A recent report by the World Economic Forum suggests that over the next four years 75 million current jobs may be replaced by machine. However, that doesn’t mean that there won’t be more opportunities. In that same report, the WEF predicted that over 130 million jobs could be created over that same period of time.

When it comes to getting into graduate school, two things are important – a high GPA and experience outside the classroom. With an international internship, you gain the skills and real-world experience that graduate admissions committees are looking for.

For these five alumni, their internship influenced and helped them follow their dreams of getting a master’s degree. Keep reading for our alums’ stories and their advice on using an internship abroad to get into grad school.

An internship abroad is all about gaining the skills and experience needed to land your dream career. Through an international internship, you get to meet people from around the world, explore different cultures, learn new perspectives about life, and develop as a person.

For these six alumni, their internships impacted their lives in a major way — their host companies offered them a position! Keep reading to find out more about our alums’ stories and their advice on turning an internship into a job offer.

The holiday season is in full swing -- and everyone’s favorite day of family, football, food, and giving thanks is almost here. At the Global Experiences’ headquarters, we asked ourselves, “what part of their international experience would our interns say they were most thankful for?” From experiencing a new culture, to making lifelong friends, and of course an amazing professional experience, there’s so much to choose from.

So, we asked them! It warmed our hearts to receive a wide range of amazing answers from past interns from different career fields and from our different host cities. Read on for 13 testimonials from some of our thankful alum.

This weekend marks the end of our summer 2018 internship programs - our largest program season to date! One of the best things about what we do and why we do it, is hearing stories and testimonials from interns once they’ve finished their internship abroad program and reflected on their experiences. Hearing how their internship taught them about new cultures, their career path, and life. How they’ve grown, met life-long friends, and much more.

Here’s what 11 summer interns had to say: interning abroad changed their lives.

1 year. 10 international locations. 18 career fields. 28 intern Snapchat takeovers.

Bryanna W., a Junior from the University of Southern California, completed a fashion business internship in Milan this summer! Studying Business Administration, our GE Alumni Ambassador has always known she wants to end up in the fashion industry and used this summer as a stepping stone to her future plans - to own her own fashion company!

Commonly referred to as “The City”, New York City is a true concrete jungle. The largest city in the western hemisphere, New York is teeming with opportunities for those trying to seek advancements in their careers. For Maggie C., a senior at SUNY - Potsdam, New York City was a perfect place for her to explore her major in communications. 

It’s almost our favorite day of the year to eat, drink, and wear stretchy pants. Pre-food coma, there’s always that one family member that suggests for everyone to go around the table to share what they are most thankful for in the past year. Around our office we wondered, “what would our Global Experiences alumni say?”

Going abroad to another city without family or friends was an exciting step for Morgan, our London Art Gallery intern, during our Fall 2017 semester. Studying Political Science with a Minor in Art History, she wanted to get a feel of what it would be like to work in a museum. After completing her internship she tells us, “one career path I was thinking of was to eventually become a curator, and this internship is really good exposure since it is showing me more of the tasks people working in the museum industry perform.” In a city with so much history and a variety of museums and art galleries, why wouldn’t you choose London?!