Why complete an internship in Canada? Why not just find something close to home where you’re familiar with the culture, the people, and the language?
As a young person, it will be tempting to stay within your comfort zone and instead pursue something that feels safe to you – such as an internship in your home country. But let us try to show you why you would benefit so much more by doing an internship abroad. Specifically, here are five benefits of doing an internship in Canada!
This may be one of the biggest factors in why many decide to complete an internship in Canada. For those who don’t have a lot of previous work experience or those looking to make a career change, an internship in Canada is a great way to get your foot in the door.
Not only are you able to add relevant work experience in a professional setting to your resume, but you are also able to list a higher level of English or French under the languages you already understand. This is great for those who don’t already have perfect English or French, since you will get the opportunity to practise these languages every day during your internship in Canada, depending on where your Canadian internship is located (Mostly Quebec for the French).
We know that it can be hard to find a job in your field of study as a student or recent graduate, and being able to list an internship in Canada on your resume is an easy way to stand out in the increasingly competitive global job market.
“Networking”. It’s a word that we’re constantly hearing as we get older and course our way through college, university, and our first few jobs. And there’s a good reason for that: your professional network is incredibly valuable to your career development as a young person.
By completing an internship in Canada, you are able to add connections, references, and professional mentors from overseas to your network. Although you will be heading back home after the completion of your Canadian internship, it is still useful to know people who are within your industry that are overseas. If you stay in contact with them, they can provide you with updates in the North American industry of your field, potential job opportunities they’ve heard from their connections in other parts of the world, and offer you a reference for future job applications if you work hard and impress your employer!
You get the opportunity to live and work in a new, foreign environment during your internship in Canada. While that might sound intimidating, it’s actually the best thing to do in order to help grow yourself as a person and help you really establish a sense of independence.
Completing an internship in Canada allows you the opportunity to adapt to North American culture and the work environment. You will get the opportunity to gain independence when you start to live and work in Canada by yourself.
For example, you will be getting used to your new Homestay family if you’ve chosen to go with Stepwest’s optional add-on Homestay service. If you’ve decided to find accommodation yourself, then you’re going to have to go apartment hunting! You’re also going to need to figure out your own transit to work, make new friends, get to know new coworkers, find the best places to dine out and have fun, and generally figure out your own work-life balance – all in a brand new environment!
Continuing on the aspect of personal growth, Canada is also known for a very multicultural population, giving you the wonderful opportunity of interacting with people of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. This type of experience helps broaden your perspective of the world and opens your eyes to opportunities you’ve never considered before.
Say you want to get into Finance, Marketing, or maybe even the Technology or Green industry but you’re unsure if a career in those fields is actually suited to you. Well, there’s no better way to know than to test drive these industries with your internship in Canada!
Canada is well known for certain industries such as Finance in the Toronto area, Technology, Green, and start-up business in the Vancouver core, as well as the oil and natural gas industry in Calgary. Interested in making a career out of the arts? Then Montreal is an excellent choice for you, being a city filled with creative jobs and an appreciation for fine arts and social sciences.
Doing an internship in Canada will help you determine if you really want to pursue a certain career path – by taking what you’ve learned in your courses into real-world practice. No matter what you’re interested in pursuing, know that Canada has many opportunities that are waiting for you so that you can explore your next career options.
Besides just gaining pure work experience to add to your resume, other internship benefits include the opportunity to actually work on and refine some of your skills. Even if you decide to change your mind and not work in the industry of your internship in Canada in the future, feel good knowing that some of the transferable skills you’ve gained will carry over to other jobs.
For example, some skills that employers will almost always require include flexibility, adaptability, communication, critical thinking, teamwork, leadership, and cross-cultural and interpersonal skills. You will get the chance to refine these skills during your internship in Canada.
You’ve decided to do an internship in Canada – you’ve made the right choice! Now you will need to secure an internship. Our professional placement coordinators are ready to help you revise your resume, prepare you for your interview, and provide ongoing support to apply for your internship visa to Canada.
We offer student internships in 30+ professional fields. We take care of all the complicated steps in finding an internship in Canada, so you can spend your time gaining work experience, making new friends, and having the time of your life in Canada!
If you would like to hear more about our Internship Programs in Canada, fill in the form below and one of our team will be in touch to answer all your questions.