Intern NZ: All Industries Throughout New Zealand

I have been able to spend the past several weeks in Dunedin, NZ doing a pharmacology research internship at the University of Otago in the Pharmacology and Toxicology Department. Everyone in the program at the school is incredible and willing to take the time to help us learn. They are very patient and more than happy to take any questions. Additionally, everyone has been helpful in giving tips about what areas are the best to explore as well as all the best places to eat, grab a cup of coffee, etc. We have met some incredible people and I LOVE the city of Dunedin. It's so unique and there's actually a lot of must see areas here. My personal favorites have been Tunnel Beach (surprisingly not far from the main city), the Botanic Gardens, and the Town Belt. It's been so much fun wandering around and trying all of the coffee here too. So far my favorite cafes have been The Good Oil, The Governor's Cafe, and Modak's. They all have something slightly different to offer but they're all places I suggest people go if they're in Dunedin. Additionally, there are plenty of fun little shops to pop into to look for souvenirs or just to waste time. The Otago Museum and the Settler's Museum are both good areas to learn some local history and just to learn, in general. On Saturday mornings there's a farmer's market outside of the Train Depot that runs from about 8 am to 12 pm. It has a lot of fun vendors and good food/coffee trucks. I would definitely suggest an extended weekend in Queenstown if possible. It was an amazing little town with lots of great food, beautiful hiking, and a lovely beach along the lake. There are a lot of thrill-seeking activities to participate in there including bungee jumping, sky diving, parasailing, boat rides, luge rides, etc. It's a great outdoor mecca!
As far as helpful tips go, I would for sure bring a GOOD pair of shoes. The city of Dunedin is pretty walkable and there's a lot of neat places to explore if you are happy to walk. There is decent enough public transportation though, if you're more interesting in purchasing the GoCard and getting around via bus. If you're coming during spring or fall, the weather is VERY changeable. I have been here during springtime and it has ranged from beautiful, hot and sunny days to COLD, overcast, rain or even slightly snowy days. Always be ready for rain too. Many times we've gone out in the morning to a blue and sunny sky only to leave the campus and it be raining and windy. Just be prepared. Try to plan to go shopping at one of the local grocery stores (Pak N Save or Countdown are close to where we've been staying and Pak N Save tends to be a little cheaper). Eating out for every meal is not very feasible when you're here for so many weeks and prices tend to be a bit high, however, the exchange rate does work in favor of US money.
As far the impact this program has held on my future endeavors, well, there's a lot. I am nearly done with pharmacy school in the United States and I certainly have plans for what I hope to do there but I have a renewed interest in working in a lab. I used to do cell culture in undergrad and I now wish I could continue to do it after practicing again here. Who knows, maybe I'll end up working on a PhD in Pharmacology in the future ;-).

I really had a good experience with the kind staff and the clear interaction.
They are good at listening actively to make sure that people trust them are on the right path.
I would definitely recommend this to my friends who are looking for an internship.
They got a right company with the skills which I am looking to explore it is all because of their interest to show me the right pathway. Totally Very Good.

I started my internship in April 2018 and it was for three months in a role of an Admin. My experience with Intern NZ was positive and I found the staff very helpful and polite. I am thankful to Intern NZ for guiding me rightly in selecting the suitable field of internship for me. This internship program also helped me to receive a job offer.
I had great fun during the social events organised by Intern NZ where I able to meet interns coming from different countries and I made good friends. Especially the experience of a weekend trip to New Plymouth & the Waikato Glow-worm caves was amazing. After the internship, I am surely missing the social meets and fun time with them.
For the future participants, New Zealand is the most beautiful country and I would highly recommend to all those who are looking forward to an internship should consider Intern NZ for the internship process.

I am currently in my 3rd week of a 10 week internship with this organization. So far I am having a great time! There is a lot of independence with this organization, which is good if you like to form your own experiences abroad and difficult if you are used to structured group programs. I love the nonprofit I am interning with, and I was lucky to be placed in the same housing unit as another intern. One downside is that the organization is not clear on the housing before you arrive, so I was very surprised to find that I was in a dormitory with 50 people, instead of a small, private intern house which is what I had understood it to be. There's a lot of support before you get to New Zealand, but they pretty much leave you alone after that, with a few checkins and social activities about twice a month.

