Focus on international internships

Early career development matters!

by Lyra Jakuleviciene, Head of UNDP Lithuania

I led the UNDP’s Office in Lithuania for the last 4 years I was 32 back them. This is the highest UN position that you can get as a national staff. And it all started from an internship, when I was given an opportunity to serve as a first Baltic trainee in the regional UNHCR office in. Having come back to my country, I work for the UN since 1997. The internship gave me not only work and life experience in a foreign country, but also lots of self-confidence.

International career progression in Lithuania is very often left to self-initiative of talented young people and their personal efforts. However, it recently became a national priority to increase Lithuanian representation in international fora. Given Lituania’s EU membership and internationally-oriented economy, time seems ripe to invest in facilitating student internationalization from their early student years, Acknowledging the importance of early career development, Lithuania takes an active role in promoting the change by  increasing international career orientation and job prospects for Lithuanian graduates through the establishment of an internship and visiting profesor programme. This is possible though the establishment of  an international partners’ network.

At UNDP Lithuania we- are well positioned to support national higher education institutions in building connections with international partners like us We do so at different levels:

• scouting for international organizations, companies, states institutions and international NGOs interested in  providing internship and placement opportunities for Lithuanian undergraduate and graduate students,
• assisting academic staff  to gain understanding of needs of international business/intergovernmental organizations through training visits;
• developing partners‘ network building strategies;
• spreading the message and branding.

International internship is not for everyone, but we are here to help talented Lithuanians and host organizations/companies meet each others’ needs. If you are an organization interested in hosting qualified Lithuanian interns, we would love to hear from you.