When you ask international students in Turkiye about the challenges they face, the topic of opportunities would definitely pop up at a point. Whether it is about how hard getting a job is or about how it is almost impossible to get an internship if it is not a compulsory one from your university. There almost seem to be an obstacle especially for international student. It gets even worse when you realize that native students don’t have it as bad. Your friend tells you that they get internships every summer and some even have them during the semesters. It is easy to want to feel discouraged at this point. At the same time however, there are majority of international students who get internships every summer and in a legitimate way.
I understand that for certain Majors; there is a mandatory number of internships that needs to be taken before graduation. This includes Engineering, Medical students, Law students. However, for social sciences where there are no compulsory internships that need to be taken, there are ways to go about it. First you have to be really sure you want an internship. It takes determination and motivations to want to work while others enjoy their summer, travel and make trips. Secondly, start searching for internships before summer begins. Preferably right at the beginning of your semester. Halfway into the semester, you must have had an idea of what companies, organizations or initiatives suit your major. In Turkiye, there is the popular Ulusal Staj which translates to National Internship. It is open to all students studying in Turkish Universities. Typically, the call for this internship opens towards the end of the Fall Semester. So watch out for that.
For students under the Turkiye Government Scholarship(YTB), there has been a provision to make application for internships easy. Follow their social media pages to get updated.
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