This year was the second time I used the services of Intern NZ, after using their service last year. After great satisfaction last year regarding my internship, was I determent to return to New Zealand again, which was made possible because of the services of Intern NZ. Their service is really good, especially in case of issues. There were issues with my first internship and Intern NZ reacted fast and found me another internship company. I only use their internship and activities service, since I prefer to arrange my housing, but it is great that they offer a service like that. It was great that their service made it possible for me to visit New Zealand and I will definitely return to New Zealand. When you go to New Zealand, be prepared, especially in terms of finance, since New Zealand might me more expensive than your own country of origin. And after you have arrived, or travel with a group or join their trips around New Zealand. Don't forget to inform them regarding your internship time, since my internship time was different than what was registered in their system, so I missed out on some events.

I really get the benefit from this program.
During the time I talked to person who help me finding the place foe my internship program, I was really appreciate and I felt the dedication of the support staff of this program.
I have been practicing in a company in accordance with my requirements. First, I am doing the internship in Hamilton near my house. Second, I am doing the internship with the title and responsible where I wanted to be.
Thank you so much!
Tommy.

InternNZ and Intern OZ gave me the perfect internship I could ask for. They organize events and weekend trips, so you meet other interns from all over the world. That is how I found my travel mate for after my internship. They make sure you have a great time during your internship. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for an internship! New Zealand is famous for the travel possibilities, so you will definitely know that you will not be stuck at work. I choose to start my internship three weeks earlier, so I could travel more afterward. After my internship, I did a road trip around the South Island and it was the best holiday I had so far. When I went back to my university, I noticed that my English improved a lot compared to the students who stayed home, which was a nice surprise.

My intent in posting this review is to share my experience, and keep this from happening to others.

I’ve been apart of a few study abroad programs (including a different internship abroad), and have worked with international education programs in my home country, and I am saddened by the lack of care that Intern NZ shows in their business practices.

From the start, InternNZ wasn’t great to work with, it took them weeks to respond to me, they were never clear in answering my questions (I always had to send several follow ups), and I decided to chalk all this up to differences in work culture, but learned later that this isn’t common.

InternNZ hosts their Auckland interns in Unistay, a hostel. I did not find this out until 3 days before my flight to NZ. Beforehand, when I had agreed to pay for housing through InternNZ I was under the impression that I would be flatting with people, as InternNZ never stated that I’d be staying in a hostel – this is a misunderstanding that you can find in many of the reviews of InternNZ, and they still haven’t clarified this for interns, which speaks volumes.

The cleanliness of the hostel isn’t great. The bathrooms are mixed gender, with one bathroom (located far from most rooms) being for women only. Sharing such an intimate space is something that I could have warmed up to, if Intern NZ had been honest about this. I told an employee of Intern NZ that I didn’t feel safe, but they didn’t offer any real solution. On multiple occasions there was no soap or toilet paper in the bathrooms.

The kitchen is community based, which itself is a fun thing, but the kitchen equipment you’re provided is lacking in quality. A lot of the “amenities” at Unistay are broken (broken toilets, showers, stove burners, etc.) You have to pay for internet, and laundry (this is on top of the extremely high rent).

The room you stay in, if it’s like mine, is very small. This didn’t bother me, but the rent I was paying was almost 100 dollars more a week than the rest of the tenants, who didn’t go through InternNZ. This is in addition to a 400 dollar administration fee paid at the booking. When I tried to contact InternNZ about this, they dodged my questions, but eventually clarified saying that the fee was necessary because they lease the rooms from Unistay. I asked how the fees for housing broke down before arriving, and this was never mentioned.

After much thought, I decided to leave early, and attempted to get a housing refund. In total, they would continue to neglect my calls for almost 3 weeks, I was told on 5 separate occasions that they would call me back at a specific time, but didn’t. They finally called me back and told me that I couldn’t be refunded because I had decided to leave my internship. This goes against InternNZ’s terms and conditions, which I then read to the employee I spoke to. She told me that she’d have to speak to her boss. It took almost a month, but when she contacted me, she told me that Unistay wasn’t accepting cancelations, so I couldn’t be refunded.

After my final decision to leave, I informed InternNZ of my decision, and they didn’t ask why I wanted to leave, or if I was okay. They just wanted to make it clear that I wasn’t getting any money back.

I have been doing my internship abroad for 2 months now and I have loved it so far. InternNZ was very helpful with finding an internship for me, I first wanted to go to Australia and InternNZ found an internship from me even though they are based in New-Zealand. I later decided to not go to Australia anymore but to go to New Zealand. I would recommend everyone to come to Wellington, it is a safe, fun and relaxed city. The intern InternNZ found for me is very nice and fun. They really chose something that I would like as a girl in engineering world.
For future participants: If you want to go abroad plan at least 4 months in advance. I chose to only get an internship 2 months before I got to go and that is a very short time to get everything like visa etc. InternNZ helped me a lot with housing and visa and always answered emails in a day.
The only thing I wouldn't really recommend which isn't InternNZ's fault is the housing that they gave me. I heard that they won't let interns stay there anymore so no future interns have to worry about that.

