What is your favorite travel memory?
First of all, this is an impossible question! I’ve made taking advantage of opportunities to travel abroad a priority in my life, and have been fortunate to have had many chances to do so.
From studying abroad in Prague, to teaching English in Thailand and Myanmar, to backpacking through The Balkans, to visiting China… I’ve collected so many ‘favorite’ memories.
If I had to pick just one... I would say my favorite memory is being in Cape Town, South Africa, during Opening Day of the 2010 World Cup. The city was singing with joy - literally! People from all over the world were singing their national anthems and singing South African songs. The locals were hugging everyone and welcoming them to Cape Town and to South Africa.
Everyone was excited, full of energy, and making friends. It was an unforgettable experience, watching soccer (football) games all day long in such an amazing atmosphere. It was probably the most joyous day of my life, I don’t think I ever stopped smiling!
How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?
Working with CRCC Asia motivates and pushes me to do all I can to create the best quality programs, and provide the highest quality support to program participants. I’ve learned how to advise interns as they navigate living abroad, and how to support them with information, ideas, and a helping hand as they push themselves to explore new cultures and situations.
We at CRCC Asia pride ourselves on the 5 key learning objectives of our programs: employability, sector specific knowledge, host country knowledge, global connections, and cultural agility. I’ve put a lot of thought and training into how to train, guide, and help participants attain and articulate those skills.
What is the best story you've heard from a return student?
One of my favorite parts of working with CRCC Asia is staying connected to alumni and learning how they’ve succeeded. Doing an international internship not only boosts your future career prospects, but also contributes to your success and preparedness in your any future role you take on.
At CRCC Asia, we work with our interns to ensure that their employability goes steps further than the average internship - we train for interviews, practice networking, discuss how to leverage our program experience in an interview, among other things. All of this is reflected in the career success of our alumni.
One of our alumni, Symone Sanders, has gone on to leverage her experience interning with us in Beijing into an inspiring and successful career in politics. The youngest ever press secretary for a presidential candidate, shortly after graduating from university Symone joined Bernie Sanders on the road as press secretary during the 2016 presidential election.
Post election, Symone remains in politics, working on a variety of projects encouraging people to get involved in politics and on key issues, and is a political correspondent on CNN. We’re proud of Symone, and have loved watching her succeed!
If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?
I would go on our Manchester internship program, without a doubt! Many people know the appeal of working in England - it's one of the world’s most dynamic, interesting, welcoming, and important economies and cultures. But not many people know the importance of Manchester, or realize that contrary to what some Londoners may say, it’s without a doubt the coolest city in The UK.
It’s young, it’s hip, it’s affordable, it’s beautiful, it’s historic, it’s the cultural center of football, and the people that live here are unbelievably welcoming and kind. It’s a fantastic place to live, and a unique and truly British experience.
What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?
CRCC Asia is unique because we are not just a business, we are a community of passionate travelers that have all traveled extensively, lived abroad, worked abroad, and have dedicated our professional careers to helping others do what we are most proud of having done ourselves.
We believe in what we do, we love what we do, and we are all able to draw on personal experience when creating programs, when speaking with interns, and when guiding participants through the experience of living and working in another country.
What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?
I think our organization is successful because we do so much more than just connect our participants to an internship.
Our programs are all-encompassing, and include pre-program advising and support; an interactive digital toolkit full of short 2-3 minute videos, educating future interns on myriad topics including host countries and internships; extensive on the ground support and advising; exciting program events that include touring The BBC, learning how Manchester United’s business works while touring Old Trafford stadium, attending a comedy show at Manchester’s best comedy venue, and more.
Our post-program support includes a robust 7000+ strong alumni network, where we work diligently to help our alumni leverage their experience into a future career. We work diligently to ensure all participants leave our programs with improved career prospects, in depth understanding of their host country, an enhanced skill set relevant to the sector they interned in, and have strengthened their connections with professionals all over the world.
