What position do you hold at TopEdu? What has been your career path so far?
Jean: I am the General Manager for TopEdu’s Shanghai office. My university major was tourism management, so for my first job I worked in a Crown Plaza 5 star hotel, beginning as a waitress and later promoted to the sales manager, which I did for 2 years. I moved to Beijing afterward and started working in the international education and internship industry as a Business Development Manager. I moved to Shanghai in 2012 to open a regional office and started to arrange the daily cooperation for the whole office.
Did YOU intern abroad?! If so, where and what inspired you to go?
Jean: I started in South Korea for 1 year, instead of an internship, it was more like a part-time job to work in a BBQ restaurant to cover my daily expense. The reason I choose to go to Korea after my graduation is because I had a strong desire to see a foreign country. Korean also was my major language of study during university, and I really wanted to practice my language skills.
What does the future hold for TopEdu - any exciting new programs to share?
Jean: I am really excited about our new project – Summer Work and Travel in the USA. I think all passionate Chinese university students want to see the most developed country in the world – the United States of America. Chinese students have studied English during all throughout their education, and they really want to have an actual environment to practice their English.
Also, Work and Travel gives Chinese students the opportunity to travel to a lot of interesting places in the USA and to get a real feeling about Western thought and Western culture. For many, the Work and Travel program is going to be a great advantage for their future careers.
What about the future of the industry? How do you think intern abroad and international education will change over the next 10 years?
Jean: I think the world getting smaller though all the frequent communication between West and East. The internet is digitally connecting people all over the world. TopEDU is trying to build a bridge let the world young generations come to better understand different cultures and opportunities.
Our goal is to help students open their minds and eyes to improve their future career.That is what we want to do. Over the next 10 years, international education will only continue to expand and populations worldwide will be more multinational as a result.
What is the best story you've heard from a return student?
Jean: Our interns think that TopEDU open a whole world door for them. Behind the door, there are 1.4billion people and billions of opportunities for their professional career. Though this small step, our interns have said they’re views of their world has changed. They feel proud to have completed an internship in China, and we feel proud to bring them here.