Social Work & Community Development Internships

Our Internship Program Fee and Study Program Fee have been designed to keep the quality of our programs high, yet at the same time ensure we do not include any unnecessary costs or middlemen, which often inflate the fees of other organizations. The Program Fee you pay is used to pay for the expenses associated with your stay in the country, including airport pickup, orientation, accommodation arrangements, and staff support to ensure your time in Vietnam goes as smoothly as possible. ABROADER does not sacrifice the quality of our programs but rather works on a transparent financial system, whereby we can operate at a sustainable level, provided we have a high number of international participants in our programs. When comparing the cost of living in Vietnam to that of some countries in the Asian region, the low tuition fee and accommodation payment are favorable to keeping our Program fee at a competitive rate.

The internship’s primary goal is to gain experience, the compensation is just a stipend rather than a salary. The internship stipend is determined by the host organization’s policy and specific internship programs. If you do an internship for a long period of time, you will have a better chance of getting paid.

Don’t worry, we will tell you more about our legal status. ABROADER, formerly known as Student Exchange Vietnam (SE Vietnam) is a registered Vietnamese company and our incorporation number is 0106516267 with the name of ABROADER (SE is the abbreviation for Student Exchange).

We have also registered and been verified by a number of international education portals, including CISAbroad, GoOverseas and GoAbroad. Currently, we are a member of VCCI (Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry), NAFSA (Association of International Educators, US), Forum on Education Abroad (US), the Institute of International Education’s Generation Study Abroad initiative and have partnered with the International Education Exchange Forum (IEEF) from Japan, Global link from Korea. We are also a partner of a wide range of universities & education organizations in Vietnam, Japan, Singapore, the US, Canada, etc.

You can learn more about us here.

Globalization is here to stay, and students who want to work in our interconnected global world should study abroad. Despite the inevitable increasing global competition for jobs, many students lack the international experience, language capabilities and cross-cultural communication skills necessary to succeed in the global economy. Making going abroad a part of academic career is the most effective and accessible means for students to develop needed skills because it pushes a student to get out of her comfort zone to experience another culture, language, environment and education system. It teaches students to appreciate difference and diversity firsthand, and enables them to recognize — and then dismiss — stereotypes they may have held about people they had never met. Furthermore, learning how to interact with people from other countries and cultures equips future leaders in all sectors to address urgent issues — from curing diseases and finding energy solutions, to fighting terrorism and hunger — shared across borders.

Every situation is different, and visa requirements are dependent on the duration of your stay in Vietnam and also on your nationality. Please contact us for more guidance on your specific case.

Travel insurance is mandatory in order to go abroad on any of the ABROADER programs. While ABROADER does everything it can to ensure your trip to Vietnam goes smoothly and is a fantastic, memorable experience, it is imperative to ensure you have adequate travel insurance should you fall sick, your bags go missing, or something is stolen. However, we do NOT include travel insurance in our fees because it is usually convenient for students to purchase their insurance in their home country. If students want us to purchase insurance for them, we can still provide the service.

Ms. Mo Nguyen– the Director of ABROADER, was invited as the guest speaker at the US embassy to share her experience on how to make the volunteer/internship abroad time in Vietnam successful for international students. Many use cases and real stories were shared with the local hosts. Mo started with the story of a student who got an internship at a well-known multinational company, which was the dream of many students, but finally got dissatisfied with it. What happened to him?

1. Expectation match

The intern expected to have an internship abroad where he could learn and work with local people, in a totally different working environment, not in the same one as his country’s office. However, the host company just needed someone who could understand their “routine”. In this case, the expectation mismatch is exactly what killed the meaningful internship abroad. Therefore, expectation match is very important for both the local host company and the international intern. They should know what they expect from each other in order to understand each other’s values and explore ways to add values to each other.

2. Open and cultural respect

One teacher in a Vietnamese high school was so embarrassed when the international intern pointed out her mistake in front of her students. Being OPEN is very important to both the localhost and the international intern. In Vietnam, people normally tell you your faults privately, not in front of others, especially at school where teachers are the mirror for students and are supposed to be right. It is necessary to talk about the sensitivity of criticizing a person in public, because it may be normal in the intern’s home country, but can be a disaster in the host country. In particular, you must think twice before posting photos or comments on social media, because it can unintentionally hurt some locals or distort the truth that you may not understand well.

3. Single contact

At each localhost, one specific person should be in charge of being the FIRST contact for international interns. It helps a lot to make the interns feel safe and consistent. When there are any changes, it is always that single contact who informs the student timely. For example, if the class is closed today because they need to welcome a special VIP, the international intern would expect a sudden notice in advance before the class starts with a clear reason.

4. Emergency Response

While taking an internship in Vietnam, most students want to take a holiday, or a tour of the country, or the neighboring country. They can travel with other interns or with their family and friends, but remember, the intern’s safety is very important to the localhost. The internship abroad should be both enjoyable and secure. So both the host and the intern must talk openly about the intern’s travel plans. They should make it clear about the journey with time and date, about who the intern will travel with, and the contact information of the person (s) he goes with. The intern should give the host contact to his/her accompanier too. This action helps the local host get updates from the intern even when they cannot contact the intern directly. Or in return, the accompanier can contact the host for the intern in case (s)he cannot be contacted.

So the intern should and should be reminded to bring the First contact’s information with her/him as the “RED CARD.”

Language requirements vary depending on the type of program you are participating in. However, for the most part, students are generally only required to speak English to participate in an ABROADER program. More information on language requirements is provided on the relevant Program page. Students are provided with basic local language lessons during their orientation, and we recommend that students take additional language lessons where available. The more you can speak and converse in the local language, the more you will be able to immerse yourself in the program and local culture. For specific programs, students are not even required to speak English, but instead Japanese or Korean, for example, based on the entry requirements.

At ABROADER, we believe an important aspect of any ABROADER program is the sightseeing and tours that students can do in their free time. Although we believe an ABROADER trip to Vietnam is the most authentic way to experience Vietnam through living and working with locals, we also understand that many of our students wish to visit and experience sites like regular travelers. We encourage you to take time to travel and explore the beauty (and weirdness) of the country.

Follow our Instagram / Tik Tok / Facebook / Youtube to see some photos and videos of our students in Vietnam.

You don’t stand out, but now you dare to stand up and take the chance, right? We appreciate it and would love to help people like you. Requirements vary from program to program, but basically, for many of our programs, the only requirements are fluency in English, a clean criminal background, and a willingness to learn. It is important to note that for the majority of our academic programs, students must be qualified or have training in a relevant field (documentation to be presented to partner organizations or host universities).

Requirements for each program are stated on the Eligibility tab of the Program details section in each program.