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Internships

Internships in International Studies

An internship is an excellent way to explore career options, gain work experience and professional skills. We highly encourage our students to pursue an internship at some point during their time as an International Studies major.

Types of Internships

International Studies majors pursue a wide variety of internships in various sectors (e.g. nonprofit, private companies and government organizations) and have the option to earn academic credit for an internship.

Internships for academic credit

Please work with your advisor if you plan on receiving credit for an internship.

Requirements:

the internship needs to be related to the field of International Studies and approved by the program director
you need to work 40 hours per credit hour you earn (120h = 3cr)
you will need to find a faculty as well as a site supervisor and enroll in INTL 401 through an individual enrollment form (please email intl@cofc.edu or talk to your advisor about the individual enrollment process)
in the summer you will need to pay part-time summer tuition to enroll in the course (unless the class transfers in from an affiliated program)
if your internship location is outside of the US please fill out this form for the Center for International Education (CIE)

Non credit-based internships

The Certificate Internship Program (CIP) through the CofC Career Center is an alternative if academic credit is not an option. That way the internship can still appear on your transcript and many employers require that you receive some form of credit.

How do I find an internship?

It is ultimately up to the student to find an internship but the International Studies program is committed to helping you through the process as much as possible.

Resources

information on our website about past internships and internship databases
schedule a meeting with your INTL advisor
the Career Center can help through assessment and one-on-one counseling
attend a "Mastering the Internship Search Workshop" with the Career Center (Fall 2021 dates & times: Sept. 14 at 3pm, Oct. 28 at 4pm, Nov. 9 at 4pm)
set up a Handshake account and connect with over 200K employers
set up a cofc.higheredtalent.org account and find internship positions worldwide
get inspiration from the alumni spotlight section on our website
explore career options for International Studies majors
the CofC Alumni Association posts internships opportunities on their page
for fellowship opportunities the list that Cultural Vistas has on their website is helpful
Howard's overview on 'Persuing a career of international service - Options for underrepresented students' is extremely helpful
how to make the most out of your remote internship
explore options to finance unpaid internships: e.g. LCWA Public Service Internship Award, Career Center Internship Award, W.N. Looper Award

Internship Databases

There are numerous databases for internships. We recommend using Idealist.org, Global Jobs, GoinGlobal and the job openings & internships page of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA)

The CofC Career Center has a more comprehensive list of databases.

The Cougar JobLink provides information about available internship, job, and volunteer opportunities. To access CougarJobLink, log into MyCharleston and select the Student Services tab.

Because the options in Charleston are limited you might want to look into a virtual internship with a federal agency.