Internship or possible once in a life time experience?

I'm currently a 2nd year student studying an Accounting & Finance degree with the opportunity of a placement year - either in industry( placement year) or the option to study abroad across the world through ISEP or a bi-lateral exchange, places such as Tokyo, Dubai, USA, Australia etc... you name it.

However I'm not sure which route to go down, the valuable internship year full of experience to help get my foot on the ladder and to give me a better chance of securing a graduate job once I finish university. Or to study abroad in what could potentially be a once in a lifetime opportunity, for example the option to travel whilst on the study abroad scheme around some of the most amazing places in the world .

As such I have a huge dilemma and really, I am asking how vital is an internship to get a foothold in the industry and how that would weigh up against studying and travelling abroad?

(Certainly one of the hardest decisions I've had to make)

To be honest, they both sound pretty good. To get a graduate job you don't need a whole year's worth of placement - I did 6 weeks in the summer and that was enough to get me in. Most people applying won't have done a year's industry placement, so you wouldn't be any worse off compared to them.

If you did the exchange abroad, that would also be a full year right? I think that sounds pretty amazing! You're right, could be once in a lifetime opportunity - one that a lot of people won't have had.

Personally, if I would pick the year abroad and pick up a summer internship to get the industry experience. I don't know about the costs involved though, perhaps they might be prohibitive?

Hi, I was thinking about doing a summer placement in addition however would that be possible at the end of my year abroad leading into the final year?

I have been told mixed things including that an Internship is beneficial as most of the top firms recruit from those with previous experience within the business. However if that happened to you, maybe it is worth considering. In addition to this the university includes something called WBL which is a 5 week placement in a business for experience- so potential opportunity in a smaller, local accounting firm could arise through this.

My reaction was that! I believe the opportunity will be amazing to study abroad which most people wont have had. Costs aren't that bad as we still get Student Finance as it is considered apart of the university program for studies. However, the year does not actually count to the degree at the end other than 20 additional credits. This basically means it is a year to gain experience in a totally new environment and culture so really it is a straight up choice between;

-Internship/networking/experience in industry
or the Year abroad opportunity.

But like I said I would already have done WBL (Work based Learning) which requires me to work for 5 weeks in a firm- this does count to the course.

Therefore would you suggest the study abroad option with a summer placement the following year rather than an internship?

(Sorry for the long response I'm just trying to gain more opinions as I'm split 50:50 and like I said, I've ever had such a choice before)

When would the year abroad start and finish? You might be able to get a summer internship before or after, but check the dates. Also internship dates can vary by a few weeks as well

I guess you should consider is what job you want after graduating? The roles I got offers from with just a summer internship included two of the Big 4 accounting firms - would that be something you'd be interested in? I ask because that sounds like something you want to do, then not having a whole year's placement wouldn't be a disadvantages relative to most other applicants - especially if you already have 5 weeks placement. The caveat though is I don't know about other jobs in the industry and what the applicants to those are like, I only know my experiences and a bit about those I met on the various assessment and career days.

The only thing I would say is that some people get full time job offers following their placements, but there's no guarantee this will happen and even if it doesn't its not the end of the world.

You said 'the year does not actually count to the degree at the end other than 20 additional credits'
I'm not sure what the implications are - how many credits do you get for doing the year placement? And how many do you need?

Can a lad from Kidderminster finance a trip to such far flung places?