*Abrakadabra JOB!*

Many people have questions about working abroad during their study abroad experience. Is it possible to work without a working visa? How does one get in touch with the right contacts? How well do I have to speak the language? How does one get paid, once a job is actually acquired?

These are all great questions. Perhaps the answer lies in internships. Many study abroad programs provide services to help students find and pursue internships. While studying abroad, be sure to get in touch with your the abroad office. I know they will be more than willing to help. Unfortunately, these internships will most likely be unpaid, but they are still a great experience to have and put on your resume. Additionally, doing an internship at a larger organization or company gives you the opportunity to improve on your language skills while still working in an environment where English is most likely used.

In all of NYU's abroad sites there are many opportunities for one to acquire an internship in any field you are interested in. For instance, I am going to Shanghai next semester. I plan to talk to the internship liaison at the abroad office so that I can receive help in acquiring an internship at a company that bases in Shanghai. My Gallatin concentration looks at both economics and politics. I am excited to try to find an internship at a Chinese company which will give me the opportunity to learn about how private companies can function and work within a government that has partial ownership of their assets. I think it will be a very informative experience.

If you are planning on going abroad definitely get in touch with the Wasserman Center before you leave. They are a great resource that could put you in touch with the right people at your study abroad site.

In the past century personality tests have emerged as a way of determining which individuals are best suited for particular jobs or leadership roles in jobs, based primarily on their personality. The first modern personality test was the Woodworth Personal data sheet, which was first used in 1919. It was designed to help the United States Army screen out recruits who might be susceptible to shell shock. The Thematic Apperception Test was commissioned by the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) in the 1930s to identify personalities that might be susceptible to being turned by enemy intelligence.

Employers have begun using personality tests to determine whether potential employees have the skills necessary for a job opening. For example, there are a variety of tests that focus on a person's ability to succeed in sales. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a personality test often used in the workforce and elsewhere today. It is a 16-type indicator based on Carl Jung's Psychological Types, developed during World War II by Isabel Myers and Katherine Briggs. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The test is made up of 16 types of personalities, divided into four dichotomies: Extraversion/ Introversion (attitudes), Sensing/Intuition (functions), Thinking/Feeling (functions), Judging/Perceiving (lifestyle). The Myers-Briggs test is available for all NYU students at the Wasserman Center for Career Development, which is where I took it last fall and discovered I was a ESFP.

While the Myers-Briggs assessment does not tell you exactly what career path would be best for you, I found that it helped me figure out what sort of roles in a particular job or work setting that I would assume. For example, being an "E" or extraversion told me that I would be best in a public setting interacting with a lot of people. I highly recommend taking this test, whether you're trying to figure out what you want to do with your life or are simply curious what acronym category you fall into !!