Private Sector
SAIS has been successful to date in obtaining a number of useful internship in the communications, banking, and investment sectors, in Bangkok, Jakarta and Singapore. Relevant job experience in the financial sector is extremely helpful, if not essential, for such internships. Since 1997, it has become more difficult to find internships in the private sector in Southeast Asia. When it comes to summer employment, local offices of multinational corporations, tend to give preference to their nationals. Moreover, creating internships on a continuing basis is difficult since the requirements of host organizations can change from year to year. Journalism
For journalism internships, applicants must have had prior journalism experience. Over the past eight years, SAIS has sent journalism interns to The Bangkok Post and The Nation in Bangkok. In Singapore, we have had one internship with The Straits Times. Internships may be available at The Jakarta Post and Tempo magazine in Jakarta. An internship with The Phnom Penh Post in Cambodia is also possible. For students with exceptional journalism background and a useful level of fluency in the Thai or Indonesian language, an internship with the Far Eastern Economic Review may be possible. Nongovernmental and Not-For-Profit Organizations
Internships in this area are frequently devised in cooperation with the SAIS International Development program (or Social Change and Development). In Cambodia, our work has been greatly assisted by The Asia Foundation which has arranged and helped supervise internships with the Cambodian Institute of Human Rights, the Project Against Domestic Violence, the human rights organizations “ADHOC,” the International Human Rights Lawyers Group, the Urban Sector Group, the Women’s Economic and Legal Rights Program. In addition, SAIS has secured internships with Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, and in the development sector with Private Agencies Cooperating Together (PACT) and CARE International. In Vietnam, internships have been organized with several business promotion firms in Ho Chi Minh City, the Ford Motor Company in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh Health Services office, the Vietnam Women’s Union, PACT Vietnam, Counterpart International, CARE International, the East-West Center’s Environmental and Upland Management program, and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC). In Laos, PACT has made available internships in its micro-enterprise program. Other internships in this category have been organized with Catholic Relief Services (Yogyakarta), Bina Swadaya Rural Credit Program (Jakarta), the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (Manila), and the Federation of Burmese Trade Unions (Bangkok). Research
Since 1992, SAIS has established internships with the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Singapore), the Center for Security and International Studies, (Jakarta), and the Institute for Security and International Studies of Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok). Students have usually researched one topic (e.g., Indonesia’s financial crisis, ASEAN and the EU) and written formal papers of publication quality. To apply, students must first submit a comprehensive research proposal. Research internships have also been arranged with the Thailand Development and Research Institute (Bangkok), the Institute of International Relations (Hanoi), the Center for Research and Communication (Manila). State Department and United States-Indonesia Society
Since inception of the Southeast Asia Studies program, students have interned with the US State Department at the American Embassies in Hanoi, Phnom Penh, Vientiane, Bangkok, and Jakarta. The responsibility for application to the State Department rests with the student. Several Southeast Asia Studies program students are normally accepted into the United States-Indonesia Society’s (USINDO) summer study program in Yogyakarta, a unique training opportunity in language and cultural study for students devoted to Indonesia.
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