AIFS Abroad: Intern Abroad in Australia

I just recently finished my Fall internship in Australia through Global Experiences (GE), and overall I had a positive experience. I’m not sure if everyone that’s been through a GE program can consider their experience as life-changing, but I’m thankful that my personal experience was in fact life-changing, especially at a key point in my life. For me, I believe my experience was made life-changing because of factors ranging from the pre-departure professional development process and from the company that I interned for, both being provided by GE. I also felt like I needed a break from school. Let’s dive in.

The first thing I’d like to mention is the wonderful staff that GE has; I mostly interacted with Carlie Kidd, Brian Brinkman, Chrissie Friedrichsen, and Kiri Murphy, and I could tell that they helped me not just because it’s their job, but because they wanted to help me gain an amazing experience. They were all well-mannered to say the least, but they were also enthusiastic, responsive, and flexible. I initially signed up for the Shanghai Summer Program 2016, but I ended up wanting to change to the Fall Program, and then I wanted to switch from Shanghai to a different location (ending up in Sydney, AU). I was fortunate that they allowed me to switch so seamlessly.

Next, the pre-departure was pretty unique. While the pre-departure professional development process was filled with stuff that you could technically access and do on your own, it’s one of those things where there’s a slim chance that you would actually choose to do that stuff on your own (let alone, even hear about them) and you’re thankful that you did through GE once you understand and experience how it applies to your professional development. You have the opportunity to bring the valuable things that you learn from this pre-departure professional development process beyond your experience with GE, and you’ll most likely end up taking that opportunity. For your GE internship’s purpose, though, the pre-departure professional development process will make you very well-prepared.

One of my less positive experiences with my experience with GE was in terms of housing, and most of it was influenced by me. Because of my multiple switches mentioned at the end of the second paragraph of this review, I was late in entering the Sydney Fall 2016 program. The housing that was already chosen would only fit 4 guys, and the program had 5 guys including me, and being late to the program, I was chosen and accepted to be housed elsewhere from the people in my program. I ended up living in a single room at a college relatively nearby. Personally, I’m thankful that GE was still able to accommodate housing for me despite entering the program late. The single room allowed me to focus better, and it was definitely comfortable. The problem was that arguably a big part of the program is living with the other people in your program, and I was not able to do that. As someone who was initially hoping to be a more social person by building a relationship with peers inside my program, I was at a loss. The distance between my housing and their housing was far enough that, to me, it wasn’t worth taking the extra time to visit them and try and develop relationships with them. Instead, given my situation, I was comfortable just being by myself in a single room and directing my focus on doing exceptional work for my company. In many ways, but not completely, I was almost doing an individual program and not immersed in a group program. As a reminder to whomever is reading this, though, I did enter the program late, so I actually admired GE’s ability to think of an alternate housing solution for me in a short amount of time, and the housing itself was nice but I missed a lot of the valuable social element of my GE program experience.

So despite having a slight loss in terms of housing, I was able to make the most of my actual internship. I requested a General Business internship from GE, and I eventually interned as a Marketing and Research Intern. Not exactly what I requested and initially wanted. But instead, what I got was something better. One thing that I learned through this internship is that a title is just a title. Sure, Marketing and Research might sound a lot different than Accounting, Finance, Management, etc., but what’s more important than your designated title is what you actually do, and I did exactly what I was truly interested in while working for, and I almost can’t exaggerate this, an amazing group of people. I was able to prove my value in a business setting while working in an above-average work environment, and I really can’t be more thankful for the people I’ve met and worked with and some of the projects I’ve worked on. I’m glad that GE had this connection with the company I interned for, and decided to match me with this company. It was through this company that I took my first steps in a business setting, was able to prove to myself that I can work harder than I originally thought, and reconnected with what I actually want to do in my life.

In terms of the social events that were planned for our GE program, unfortunately I didn’t capitalize on going to every one of them. One of the events that I went to was pretty average, while the other few were good experiences. From my perspective as someone who was housed in a different location than my program members, these social events were the reason why I felt like I wasn’t completely in an individual program, and allowed me to connect to my program members to some extent.

My Tip/Suggestion:
The price of the experience was more on the expensive side, but I really can’t “complain” since I’m sure it takes a lot to give a lot. As someone who took a careful approach to my on-the-ground expenses during my program, I was a bit disheartened by the lack of travelling opportunities that I gave myself. I believe that, to get the most out of GE’s “experience abroad” side of the program, you need to be comfortable with not being frugal with your money while living in your destination or else you’ll miss out on a lot of great opportunities.

Summary of my GE experience:
The GE staff receives recognition from me for their wonderful personalities. The pre-departure coaching was exceptional and I highly recommend this process. My experience on the ground was positive overall; while my housing made it hard to get to know my program members, I was able to get to know most of them to some extent through the planned social events. My internship itself was life-changing through the people I met, the projects I completed, and joy I had going to work for my company every day.

In short, while I can’t comment on how the complete social experience is through GE, I can definitely say that my internship experience was life-changing.

Thank you, Global Experiences, and I hope future participants of your programs can enjoy their internship experience as much as or more than I experienced mine!

I did this internship back in 2009. I know there have been many changes within the last 7 years but even then I still found my Australia internship experience to be hassle-free, well organized, and more improtantly...fun! I enjoyed my work experience, the culture, and new friends I made abroad that I still keep in touch with today. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. It's an amazing opportunity most people only get a short window in their lives to experience. If you are on the fence, do it! I will remember it for the rest of my life.

