South Korea Internship with Meiji Internships

DISORGANIZED - I had to hound Meiji for important information that could have forced me to terminate my internship had the issues not been addressed in time. I felt alone during the preparation process and throughout the entirety of my internship once I got to Korea, as I only ever heard from Meiji if I reached out in an emergency. I was nearly forced to cancel my trip altogether due to Covid complications, which Meiji left me to navigate alone despite already having the information I needed at the time.

MISLEADING PROMISES - I arrived at my housing accommodation and found that Meiji had basically dropped me off at a dump. The place was still under construction, and I was the first and only resident. Dirt, workers, and construction fumes everywhere. Ear-splitting noise from the drilling outside my door every morning. Waste fumes coming from the bathroom. A sewer fly infestation moving from the drains to my bedroom. There was hardly room enough to live and it wasn’t fully furnished like I was promised it would be. The place wouldn’t have been acceptable for a standard accommodation, let alone the “superior accommodation” that I had paid for with Meiji's business package. Even then I had to fight them for four days before they finally agreed to move me, at which point my health was already compromised.

POOR FOLLOW-THROUGH - Also included in my package were language courses, sightseeing trips and networking events, and I only received information on these WEEKS into my internship after reminding Meiji multiple times that I was waiting on them. The “networking events” were a few web links to interest groups completely unrelated to my field of work, most of which either required payment or were not meeting within my period of stay. I understand events were difficult to find during the pandemic, but Meiji should have warned me of this before I payed for the service.

NO WORK MENTORSHIP - The internship itself was an okay experience and my boss took good care of me. However, I was not learning from a creative professional who could teach me how to finesse my abilities, but rather getting projects thrown at me and trying to figure out on my own how to give the company what they were looking for. I did get some work experience to put on my resume, however, and I am thankful for that.

UNSAFE - I must also mention that in the three months I was there I was put in danger multiple times. Perhaps I was a rare case and Meiji had no means of protecting me, but my aloneness as a woman and lack of a support system in Korea put me at risk. By the halfway point of my internship I was afraid to leave my apartment.

FALSE HOPE FOR YOUR CAREER - Meiji claims that their business package is meant for those who intend to pursue a career in Asia upon graduation and want the best experience possible to “free yourself of any stress.” I returned home with no hope of finding a job in Asia, and those three months had my stress and anxiety at the highest they’ve been in a long time. South Korea itself is amazing and I do believe the experience of working an internship abroad is worth it, but if I were to do it again I would not go with Meiji Internships. This was an enormous time and financial commitment, and I felt that the amount I paid far exceeded the quality of service that I received.

I spent my first 4 months of the year in Seoul, a place that's as dreamy as the internet makes it seem. This company was an important tool to achieve this dream, they were quick to find me a company that would accept me even with my limited experience and that was willing to spend tons of time giving feedback each time my work didn't match their standards (I worked mostly on video editing and photo retouching). Don't be afraid to apply to any program even if you feel like your CV is empty, most likely they will make it work, for which I'm very grateful.

Honestly, what an experience. Now that it's over I'm extremely sad and suffering some post-trip depression, but I would not change a thing. Meiji Internships really did they're best to make my trip easy, they were very methodical with each of the steps and and helped me redo my CV to get host companies to get an interest in me and eventually (faster than you'd think) I had a successful interview with a very respectable company. I worked seamlessly with them for a few months, I did my part and they did theirs, no problems whatsoever and I learned more than I could've wished for. Not to mention my CV looks pretty decent nowadays.

