Thank you for your interest in an internship with the Commercial Section of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). AIT is a private, non-profit corporation established to carry out relations between the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan. The Commercial Section is charged with the mission of helping U.S. firms export their goods and services to Taiwan. To accomplish this mission, we conduct a number of services on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce and offer a variety of resources and services to assist U.S. companies entering the Taiwan market.

The Commercial Section of AIT has had interns in the past and is interested in having interns in the future. We have been fortunate to have had hard working, responsible and personable interns and believe interns greatly add to our already pleasant work environment. Internship opportunities are available in both our main Taipei office, in the heart of the World Trade Center complex, and our downtown Kaohsiung office.

The purpose of the program is to provide college juniors, seniors, and graduate students of economics, business administration and related fields with “hands-on” experience. Interns must be U.S. citizens and currently enrolled students.

Unfortunately, all internships are unpaid and we cannot assist with either airfare or housing expenses.

The types of work which an intern might undertake are quite varied and may include:

• Following Taiwan's developments in specific market sectors and briefing Commercial Officers on those developments.
• Undertaking research for, and writing, major market opportunity reports, published and maintained by the Department of Commerce.
• Providing assistance to Commercial Officers and Commercial Specialists conducting Department of Commerce services by participating in meetings, conferences, and/or other trade-related activities.
• Drafting and/or editing non-sensitive English language correspondence.
• Conducting business analysis.
• Developing and/or launching new Commercial Section products, including web site design.
• Assisting with trade conferences.

For students studying Chinese, an internship with our office provides significant opportunities to use Chinese. However, interesting work is available for all students regardless of language ability. Each intern will be supervised by a member of the Commercial Section staff, who will be responsible for managing assignments. Interns are required to abide by all office rules and regulations. Each intern will be expected to serve 35 hours a week for an entire academic period (i.e. Summer, Fall, Spring). Applications are accepted by the following deadlines: Summer (April 1), Fall (July 1), Spring (November 1). If you are interested in an internship with us, please provide the following:

1. Cover Letter and Schedule of Availability, including tentative start dates and end dates.
2. Copy of up-to-date Resume
3. Copy of up-to-date Transcript (unofficial or official)
4. Home Address, current e-mail address, telephone number and fax number in U.S.
5. Home Address, telephone number and fax number in Taiwan, to the extent available
6. Current Chinese language skills (speaking, reading and writing)
7. Indicate in which office you would like to intern--Taipei or Kaohsiung

All documents should be sent to the following addresses:
Taipei Internships
Commercial Section Internship Coordinator
American Institute in Taiwan Commercial Section
Suite 3207, 333 Keelung Road Section 1
Taipei 110, Taiwan

Kaohsiung Internships
Commercial Section Internship Coordinator
American Institute in Taiwan – Kaohsuing Branch Office
5F, 2, Chung Cheng 3rd Road
Kaohsiung 800, Taiwan

After an offer has been made applicants will need work with DOC headquarters to complete a background check form (SF85 - e-QIP). Applicants will also need to be fingerprinted to start the investigation process.

Questions should be directed to the Internship Coordinator at either
taipei.office.box@N0SPAM.mail.doc.gov
or
kaohsiung.office.box@mail.doc.gov.