I had one of the best times of my life. I made some really great friends and I even had the best internship possible. Although I had a tough time living and working with my roommate I did my best to make sure I had a good experience. I think it was a very unfair situation to have to work and live with someone. There is not any space and after a while there isn't anything to talk about. Other than this tough situation I had a great time. My internship was challenging and fun. I learned so much about myself and the entertainment world. It is so exciting to have a motivating boss who has so much experience to offer. I learned so much from him and I also met some great people along the way of my internship. Coming into this internship I quit my job and took a risk hoping that this experience would help me grow and gain a full time job when I do go home. I took a risk and I think it was the best risk I took. I made some amazing friends, I learned so much about myself and I feel even more exciting to see what my future holds. I am actually staying longer in Sydney to better my skills and to work closer along side my boss as I feel that he has been a great motivation in my life. I am very happy about my experience in Sydney. I feel like I am a much happier person and much stronger. I have gained confidence within myself and feel very eager and excited to get into the job world and see what I can offer it. I feel that my time in Sydney was so quick and I can't express how much I enjoyed my time everyday. As nervous as I was to come, and as hard as it was everyday to live and work with someone I am still very happy and proud of myself.

I learned a lot about myself and living in the "real world." I was forced to grow up and act like a responsible adult by having a real 8 hours a day 5 day a week job and living on my own. I learned a lot interning and the experience there was also very worthwhile.

I felt I paid a lot of money to get here and did not really see much of it. While I really did enjoy the social events, none of them actually cost that much and added up to much money so I am just confused to where all my money went.

I was expecting to meet more locals, which is partially my fault for not going out and purposely meeting locals. However, I wish I lived in a local housing arrangement, even a home stay would have been nice. I felt I wasn't as immersed into the culture because all the people I met from our house are international and don't know much about where they are either.

It is all what you make of it. It is your experience for you to make the most of. You have to be will to open up to feed back even if it is not something you want to hear, in the moment you have to be willing to take the feedback make it positive and have it there to help you grow.

My two months as an intern in Sydney can be summarized as a great experience. The company I was placed with had great people that were interested in giving me as much work and provided me with as many learning opportunities as possible. In this, I thank Global Experience for placing me with this company. Of course, what follows are downsides that I felt throughout my overall wonderful experience. Each point is presented in order of relevance/importance:

1. Although I understand that our initial living accommodation was supposed to be a great or better place, 2013 Summer interns (myself included) were placed in Jack's place due to renovations being made in the initial lodgings. The living experience there was all in all, close to horrible. In the first week, the electric outlets didn't work and the internet had problems. For the entire two months of stay, one of the window of one of the Girl's shower rooms had a window lodged/stuck open. This was an issue because not one girl showered in this room because the window's direction is faced parallel to the window of one of the resident's room. In other words, using 2/3 shower rooms meant a morning rush where a floor predominantly filled with girls fought to use the two shower rooms (Of course, I and a few others showered at night). I also vividly recall of how messy 'we' as 'a group' were via neglected dishwashing, accumulating garbage, friday night indoor parties that left the public space in utter chaos. Not all of us (myself included) were involved in circulating mess but it doesn't help the fact that the majority was like this and therefore resulted in an unhealthy relationship with our landlord/supervisor and location coordinator. I feel conflicted between the shabby conditions of Jack's Place (as compared to how much we pay) and unhygienic or careless habits of many of my co-residents. I can't really point fingers but this greatly impacted my indoor lifestyle. Maybe I (we-Summer 2013 interns) were just unlucky with our residential placement but I sincerely hope that future interns did not get placed into Jack's Place or an alternative, similar accommodation. An important note: Jack's Place is situated in King's Cross--a party and 'red light district' hub--not such an appealing location. I know I had a location coordinator who had my back (which I thank for), but with the local station smacked in the center of the red light district area, everything seemed creepy and unsafe as soon as daylight descends. Even my company felt sorry that I had to live in Kings Cross for two months (note: I have zero affinity for the party scene).

2. Due to no.1, I couldn't help but feel that we were paying way too much for this experience. Furthermore, Sydney is indubitably an expensive city and this emphasizes the total money that was spent in one's Global Experience journey. There was a fellow GE intern who had his university or company sponsor the internship (so all accommodations were covered) and just having a fellow intern having a free ticket (which is amazing for him!) made me feel like I could have opted for an alternate, less pricey, internship path in Sydney. This makes me truly feel like it is wise choice to first choose a country, research companies (you wish to intern in), review visa application process, find a suitable lodging , plan places where you, yourself want to go to and then weigh the total cost of it--I feel like doing all this labor is much more cost-efficient (and worth every penny for me) than paying so much to get an experience you might not be too happy with in the end. This point pretty much summarizes why I do not recommend GE to others. This sentiment is better phrased as critically research and weigh your options first and then jump in the awesome experience that is Global Experience :)

3. This is minor but being new to Global Experience back then, I became paranoid when I did not receive updates on how things were going for my Sydney internship. Furthermore, my GE advisor changed twice which made me feel uneasy. All of this dissolved when I landed in Australia :)

I may seem overly critical and negative but I want to stress that I really did enjoy the company GE introduced me to--it was a wonderful memory filled with lessons and I thank them very much for it.

In Sydney we had a great experience. This was a tremendous growing opportunity both professionally and interpersonally as we were immersed in an environment with a multitude of different cultures. The internship was great to get hands on working experience but the program was more enjoyable because of the other interns I was able to share the summer with and also bonding with Australian colleagues at work.

I will never forgot my summer in Sydney! It was amazing. Global experiences did an amazing job finding the perfect internship for me. The accommodations were perfect and the group trips were great. I had the best time of my life that summer and that is why I teamed up with Global Experiences for a second time for an internship in Dublin. I recommend Global Experiences to everyone!