I remember reading Meiji Internship's reviews on go overseas back in like 2019 when I first thought about doing an internship abroad, crazy to see how much the world and my life have changed since then, I was clueless. After some of the toughest times of my rather-short life, I am sooo glad I got behind a couple semesters in uni, otherwise I would have ended doing a boring internship back at home or an online one (those are actually cool from what I read here). In any case, I wanted the realest of experiences and tbh I think my internship ended up being better that what it would have been had I taken it back in 2020. My Korean got better and even though you don't really need it in Seoul, it was a nice extra that made me feel closer to the culture and proved a bit handy at work. So do learn the basics at least if you plan on going.
I just got back home and the people at Meiji reached out to me asking for an honest opinion, and how could I say no to them? They facilitated the internship and the trip of my dreams, and made it seamless. They only thing I had to do was work hard to get that experience on my CV and enjoy my free time in the place everyone wants to be nowadays. Their programs are good and iirc they offer different packages, so you can choose what you need.

After finishing my internship in Seoul there's only one biiig downside: now I don't know if I want to visit Japan next or if I should just go back to South Korea. You know, being there for months has been the best experience of my entire life, and I even got to feel like a local by the end of my stay. However, I did wish I spent more time traveling (which I couldn't do as much because I was supposed to be working obviously). I mainly did small weekend trips and those were incredible but if you're planning to do your internship there and you have the budget, i'd recommend adding at least 2 extra weeks dedicated to just traveling. Oh and Meiji was great of course, the fact that I don't need to mention anything in particular is a sign of how easy everything was with them: getting info, the payments, interviews, etc. was all nice and simple.

The only thing you need to know about Meiji Internships is that they are a legit company. If you are a skeptical person and don't know anyone that's ever needed to do an internship abroad, then we're the same and you're probably wondering whether you can trust these type of services you can find online. I took the risk for you guys and luckily yes they are more than real and the people there are responsive and friendly as they can be. All in all it's a good service and they deliver as promised. In my case, I had 3 interviews because one of the fields I applied to was a bit tricky and my skillset didn't quite match what companies expected (therefore they couldn't teach me the skills I was looking for) but then I went for a bit of a different field and it was easy to get into a company and ended up learning more than I initially expected. Props to Meiji for the patience and perseverance in my case.

In short 3 months in Seoul were NOT ENOUGH! My internship experience was simply amazing! From the start to the finish Meiji did a great job on assisting me throughout this adventure. Initially I was worried that I might not be accepted into their program as it is unfortunately exclusive, meaning their screening process and the initial consultation video call I had with them first time seems to decide who they accept and who not. However I quickly learned that this process is essential in maintaining the high quality of their internship program and also ensuring that the applicant's expectations are met. My internship consultant was super friendly and we had a very intense talk about my interests, motivations behind applying for this program and also my motivations.
The biggest advice I can give is make a good impression, show that you are interested in going to Asia and also prepare your resume properly (I missed out on the last one myself haha).
Once the process was sorted out and the deposit paid they matched me with an amazing digital marketing company in Seoul. As I was one of their first interns, we both were a bit excited and nervous how it would turn out. It's understated to say Korea was a culture shock, if not a colorful and super neon light shining culture bomb that I tried to fully immerse in! From the bustling night markets, 24/7 parties, drinking, BBQ, Karaoke and all the other fun things. Koreans and Korea treated me really well!
From my internship the workload steadily increased but my host company made sure to always help me out if I didn't understand something. I was involved in two big advertisement projects for Korean fashion companies and also helped out with designing an online advertising campaign.
All in all a great experience and I would do it all over again and again and again... kkkkk
Khamsamnida Meiji^o^

Long story short: Meiji Internships made it super simple for me to get to South Korea and now I kind of just wish my mandatory internship for university had to be longer. Personally, I was ready to not get too picky when settling for a company, the fact that I was going to end up in a Korean company was good enough for me, but turns out Meiji Internships connected me to an amazing host company.
When I got there the first day, I was assigned a supervisor who would give me tasks both on a daily and weekly basis and who would also teach me how to use different software and give me useful feedback. The offices were clean and modern, and my schedule allowed me to work without getting burnt out, as well as having more than enough time at the end of the day to go out and explore Seoul (and yes, it is as amazing as you’d imagine).