Staff Spotlight: Rebecca Parslow

Rebecca grew up in the UK and after graduating from university, she moved to New Zealand to work with Intern NZ and Intern OZ. Her work includes handling enquiries, meeting new interns who have arrived in New Zealand and running events for them during their stay.

Since being in New Zealand, I have had the chance to visit the Waitomo Caves on the North Island. It was such an amazing experience to float on a ring through the caves while seeing the glow worms light up the ceiling above us. It was something that was so cool, I can't do it justice with just words! It is also something that I would never be able to do in my home country.

I've been able to see a different work culture by working in a different country. My job itself has involved meeting lots of new people from across the world and introducing them to their new city. It's great to be able to show people all the fun new places they can explore and share the insider knowledge you've gained since you've been living here. I also like to hear about the places everyone else has discovered while they've been travelling around. I'm much more open to new experiences and I feel lucky to have the opportunity to try lots of different things with my company. It's also great to be able to make a difference to someone else's time abroad by giving them great social activities.

The best story I have heard is about a student who enjoyed their experience during their internship in New Zealand so much that they applied for a full time job with the company they worked for. They're now staying for another year because they love the work and the country so much!

Having now worked in New Zealand, I'd love to try one of our Australian internships in Sydney or Melbourne so that I can see just how different it is to work in another country. Sydney and Melbourne are such amazing and busy cities, and the weather is pretty good too. Plus, there are other awesome places in Australia to travel to as well!

Our company is unique because our internships are completely customized to suit the intern's needs. The internships are customized because the intern can choose their start date, how long they want to stay for, where they want to go in the country, and we look for internships with companies that really match the position that the intern is looking for.

I think the biggest factor in being a successful company is how much focus we place on the interns. They are at the center of all the work we do, and we try to help them by finding the perfect placements and giving them a great experience of the country while they are here by connecting them with each other.