Jiyoung and George at Patrivalor

JIYOUNG SIM- One of the aspects I think is great about the Tufts-Skidmore Spain program is its internship program. You can find an internship that fits your major and interests here to have more experience outside of school. You can visit the Tufts-Skidmore Spain website to check out what internship options you may have here. There are diverse options in different fields and you can apply for the ones that you are interested in. Before you come here, you get to choose up to three choices from these options and send them with your resume to Susan, our program director. Then later you will hear back from the program about which organization you will be working for when you get here. I study Economics and Mathematics and here I am doing an internship at a Spanish asset management company named Patrivalor. It is a great experience to work for a Spanish company because you can both get some work experience and improve your Spanish!
My boss at Patrivalor is an American and I work with another student from our program so I speak English as I work as well, but all the other people are Spanish so I speak Spanish too. Most students doing internship here around me use Spanish and communicate with Spanish people as they work. Depending on if you do an internship for credit or non-credit and which company you work for, your work hours differ. I am doing it non-credit and work 8 hours a week. For Skidmore students, internship for credit requires 130 hours per semester and you can earn 3 credits. For Business credits you can also work 43 hours a semester and earn 1 credit or work 86 hours a semester and earn 2 credits. To earn credits, you also have to write an application explaining your task at work in English and write a brief daily report and a final paper in English or Spanish.
I am very satisfied with my internship here. It fits my major and interests and also since it is a small company I can communicate closely with other people and learn a lot. The working environment is great too. The schedule is very flexible and everyone is very friendly and caring. Last week I had the flu and was very sick so I could not go to work, and this week I went back to work because I did not want to miss too much work. Then the next day my boss sent me an email saying I do not have to come in if I am still sick and that I will not get better if I am having to run around all over the city while I am sick. She also asked me if I have seen a doctor and if I would like her to recommend somebody. I am glad that I am working with such nice people under a great working environment.

Jiyoung Sim, Skidmore in Madrid

I am having a great experience doing my internship here and so are many other students. So if you are interested in having a unique opportunity of learning more outside class, doing an internship while you study abroad can be a great choice for you too!