USA Internship Journey

" Upstate NY from the plane window that took me back home from the USA to Palestine"
11th May 2012

How can I find an internship? Where should I search? Which sectors should I be looking? From whom should I seek help? How much time does it take to find an internship? These and many more questions were floating around in my mind before I had my internship in the US, and I am sure most students had and will have the same concerns that I had.

In this article, I will share my experience about my internship in the US. I am not going to give advice; I am only sharing what happened in my case.  It is up to you to analyze my journey’s ups and downs.

            It’s August 2011.I arrived at State University of New York in Cobleskill to study my junior year via the NESA cultural exchange scholarship, sponsored by the US Department of State. One requirement of NESA was getting an internship with these conditions:
1. Unpaid internship.
2. Off-campus.
3. In the spring semester.
4. Related to our major.

Given these conditions, this meant I had only four months to accomplish the mission.  And it shouldn’t be on campus. Cobleskill is small town in upstate New York which therefore meant I had limited options.

From my point of view, the most efficient way of getting the internship was through my connections in the school, however, I am an international student who didn’t yet  know even  where to go shopping!  My strategy of finding an internship was based on working in two paths in parallel;

1. Seeking help from an advisor,

2. Working hard to achieve “A” grades at my business courses.  

            The first thing I did was to seek help from my advisor in the international student office at the University. Automatically, in the fall semester she enrolled me in an internship class that was directly sponsored by the career center in the school. From there, they gave us access to a plenty of resources that could help us to build a killer resumé and cover letter. In addition, they taught us the techniques and the skills that  we should acquire to pass the interview, from the greeting to thanking the interviewer. In addition, the instructor held with us a mock interview, which was very beneficial for us because we were given feedback. That was a part of the assistance from the University. Let me say my part now. Take a breath and then continue.J

My strategy was getting an “A” grade in my business classes, this way; my professors would easily recommend me to the internship I am looking for. Luckily, I achieved this. Their responses were:

• 1. My finance teacher “ Well, yes why not, we would love to have you in our company, however, we only offer internships in the summer”. 

• 2. My Managerial Accounting teacher who has a CPA firm “ Are you asking me for job, I am kidding, Okay give me your phone number and if we need one I will contact you” Well, I never got a reply back. 

Let’s see how I did get the internship!!

By the end of December 2011, my advisor introduced me to the controller at Lancaster Development via email. Now, my first move came, I called the company asking them to arrange an interview for me; I got it for 1:00 PM.  Automatically, I went to the company website for any helpful information. Also, I contacted a previous intern from Yemen asking her for information.

At the day of the interview, it felt like  the Day of Judgment; it is the time of implementation.   I suited up with some lovely perfume and a fancy watch. I took the bus and I arrived at the company 15 minutes before the interview. I passed the interview successfully by all means.  Mission accomplished! I got an unpaid internship as per the NESA program policies.

The best is yet to come. At the departure orientation in Missouri, 30th April 2012, three certificates were  awarded to the most successful NESA interns by the US Department of State. And yes, I got the “Inspiring Intern” award!

            But wait a minute, what about my CV??!!  Even though it was ready and all neat-looking, I forget both to bring it to the interview and to send it by email! 

I am looking forward to your comments and thoughts.

The Moment Life Changed

I would like to share with you my first successful personal statement. This statement paved the road for me to study abroad as an exchange student at State University of New York at Cobleskill, US, through a program sponsored by the US Department of State called NESA. Here is my statement as it is since Dec 2010, without any changes.

"Marketing is critical to the success of every organization. People already know about marketing – that is all around them. At home, at school, where you work, and where you play, you see marketing in almost everything you do. The baby when cries, the employee when interviews, the company when advertise, and when you write your name on your bag, are all marketing themselves. I will market myself in this statement to convince you that I am worthy to take this opportunity.

 My interest in this field blossoms every time I do shopping where I miss our national products in the market. We are suffering from a weak economy. I want to contribute to find a solution to this problem. During studying in the faculty of commerce I came to understand that small businesses play an important role in sprouting the economy. Unfortunately we hardly have small businesses, and they are not based on scientific approaches. I hope, after finishing my studies, to generate small businesses ideas adapted to our local circumstances.

I know that the road to achieve my goals is full with hard work, therefor; I decided to finish the bachelor in accounting with excellence degree. I have a big ambition and high motive to get the CPA to be a certified public accountant; Thus, I study hard to understand every aspect in the accounting field.

As I am studying in English-accounting department, I work hard to improve my English, which is important to keep me updated with the developing science of economy.

In my leisure time, I keep in touch with the society. Now I am a member in al-Wedad, a social rehabilitation organization, in which we undertake various activities such as supporting woman rights and building capacity of the youth. In addition, I keep upgrading myself by taking different courses. Recently, I finished training of trainer course – TOT, preparation course for the TOFEl and advance level -12 English course. Beside that, I am active and energetic person because the sound mind in the sound body.

I would like to be in this program because it will help me achieve many of my goals. First, I will experience the strongest economy in the world and the successful businesses that will help me to generate new ideas. Secondly, I will be with highly qualified teachers and competitive students that will encourage me to study harder. Thirdly, I will have the chance to improve my English skills. Finally, I am very enthusiastic to deal with people from different cultures.

