Stephen Living the Hard Life in Costa Rica

In comparison to most students who stay at home to do their internships, there is a small team of young foreigners making more daring decisions. Costa Rica Pages catches up with two students who have chosen to make Costa Rica their home away from home, finding trainee jobs in Costa Rica with help from not-for-profit organisation AIESEC (www.aiesec.net). AIESEC is a worldwide student organisation dedicated to the development of young people and promotion of cross-cultural sharing.

Work experience outside of the academic world is now considered an essential part of any resume, an absolute necessity for the top jobs. Moreover, international work experience is what really differentiates young talent. Seen as ‘character building’ and ‘life affirming’, you will be asked to explain yourself if you have not sought out foreign adventure. AIESEC has recently celebrated its 60th anniversary, with a presence in 1100 universities and 105 countries. It has provided more than 4,450 work and volunteer experiences to students from all over the world.

Wanting to join in on the fun, Stephen Wehner , 21 from the United States, is four months through a one year experience. He is an English Instructor for a European pharmaceutical company in San José. Stephen’s internship objective is to better promote “inter-cultural communication”, commenting that his experiences give him the opportunity “to straddle the line between cultures”. Stephen is living very comfortably here, still in awe of having cable television and internet at home! He is able to travel to the beach almost every weekend, thanks to the low cost of regional buses.

Cesár Ramirez, 26 and proudly Colombian, points to professional growth and maturity as his internship highlights. Living in Costa Rica since June 2008, his challenge at multinational Dell has been “to combine strategy, leadership and initiative”. With 1440 employees in the country, Cesár comments: “Dell works hard to ensure that you are more than just a number, assisting in both career-based and personal development. It has been a constant learning experience from day one.” This position has furthered Cesár’s knowledge in marketing, technology and sales.

Stephen goes on to emphasise his good fortune in choosing Costa Rica to pursue his work experience. After coming here on vacation in 2005, he comments: “I recognised Costa Rica to be a country of immense beauty, friendly people and rich culture.” In addition, he considers Costa Rica a great choice with respect to its economic growth over the last few decades. “Businesses in the country have sparked, blossomed, and continued to grow. With this growth, businesses in the area become more and more connected to those of other nations around the world.”

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on November 24th, 2008