Internship at the Swedish Embassy in Paris

Freja Wehrling woke up in her dorm room, bought a pain au chocolat from the best bakery along the way, and had her morning coffee with colleagues in the political and economic section at the Swedish embassy.

In the final semester of the master's program, one can either take courses or do an internship in Sweden or abroad. Freja Wehrling is interested in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all the activities within foreign administration.

"And I love French and have studied the language alongside a large part of my university studies. A language opens up a new world, a culture, and a perspective. I applied for many internships related to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I am very happy that I ended up in Paris."

"The internship is a formative experience."

Freja explains that part of the internship is getting to know interesting people; another part is gaining an understanding of how bilateral cooperation and the politics itself work.

"Everyone working here is smart and exciting. They are ambitious, knowledgeable, passionate about international relations, and very quick to absorb information. So, it feels like I'm here to observe, listen, and soak in their knowledge and life experience."

"I get to see the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and how many balls they keep in the air at the same time—from promoting trade to EU issues and direct bilateral relations. The operation is much larger than I imagine, and the image of what diplomats do is nuanced and broadened."

"Environmental scanning, writing, and meetings"

Traditional environmental scanning is a big part of the job, according to Freja. It's knowledge-intensive with a lot of writing involved.

"I learn a lot. I write summaries for my supervisor about what's happening in French politics, and I keep about thirty tabs open on my computer, following sources like Le Monde, Le Figaro, and Politico. Of course, I also keep an eye on things like X and French radio. Besides that, I also get to delve deeper into specific aspects of French society in longer texts."

And you attend external meetings. Tell us about that!

"Yes, I attend briefings and conferences and write summaries from there. Writing is fun, but it's especially exciting to go out and see the external relations. I was recently at a briefing at the French Ministry of Agriculture before an EU agriculture meeting, and at an energy briefing at the Belgian residence about how France views energy consumption and green energy solutions."

"And I've been to a major two-day defense conference organized by Academ (Académie de défense de l'École militaire), which is the French equivalent of the National Defence College, with seminars on the situation in Ukraine, personnel supply for the armed forces, and NATO cooperation."

Access to some 'closed rooms

It's particularly exciting when she gets the opportunity to participate in smaller meetings with French counterparts, thus seeing what the embassy does in a room that is otherwise closed.

"Just hearing the other diplomats' analyses of what is happening... They think long-term and broadly – and everything needs to be interpreted. Things mean not just what is said. Something Macron says or does is also about positioning relative to political opponents in France and to several other countries."

Freja thinks you should take the chance to do your internship abroad if you're interested in working internationally.

"You gain insight into the work and the context, learn a lot, and gain experiences and new perspectives. And besides that, there's the fact that it's really fun. Just having a super cool city like Paris as your hometown... Being among all the beautiful buildings, friendly people, and cozy bistros is among the best things I know."

More about doing a semester abroad

Master's program in political science - Politics, security, and crisis