even research overseas, is fabulous resume material and will increase my chances of landing an internship or a job after graduation. I have only had a couple summer part time jobs throughout high school and in college, but they were so short (1.5 months max) that I don't think they really belong on the resume; the biggest thing going for me is this research opportunity. I'm just not sure what employers think when it comes to undergrad research. </p>

<p>As a comp sci/applied math student, building a portfolio is key, but I worry that research alone won't make it that strong. Or, will it? What do you guys think? Is there anyone out there who has landed an internship/job because of their undergrad research?</p>

<p>Thanks for your time and consideration!</p>

<p>XRaptor</p>

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<p>EDIT: some clarifications that might help:</p>

<p>1) The two part time jobs I had are completely unrelated to my major (amusement park and grocery store, typical teenage jobs). This is why I don’t think they should go on my resume.</p>

<p>2) I forgot to mention that in my program in Tokyo, I will be studying advanced Japanese and will get to tour a Japanese technology company of my choice (Google Japan, Panasonic, Sony, etc). The “factory study tour”, as they call it, seems to me as though another big purpose of this research program is to help us gain an understanding of the Japanese business climate, and therefore encourage us to take our experience out into the tech world. With this in mind, should I not be worried about what employers will think of my research experience?</p>

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<p>Any advice? :)</p>

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<p>An internship is performed in a non-academic setting. It’s not that your project is not internship-worthy, it’s that it doesn’t meet the basic requirements of one. An internship is important because it signals that you’ve delivered in a corporate environment, which can be quite different from an academic one.</p>

<p>Edit: Err, your title is misleading. You’re actually asking if your experience will be useful in landing non-academic employment. I don’t think the fact that you had the experience will be useful, but if you gain particular skills that are useful to a company then it will help greatly. In my field (semiconductors), employers often choose students with extremely specific skillsets for internships.</p>