The Virginia Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) at George Mason University is offering paid internships for upperclassmen, graduate students, and recent graduates of all academic disciplines.
Working in teams and independently (with mentorship from faculty), you will conduct customized research to help Virginia-based small businesses expand internationally. Researchers prepare a report and presentation that provides actionable market intelligence, enabling company decision-makers to develop and implement international strategies. Research often includes insights on competitors, market size and structure, overviews of government resources, and descriptions and comparisons of regulatory barriers. Successful projects improve the export potential and profitability of companies, growing our economy and creating jobs in Virginia.
Previous projects include research for small and medium enterprises in sectors ranging from cyber security, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), craft beer, engineering and architectural firms, environmental services, healthcare, and more. You will have the chance to assist innovative firms solving problems that you never knew existed!
Most or all work will be done remotely and on your own time with the exception of a weekly Zoom meeting on Friday mornings and client meetings that are scheduled as needed. Prompt electronic communication – both email and text – is expected.
Benefits of the internship include:
- Experience in client-based consulting work with both group and individual components, applying knowledge from studies into real-world scenarios facing companies.
- Flexible work hours outside of a standing 10:00 a.m. Zoom call every Friday.
- Opportunity to acquire and deploy knowledge of international markets and trade concerns, especially analysis of economic trends and regulations.
- Exposure to the field of economic development careers at the local, state, and national level.
- Participation in trainings on international trade skills in alignment with the Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP) certification training. Training hours are compensated as work hours.
Intern duties include:
- Work directly with the International Business Development team and client companies to develop a scope of work for the project.
- Work independently and as a team to assemble industry and market intelligence and research to produce an interim report and, following consultation with the client, a final research report.
- Synthesize findings into a presentation format to be delivered to the client.
- Other duties as assigned on an ongoing basis dependent upon performance and availability may include small scale discrete research projects, design of marketing materials, participation in business council meetings and networking events, and more. This is an exciting field of work and the opportunity to meet and grow your professional network is one of our aims for student researchers.
Qualifications:
- Must be in the second year of undergraduate studies or more advanced.
- Availability to work 5-15 hours a week, depending upon the cycle of the engagement, to complete each project.
- Strong written and verbal skills, interest in international issues, intellectual curiosity, critical thinking skills, and research experience. If you do not enjoy writing and analysis, this is not the position for you.
- Professional demeanor. Understand and maintain client confidentiality.
- Demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively, without supervision, to meet all required deadlines.
- Prompt and ongoing electronic communication skills.
- Students are allowed to have other internships/fellowships. Candidates should communicate extracurricular and curricular obligations to the hiring manager during their interview. This is a high priority position. Candidates should have full confidence in their ability to commit to the workload.
Compensation: Students will be paid $15-$20 per hour based on level of education, experience, and quality of writing. Students will submit bi-weekly timesheets.
To Apply: Interested students should apply via Handshake.