Each fall, FIE students across London and Dublin step into their internship placements - ready to translate classroom learning into meaningful, real-world experience. As our fall 2025 cohort prepares to begin their placements later this month, it’s a timely moment to reflect on how these experiences shape not only academic journeys but also long-term career outcomes.
Insights from the International Internship Conference
At this year’s International Internship Conference (IIC) in Minneapolis, FIE once again joined educators, employers, and thought leaders from around the world to explore the evolving landscape of experiential learning. The 2025 theme, Global Horizons: Navigating the Future of Internships and Technology, brought forward engaging discussions on the intersections of AI, employability, and sustainability.
Sessions on tools like Ludia and CareerSet demonstrated how technology is reshaping internship placement matching and professional feedback processes. Meanwhile, the conference explored the growing need to bridge a disconnect: students are often discouraged from using AI in academia, yet expected to apply it fluently in the workplace. As educators and providers, FIE and our partners play a vital role in closing that gap - ensuring students are prepared for both ethical and effective AI use.
Our colleagues also took inspiration from case studies like UW–Madison and Sage Corps, who showcased the power of tracking alumni via LinkedIn to measure real post-internship career outcomes. These examples offer valuable ideas for how providers like FIE can better understand and showcase the long-term impact of internship experiences.
We were especially proud to see FIE alum Griffydd Byrnes present on the student panel, sharing how his internship in Dublin gave him both confidence and clarity about his future career path. “The work we were doing felt very valuable - we could actually see it being used and helping the company,” he reflected. “That made us feel important to them and showed how much impact interns can really have.” Griff’s story is one of many that illustrate the lasting professional and personal benefits of experiential learning abroad.
Study Abroad as a Career Asset
It’s no coincidence that data consistently supports what FIE alumni like Griff describe.
According to International Experience as a Career Asset: Exploring the Earnings Impact of Education Abroad Participation, students who studied abroad earn on average $4,159 more in their first job after graduation than those who did not. This measurable advantage reflects the confidence, adaptability, and intercultural awareness developed through experiences like FIE’s internship programs.
To hear more directly from FIE students reflecting on the impact of their internships abroad, listen to our recent podcast episode, where past interns “wax lyrical” about real-world learning, professional growth, and discovering their future paths through experiential education.
Listen here: Episode Four – Interning Abroad: Real-World Learning through Experiential Education
Looking Ahead: FIE Students Begin Their Journeys
Later this month, FIE’s current fall interns will begin placements across a diverse range of fields - from marketing and sustainability to education and NGOs - contributing to organizations throughout London and Dublin. Many will also take part in our signature International Internship Course, designed to connect their professional experiences with academic reflection and global citizenship.
As FIE continues to innovate - whether through exploring AI-enhanced placement tools or fostering global dialogue through conferences like IIC - our mission remains the same: to help students build meaningful careers and lives with purpose, across borders.
