About Summer Internships in Mexico

Enhance your learning and develop marketable skills with an eight-week Summer Internship in Mexico. You can start your internship in late May (Session 1) or late June (Session 2), whichever works best for your schedule. You can also combine study with an internship by enrolling in the four-week Summer in Mexico Session 1 followed by the eight-week Summer Internship in Mexico (Session 2) program.

Essential Spanish 
If you’ve never studied Spanish before, you’ll take this introductory seminar taught intensively at the beginning of your summer session to complement the IFSA internship experience. By introducing key words and phrases in the classroom – and venturing out into the city to practice them – this class also provides insights into local customs and daily life in Mérida. (1 U.S. semester credit hour)

International Internship Seminar 
All internships include participation in the International Internship Seminar, which uses a blended learning framework with online and in-person components. Online modules provide structured opportunities to reflect on the practical experience of the internship, learn more about your host country’s business culture, and further develop the professional skills needed for a successful transition from undergraduate coursework into a career or graduate school. Plus, you will engage with an online global cohort of IFSA internship participants, gaining exposure to business cultures around the world. At your IFSA location, you will meet in-person with fellow interns to participate in exclusive field visits, learn from guest speakers about working across cultures, and attend workshops on leveraging your strengths for your future job search at home or abroad. (6 U.S. semester credit hours)

PLACEMENT PROCESS
Once you submit your application, including your resume and an IFSA Internship Intent Form, our experienced advisors will connect with you individually to identify your professional strengths, review your goals, and refine your internship interests. We will also provide internship preparation resources and interviewing tips to further set you up for success.

Our team will match you with meaningful and credible internship opportunities tailored to your interests, strengths, and background. You will interview with your internship match before your placement is confirmed. Keep in mind, final placements are highly dependent on the prior experiences and skills you may have to offer, availability of companies, and the local environment for these positions.

PLACEMENT HIGHLIGHTS
Interns are engaged for 30 or more hours per week with their host organization. All internships are credit-bearing and unpaid opportunities. Interns are jointly supervised by a site supervisor and seminar instructor, and coordinated by IFSA resident staff. 

The following list showcases the variety of potential internship opportunities in Mérida. While some of these internship opportunities may be available for upcoming terms, internship placements do vary from term to term. We will work with you individually to identify a placement that meets your unique personal, academic, and professional goals.

Placements are conducted in English, unless otherwise noted. If you have at least four semesters of Spanish language experience, ask your program advisor about opportunities to conduct your placement and/or complete the seminar in Spanish. 

Organization: Working with one of largest hotel chains in Latin America, you will have an opportunity to think about tourism and what that represents in a country that so heavily relies on it, the type of population this is catered to, and its impact on a fragile economy and ecosystem.
Subject Areas: Hospitality & Tourism, Media/Multimedia Studies, Marketing, Sociology
Potential Projects: You can work on marketing research and analysis, handling social networks, and translation of specific ads and promotional materials.
Language: English, Spanish

Organization: This public hospital specializes in health care for the entire south east of Mexico. You will work with a medical doctor on two projects related to post-COVID-19 social impact and educating the general public on health practices.
Subject Areas: Medical Anthropology, Public/Global Health, 
Potential Projects: You can study post COVID-19 behaviors including the inequities of society; incidents of gender violence as a result; intrafamily violence; racism and discrimination; hunger; increase in crime levels. Or, you may assist in teaching the general population what it means to go to the doctor, working on myths and stereotypes, and developing strategies to provide a health education to the larger community.
Language: Spanish

Organization: This K-12 school has an ambitious English curriculum but struggles to maintain a high level of English language education. Serving a low-income community, challenges include a lack of teacher training and few native English-speaking tutors.    
Subject Areas: Early Childhood Education, Education Studies, Elementary Education, Teaching English as a Second Language
Potential Projects: You can tutor and lead remote English language classes, work with the English coordinator on revising and redeveloping the school’s English curriculum and extra-curricular activities, or work with the school’s English teachers on phonetics, grammar, and general support to better serve their student body.
Language: English, Spanish