I made a lot of tasks which where important for event management and helped me to get a feeling how event management works.
You get a lot of help and support from your co worker and boss. With that experience I can decide what job I will do in the future and if that is the right thing for me to do. My favourite thing was when you see the event and how other people react to what you have organized. What you have worked for. And at that time you also know why you did certain things. Also if the people involved in that event have fun you know why you put a lot of work into that.

I really loved being in New Zealand. It was an amazing experience in a very unique country with a unique culture. I loved traveling throughout NZ and experiencing all it has to offer. Although there were definitely some things the program could have improved on, I did enjoy my time here very much. It was amazing to see and do all the wonderful things in New Zealand, and I look forward to when I am able to come back.

A little over a month ago, I up and moved my life from Seattle to Auckland, New Zealand. It was time to move forward with life after college, learn my field, and begin exploring the world. College is the place that fosters the creativity, critical thinking, and understandings in a protected bubble. Traveling is where this bubble lifted into the 'real world' and where these skills are learned and put into action. So there I went, wide-eyed and ready to go, thrown into a new country and new work environment.

I will not fail to admit, that I experienced tremendous culture shock when I first arrived. I missed my own home and the comfort of those around me being only a few minute drive away, not 18hr flight. However, after one night, I decided I can do this new country, new environment, and experience the world like I wanted to. I changed my attitude and now those I live with think of me as the extremely outgoing, 'up for anything American'. I changed my mentality from missing my home friends, to reaching out to new ones. I moved my location from hibernating in my room to socializing in the kitchen and shared spaces. Within a week, I knew more people than others living in the house. I said hi to everyone and yes to every offer for a new adventure.

And let me tell you something, I am so glad that I did. I am only halfway through and every weekend I am off on a new adventure with new international friends exploring this amazing country. So, my biggest advice to anyone moving to a new country for a short time or long one, do not be afraid to mingle and meet new friends. Make an effort to put yourself out there, and it will turn out for you. Tell yourself you can do it, and trust it. I didn't think the culture shock would affect me. I assumed I am only gone for three months, I'm outgoing, and rarely homesick. Whether you think it will affect you or not, take a deep breath, and put yourself out there. Make connections, you never know where these relationships will take you and how they may cross paths with you again in the future.

Very Energetic staff and every time keen to help, The staff always working for the best and productive outcome you get. Its really helpful to freshers to jump in the industry with some good working environment.
I have worked like more than 4 months but i haven't get that feeling that i am new or i don't know anything.
For Best support and work experience, that's the right place to go in country....

Thanks

I'm actually studying hotel management, but I thought it would be interesting see the other side of the business too, and decided to have my internship in a travel agency. This was a good choice and I have learned a lot about the tourism. It also opened my eyes, because I wasn't sure do I really want to work in a hotel and now I know it's definitely my thing!
My experience here have been amazing. People in the office and my accommodation are really nice and take care me. I haven't miss home at all, because people are so open-minded and it's easy to make relationships because everyone else is also away from home. I think I have grown as a person a lot and learned some new things about myself. I have also noticed that I'm much stronger as I thought.
I found InternNz really helpful and they really cared how my internship was going. Thank you for all the support!

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my time in New Zealand, even though it was winter and summer back home. I really appreciated that my supervisors at my internship were interested in teaching me and not just giving me boring and tedious work. Luckily they were pretty chill and understood that I wanted to get out and experience life in New Zealand, so they didn't work me to the bone. Future interns should definitely communicate clearly with their supervisors about their expectations and what their supervisors expect from them in terms of hours, commitment, etc.
This experience abroad has been invaluable, and will definitely look great on my resume. More importantly, it was a great opportunity to grow my professional network and learn first-hand how people in this field operate.
Besides the internship, New Zealand is absolutely gorgeous and I was so glad that I was able to explore it. I will definitely be back in summer! I was based in Auckland and since I'm more of a city girl I felt right at home. However, go a few hours in any direction and you have gorgeous views of New Zealand's natural beauty. I also took a trip to Queenstown, and the snow-capped mountains were breathtaking. Take lots of pictures and write about your experiences as you go, because time flies by.