If you’re taking undergraduate or graduate courses at Penn and want to spend part of your summer working or interning outside the United States, make sure you attend the International Opportunities Fair. 

The fair will be held on Thursday, Oct. 25, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Houston Hall’s Bodek Lounge. A Study Abroad Fair featuring credit-granting opportunities for undergraduate students will be held concurrently in Houston Hall’s Hall of Flags.

Representatives from Penn’s Career Services and International Internship Program will staff information tables, along with exhibitors from more than 30 employers whose goal is to recruit Penn students and alumni for internships, volunteer work, or work abroad positions. 

“There is a huge common-good focus among organizations coming to the [international fair],” says Helen Cheung, associate director for the College of Arts & Sciences in Career Services. “We will have the Peace Corps, the [U.S.] State Department, Teach for China, and WorldTeach here, as well as the Penn International Internship Program. There will also be programs that are more in line with academic research and fellowships, and work abroad programs.”

Employment and internship opportunities are available in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Australia. 

Fairgoers can pick up information about the Botswana-UPenn Partnership, and summer abroad programs sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies and Center for the Advanced Study of India.

A wide range of possibilities will be represented at the fair. From the business world there will be representatives from Contact Singapore and International S.O.S.; in the fields of engineering and science, the German Academic Exchange Service and the Embassy of Switzerland Office of Science, Technology and Education, IBM, and more. Nonprofit organizations will include Humanity in Action and Princeton in Asia.

Cara Bonnington, international internship manager in Penn Abroad, says the number of sites using Penn interns has expanded over the years because of increased University outreach to alumni. “We’ve partnered with some of the organizations that our alumni clubs do service work with,” she explains. “Last year, we were able to send students to internships in Beijing with organizations that have ties to the Penn Alumni club there.”

The fair is open to all current students with a valid PennCard and alumni served by Career Services. Organizers expect a high turnout. Cheung says last year’s fair drew more than 900 students.