Exchange group offers internships

AIESEC, an international intern exchange program, has helped many IU students explore the world and cultures around them and students can gain work experience through AIESEC internships with international businesses.\nThe acronym AIESEC is French, meaning the International Association of Students of Economic and Commercial Science. Raphael Schuetz, effective leader of AIESEC, said the group was established with the goal of uniting the world and strengthening international ties by exposing young people to other cultures. University students would be able to experience the world and develop a universal perspective while working overseas, Schuetz said.\nThrough the program, students are placed at various companies overseas where they work as interns.\nThe company issues a stipend for living expenses, including food and lodging. AIESEC members who belong to the local committee are assigned to ensuring the comfort of the student.\nBoth divisions are dedicated to the spread of culture and ideas throughout the world, Schuetz said. "The purpose is to have a cultural exchange, a lifetime experience that would be remembered by the individual forever," he said.\nMembers of the AIESEC program enable students to explore and take part in experiences which would normally be restricted to them. \n"Our purpose is allowing students at Indiana University to explore their world, broaden their horizons and challenge them by stepping out of their comfort zone, all through doing an internship abroad," said Shiela Zhao, vice president of the Outgoing Exchange Team. "Students will not only explore the cultures of a new country, but also meet students from other countries working in the same city through AIESEC." \nThere are two main divisions of the AIESEC program, the first of which is the Outgoing Exchange Team. OGX is responsible for recruiting IU students into the program. Once students have been recruited, they vie for the internships through personal interviews. \nWhen a student is accepted by AIESEC, the Incoming Exchange Team, called INX, contacts companies that are willing to host international interns. The division matches a prospective AIESEC student with a program that corresponds with his or her interests. The company conducts a phone interview with the potential intern before the negotiations are finalized. \nIU offers a variety of different internships in four main categories associated with a major or internship of interest. These categories include linguistics, which offers positions in teaching English at schools or in businesses; management, with positions available in marketing, finance, business administration, economics and accounting; information technology positions and developmental internships, which encompass opportunities to work for non-profit organizations and teaching English for non-profit groups. \nInternships provide the student with background in their field of study and introduce them to a mixture of ethnic backgrounds, said Louis Brownstone, former president of AIESEC Indiana. \n"Internships last between 2 months and 18 months, from doing finance for major public companies such as Kraft or Pricewaterhouse, to working in an orphanage and helping children," Brownstone said.\nLast summer, IU sent 13 students abroad to Turkey, India, Romania, Poland, Belgium and other destinations. Students who travel abroad are strongly supported by the Indiana program, Zhao said.\n"Students are supported because they show interest in wanting to change the world, learn new cultures and meet new people," Zhao said.\nAIESEC was established in France at the end of World War II. The AIESEC program was founded at IU in 1948. IU was one of the first places AIESEC was established in the United States. The program is also found in 87 countries, most recently in Chile and The People's Republic of China. The program has gained world-wide acclaim and sponsorship, including recognition by the United Nations.\nAIESEC strives to give students positive experiences with different cultures that will give the student a perspective into the world around them, Louis Brownstone said.\n-- Contact staff writer Kourtney Schepman at kschepma@indiana.edu.