Internship: Sometimes It's a Reach

By this point in the summer, interns at many companies are busy learning the ropes and filling in for regular employees out on vacation. But there's a growing group of collegians who can find it difficult to gain these important career toeholds: students who spend a semester or full year studying abroad. The number of students studying overseas grew by 144 percent from 1995 to 2005, and at schools like Wake Forest, Georgetown and Duke, more than half of undergrads now do a stint studying in a foreign country. The trouble is, being overseas can make it difficult for students to do the in-person interviews required for top internships—and for students who study in increasingly popular places like Australia or South Africa, the school calendar can keep them from returning to the United States until late June, well past the date when most formal internships have already begun. "Recruiters are somewhat frustrated," says Notre Dame career-services chief Lee Svete. "The competition is such that a lot of the internships are gone before [students] get back ... They're definitely at a disadvantage."

Since students who study abroad often make great hires, some companies are taking steps to accommodate them. Two years ago, Goldman Sachs began offering special "expedited interviews" for intern applicants a few days before Christmas, when many full-year- abroad students are home for the holidays. Among recruiters, there's also buzz about students' shifting their overseas experience—traditionally done during junior year—to sophomore year, which lets them participate in on-campus recruiting as juniors. "The value of the study-abroad experience is rising—it's becoming the equivalent of a second major," says Janet Raiffa, Goldman Sachs's head of U.S. campus recruiting. Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president of the Institute for International Education, says, "The bottom line is, if a company really wants to get students who have international experience, they will find a way to make it work."

—Daniel McGinn

© 2007