Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Internships & jobs

SAIS is a professional program. That means it educates students to take up jobs, most of them after finishing a two-year master's. SAIS graduates find employment all over the world in the public and private sectors, in the non-profit world and with multilateral organizations.

Some students do not wait for graduation to make their mark -- they work while at SAIS. Internships and other jobs can provide valuable experience and also help pay for rent, pizza and the other costs of living in Bologna or Washington.

We get many questions from candidates about internships. You deserve some answers.

First, as Ann Gagliardi of Career Services in Bologna explains in the video below, some students find work while at the Bologna Center. There is a range of jobs at the Center, and students with the appropriate language skills can manage to find work or volunteer opportunities outside the school. Most students do  internships during the summer between their first and second years.

(Career Services provides partial financial assistance to support unpaid full-time summer internships between the first and second year of study. Some academic concentrations also make funds available to students for unpaid summer internships.)

Washington, as many of you know, is a haven for internships. The U.S. government, international organizations, consultancies, think tanks, embassies, corporations: the list of employers is long. Is there another city in the world with as many internship opportunities? Alumni often say that the combination of a strong focus on academics while in Bologna and the professional opportunities available in DC make for the perfect SAIS experience.

Here are some figures on internships that Bologna Center students performed between their first and second years in the summer of 2010 (percentages of reporting students):

private sector
19%
non-profit
28%
multilateral
24%
public
29%
public non-US (percentage of all public)
29%
public US  (percentage of all public)
71%

By location
Africa
11%
Asia
12%
Europe
27%
Latin America
15%
Middle East
4%
United States/Canada
31%


Nelson Graves

3 comments:

Ihssane said...

Thank you Nelson for yet another much useful post. This definitely answered some important questions I had about 1) internships and 2) supporting one's expenses while at SAIS BC.

As far as Graduate Assistant-ships and other on-campus opportunities go, do students usually research and apply for those once in the Bologna Center, or can this be done online prior to coming to Italy? Also, do international, non-EU students require a work authorization in order to work on (or off) campus?

Thank you once again for everything! I know that many of us are anxiously awaiting next week, so I hope these questions will be of use to those who are lucky enough to make it into the program.

Nelson Graves said...

Ihssane - Thanks very much. We're getting quite a few questions along these lines -- I can see a post in the works. I'd like to make sure I give the right advice and so will speak to Career Services and put something out next week. The visa issue is an important one, too.

This kind of feedback really helps us focus on what's important to our readers.

Ihssane said...

With many thanks again! I'll definitely be looking forward to it and other great posts!

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