[photopress:boxer.jpg,full,alignright]Applications for overseas internships are on the rise as Shanghai’s university students seek to improve their resumes. Twice as many candidates compared to last year have applied to AIESEC. This is run by university students and was originally known as the Association Internationale des Etudiants en Science, Economiques et Commerciales so being able to call it AIESEC comes as something of a relief. There are currently 330 applicants for 80 positions, such as working for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Frankfurt, Germany, or as a teacher in Turkey teaching Chinese culture.
Then there is IAESTE, the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience, which this year has attracted 200 university students, 30% more than last year.
Caio Macedo, the former president of AIESEC’s Brazilian division now working in Shanghai, said, ‘It can really help students to discover and develop their best potential.’ Interns must pay for flights but their employers cover living expenses and accommodation.
Jiang Tao, a Fudan University graduate student who deferred his studies in 2005 to go on an internship in Alcatel’s headquarters in Paris, said he gained from his internship. ‘The experience made me realize what I want to do with my career. That is worth a one-year absence from my studies.’
Our illustration, of course, has almost nothing to do with the subject but comes from the art collection at Yale University.
Source: China.org.cn