Summary: International internships are the newest trend in foreign exchange programs, offering college students hands-on work experience and total immersion in another country's work culture.
San Francisco, CA - July 28, 2010 - Two large Japanese companies, Rakuten Inc. and Fast Retailing Co., recently announced they were making English their official company language, beginning in 2012. Hiroshi Mikitani, the CEO of Rakuten, even went so far as to say "No English, no job." Yet, according to the recent U.S. - Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULSON), fewer than 30,000 Japanese students studied in the U.S. in 2008, a 40% decline in the past ten years.
Until recently, Japanese students who did want to improve their English fluency looked to traditional study abroad programs. However, the global economic downturn has young people increasingly concerned about future job prospects and staying competitive - all of which has supported a new trend in foreign exchange programs: the international internship.
One such program is Intrax's Summer Entrepreneurship Program, a six-week internship program in California that includes a week of business education with professors from UC Berkeley's Haas Business School and Stanford University, plus a five-week unpaid internship with a San Francisco Bay Area company. Student participation in the program has increased by 200% this year, with many of the students coming from Japan's most prestigious universities, including Keio, Sophia and Tokyo University.
One of the benefits of this type of program is the exposure to a different type of work environment. The American workplace focus on the individual offers an interesting counterpart to the more group-centered Japanese work environment.
Japanese students aren't the only ones who are embracing the benefits of international internships. For the last two years, Intrax has been placing American university students in eight-week unpaid internships with Japanese companies in Tokyo through its Internships Abroad program. These internships offer American students an opportunity to gain international work experience at a young age - which can offer a competitive edge in a challenging job market.
Japanese companies are also benefiting from international internship programs. The headquarters of many Japanese companies are 100% Japanese, despite doing business around the world. Working with and training young American interns - or hiring a Japanese student with U.S. work experience - contributes to a more globally-oriented office environment and offers managers opportunities to interact with different work styles, customer and communication methods.
Intrax is a 30-year-old company co-founded by a Japanese entrepreneur that is devoted to fostering international understanding through cultural exchange and educational programs, with operations in more than 80 countries worldwide. Intrax creates life-changing cross-cultural experiences including: high school exchange programs, au pairs for American families, language classes, volunteer opportunities, leadership programs, and internships. Since 1980, more than 250,000 individuals have participated in Intrax programs. Intrax is based in San Francisco with offices in 13 countries.