An internship with the U.S. Commercial Service in Switzerland is a challenging, exciting, and rewarding opportunity for students. Through the close contact with trade specialists interns gain a valuable insight into international trade and hands-on-experience in various Swiss markets. Flexibility is a key attribute of successful Commercial Service interns because there is a constant variety of projects and multitasking is a daily necessity. To find out what interns have to say about the their experience in Bern please read below.

June-August, 2007

My name is Jennifer and I spent 10 weeks interning with the USFCS at the Embassy in Bern. The summer between completing my undergraduate degree in business administration at the University of Florida and beginning my graduate work at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland was an ideal time for the internship.

The summer that I spent at the Commercial Service gave me an invaluable insight into the commercial relations between the United States and Switzerland, the kinds of problems companies face in the international market place and the role the government plays in international trade. The commercial specialists’ work is very diversified and as an intern I got a good taste of some of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into making international trade possible.

My work at the Commercial Service involved among other things translating articles about specific Swiss industry sectors, identifying agents and importers for American exporters, assisting in market research on the apparel and ICT industries, putting information into the new customer relationship management database, responding to incoming business inquiries from American and Swiss firms and maintaining the CS Switzerland website.

I highly recommend this internship to anyone with a strong interest in international business and trade. It is not only a great opportunity to gain an important look into the role that the US government plays in international trade, but also a great way to experience a multicultural work environment, make constant use of both German and English and to meet experienced people from various areas of the public and private sector.

August-September, 2006

My name is Christiana and I completed an 8-week internship at the Commercial Service in Bern during the summer of 2006. I am enrolled in the Political Science program at the University of Salzburg in Austria.

This internship gave me the opportunity to learn more about the US Foreign Service and the United States’ activities abroad.

Working for the CS was a very interesting and fun experience for me. The people I worked with immediately made me feel like part of the team. I was given the opportunity to conduct market research and write reports, to work with the CS website, and to help organize and attend CS events. During my time in Bern, I learned a lot about the economic relationship between Switzerland and the United States, about world economics, and about the Swiss political system.

Not only did I have a chance to work with the team at the Commercial Service, but I was also able to speak to members of other sections in the embassy, such as the FBI and the Consular Section. This was also very informative.

I profited immensely from this internship and can heartily recommend it to any student interested in world affairs, economics and/or diplomatic service.

June-August, 2004

My name is Michael and I completed my 10-week internship at USFCS in the U.S. Embassy, Bern, Switzerland. I am a fourth-year student at Rutgers University, New Brunswick and my majors are Economics, Information Technology and Informatics, and I am minoring in German Language.

From the first day to the last day I was constantly learning new things about U.S.-Switzerland trade and how USFCS played a role. What really impressed me was how directly the trade specialists were involved with their industries. We were constantly communicating with key industry persons and making exports happen!

The work environment is very conducive to inspiration and allowed me to work effectively. After a few days of getting settled in, I was integrated into the bright USFCS team and was working on projects with them. Working a lot with the template management system (for the website) taught me the management-side of maintaining a website. For example, I made pages including this one you are reading now. Market research consisted of reading many information sources (newspapers, trade magazines, journals, reports, websites in German) daily and making short reports about the Swiss ICT sector. I also attended business meetings with eBay and Orbit-iEX (trade fair executives).

This internship gave me invaluable insight into the U.S. government's role overseas. As an intern, I participated hands-on in promoting the export of American products and services to the Swiss economy.