To conclude, I assure you that if I take this opportunity, I will prove myself a capable and dedicated student. I know that I am highly interested in Accounting as a subject and the potential for success in order to achieve what I want. Finally, I believe that I have the commitment and the determination to complete this program successfully and fulfill my ambitions."

I hope you like it, and that you get the most out of it. Also, you can use these ideas in the future. I am looking forward to  your comments and opinions.

Islamic Relief Through An Intern’s Eyes.

        This article will describe my internship experience at Islamic Relief Worldwide in its Gaza office. First, it will give a brief introduction about the internship and the intern. Then, it will describe the characteristics of IR from the point of view of the intern. Lastly, it will mention the personal gains from the internship for the intern.

Internship Overview

Location: Islamic Relief Worldwide - Gaza office.

Department: Finance Department.

Position: Intern.

Internship type: starting as unpaid intern, then evolved into paid internship.

Period: Feb - May 2013 unpaid; June-Oct 2013 paid internship

Intern Overview

Education: bachelor of accounting – best student 91.5%

Study abroad: exchange student for academic year at State University of New York at Cobleskill, GPA 3.55, Dean’s List.

Experience: Internship, Lancaster Development Inc, New York, USA; Volunteer, Muslim Hands International, Gaza, Palestine.

For more information about the intern you can visit: www.linkedin.com/in/ahmed6/

How I See IR.

I will describe the IR organization from my point of view.

1. Enabling environment for training.

• As an intern, IR gave me an organized schedule for training. Moreover, I almost have all the accommodations, tools and accessories that other employee have in the organization; a nice desk, telephone, email, etc.

• The finance manager gave me the priority over other employees to participate in training and workshops. 

• I have the chance to participate in the weekly social activities; such as IR staff soccer, and I also joined two trips for the IR staff.

2. Vision driven.

The employees work with the IR mission at the forefront of their sight. I asked some employees about the positives of the working environment. They said that when the work get tedious and the numbers didn’t balance, they healed themselves by remembering that this work is for the needy people, orphans and community.

3. Well organized policies and regulations.

You can easily find manuals, guidelines, and policies if you feel lost.

4. Islamic environment.

I experienced the Islamic environment within the strategy and policies in the workplace. For instance, there is a one hour monthly lecture by an external Muslim scholar. Also, it is permitted for the employees to pray in the nearby mosque. The praying will take 15-25 min.

5. Rotational training.

The finance manager planned a training schedule in which I sat and trained with 5 employees out of 7 in the FD. This training included; processing 10 purchase request; reviewing and recording 5 Murabaha and soft loan transaction; 3 days review of the financial transaction; and processing 5 bank transfers.

Personal gains from the internship:

• Relevant practical experience

From my friend’s testimony, who is a trainee at an accounting firm, he says “almost all his time goes into photocopying, typing and, if he is lucky, recording routine invoices". As for my experience, it was a completely different case. On the first day, I was given my job description and training program. Of course, I learned many things that I cannot mention here due to space constrictions.

• Strengthen my communication skills

I had the chance to communicate with different lines of authority and external parties such as auditors, suppliers and partners.

• Widened my professional network

• SWOT analysis

I had the chance to dig deep and discover my skills, education and personality. I discovered that Microsoft Excel skills could ease my work, so I took an advanced Excel training course. The training really met my expectations.

• Paved the road for my new career

My supervisor at Paltel said to me "your description about the procurement and finance cycle in the job interview was well said and detailed enough". Well, I have to say that without my internship at IR, I could not have gone that far in the interview.

      I hope that I presented an inner look about Islamic Relief and how I, as an intern, perceived the organization and what is the expected environment for the coming employees. I am grateful for everyone that helped me to excel during my time in the IR. IR does not only give experience, it also spreads values.

Cheer Up - I Just Did It & You Can Do It Too

Ahmed Saleh

Is it the right time to start? I spend 11 months thinking about whether I should start blogging. Many times, I sat facing the laptop screen, and started writing. Usually, I wrote one or two paragraphs, then clicked ‘save’, only to never complete my entry. Why?! Was it a problem of motivation, knowledge, skill, or time?

Once I start, what do I write about? My career, culture, politics, leadership or even love?

I think it is only a matter of time management. I just needed to write about something I love, something which can benefit my career, benefit others, and is interesting to boot.

Let us think together. The first thing I thought about was where I should build my blog. I thought I could do it on my LinkedIn but I couldn’t. For simplicity and due to its popularity, I chose Google’s Blogger.

Of course, I need a cool and comprehensive name for my blog. Many people tell me, "You have a positive attitude, and you are inspiring to me". The name of the blog, hence, has been inspired from people’s perception about me.

I will write about leadership, workplaces, business in Gaza, and of course my lovely major, Finance & Accounting. In the coming articles, I will write about my internship experience at Islamic Relief Worldwide, how to get an internship, comparisons between the internship experience and academic life of the USA and Palestine.

Yes, I did it. I just took the first step in this thousand-mile journey I have decided to embark on.

Please contact me, should you have any suggestions.