What position do you hold at Absolute Internship? What has been your career path so far?
Aurelie: I co-founded Absolute Internship in 2009 in Hong Kong and I am currently in charge of operations and program executions across our multiple destinations. I am also overseeing the company's growth in terms of students and team members.
We started Absolute Internship being 2 persons and we are now a 15 persons in 3 different offices and still hiring. Throughout the years I have changed my focus towards the program execution in order to deliver the best service possible and makes Absolute Internship a part of each participant's life.
Did YOU intern abroad?! If so, where and what inspired you to go?
Aurelie: I interned in Shanghai during my last year at university. I wanted to see how it was to work abroad with co workers who have a different culture and approach to work. Since I decided to intern in Shanghai I never came back to France and have been living and working abroad since then.
I have been working in Hong Kong, England, Thailand and Sweden over the past 7 years and something that is always amazing is how much you keep learning everyday from working abroad, dealing with local workers in different countries and also have a multicultural environment in the office. It's priceless!
Which intern abroad destination is most underrated?
Aurelie: Hong Kong is definitely underrated. It is an amazing city with so many opportunities specially in terms of employment. It is not a popular destination for interning abroad because of very strict immigration and labor laws.
Once you understand these laws and build strategic partnerships within different organizations there, you open the door to unimaginable opportunities that students back in the West would dream of. Finance, Non profit, Law, Fashion and Advertising industries offer the best internships I have seen so far. The city itself is great because very affordable (once rent is paid) and easy to adapt to. Hong Kong is definitely my pick!
What language have you always wanted to learn and why?
Aurelie: I always wanted to learn Portuguese and I have now finally started! Being fluent in French and Spanish I do understand Portuguese more or less but I am unable to speak it. Portuguese is one of the most spoken language in the world and speaking it would allow me to speak 4 of the top 10 most spoken languages in the world. Also speaking Portuguese means being able to trade with Brazil which may be inevitable for the next 10 years to come.