Program Reviews

When thinking about my future I felt it's important to have exposure to the real world. In contemporary times, experience in the real world is gaining international exposure and creating great networks. This is something that the CRCC Asia program offers in abundance. A typical day at work involved me contacting CEO's of publicly listed companies to arrange buyout capital. A typical day on the weekend involved partying in Xintiandi in the same clubs as Will.I.Am and with my fellow interns. The social scene in Shanghai is brilliant and there are also plenty of networking opportunities to mix pleasure with business. I would never of had such a good quality experience without CRCC Asia.

I spent two months out in Shanghai, the first month having one on one lessons in Business Mandarin. During this month I also realised that my internship was not actually in an area I wanted to gain experience in. Through personal contacts via the Shanghai staff at CRCC, I was not only able to change my internship but interviewed and won a position in a top Chinese Private Equity Firm- I was the first foreigner to work there and recieved invaluable experience in a real Chinese business environment.

Having already lived in China previously, I know the difficultis involved with finding flats, meeting people and getting to know a city by yourself. Whilst CRCC may seem a little expensive it is deffinately value for money as everything including getting a sim card is organised for you- extremley cushy.

It was a really nice experience! I was very lucky to work in a big agency were I've learned a lot a could make new contacts.

Very sad it was a short period of time.

Life in Shanghai was really easy CRCC helped us with everything i can't complain of anything. Sometimes I forgot that i was living in China cause the city is full of expats and is very modern.

Choosing SH to live was the right decision! I saw some interns living in Beijing and it wasn't my style at all very messy and complicated.

Made good friends and had time to think were i wanted to focus my career.

I worked in the British Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, the executive director said to me it was up to me what I wanted to get involved in so you really have to throw yourself into it and be proactive and get involved in all of their events/projects going on.

I was involved in copy writing for the website for example articles about events, as well as attending and helping to run events and business development.

The office is very small made up mostly of chinese staff who are all nice,and a great way to learn more abotu Chinese culture

I went to lots of events and at first felt a bit out of your comfort zone as business etiquette is very different to ours! lots of job opportunities and networking events where people ram their business cards into your hand and want to see what they can get out of you!

You get out of your internship what you put in so be proactive and engage and everything they do.. lots of post work chamber events which I pretty much went to all of them and got involved in the running of the event

Be approachable and offer help, you'll only get something out of it if you put the effort in.

CRCC was invaluable as a means to enter into China for a working-holiday. I had heard that this was one of the most expensive internship programs one could find, but they do the work of finding your job for you and the companies they place you with are very reputable. CRCC provides exactly what is in their contract with you, no more and no less. I found the living accommodations extremely agreeable, we had a new apartment with new furniture and ample space for 2 other flatmates.

On your first day of work, they take you directly to your office via hired van. Watch out, because they do not provide you with transportation to get home from your first day of work, so you feel as if you've been dropped in some random location in China and you have to become a homing pigeon to find your way home. I would recommend taking a taxi home that first day, it is not worth getting lost.

The staff at CRCC are very helpful and they love their jobs. A lot of their plans are communicated through email format, you must check your email daily to keep up with the ever changing plans. They tend to switch locales of events often, so to stay informed I kept in contact with the fellow interns to keep updated when internet was unreliable.

The Mandarin classes offered use a very quick technique of teaching! If you are attentive and take advantage of every class offered, you will learn enough Mandarin to have short conversations and survive in general in one quick month. Note that the Mandarin classes are held in an office that is "off the beaten trail" from the main streets, and I was slightly nervous walking to and from that location at night alone. It is better to meet up with a friend at the subway platform or a specific subway exit and walk together.

I would recommend this to a friend if he/she:
- has never been to Beijing/China/Asia
- does not know the language
- is travelling alone
- is willing to work hard at their internship, as it is not a vacation
- likes Chinese food
- has done other overseas travelling before

I Loved my experience with CRCC Asia and the city of Beijing. There were many opportunities to supplement your internship with extra edifying cultural experiences i.e. learning the language or visiting rich cultural sites such as the Great Wall of China. CRCC is very accommodating, if you weren’t satisfied with your internship you could be placed with an alternative option. Support from CRCC Asia could have been a little better, when first learning how to access phone usages or similar small activities could have a better experience. Overall, I had a really great time. Met a lot of interesting people and gained a few great friends across the world!

I participated in the program this July-August and had an absolutely wonderful time! I met fantastic people from all around the world, Shanghai is a beautiful city (the people take a bit of getting used to), my internship was awesome, and the CRCC staff are great. They really try to do everything in their power to make your trip worthwhile. I've read some of the comments here and a lot mention its hit or miss on your placement, and I would say that may be true to a degree but a bigger factor is what you make out of it. If you can show initiative, build a relationship with your boss, and show you can do quality work you will truly get a lot more from the internship than those that just sit at their desk and wait to be given work. The job is what you make it and I know many that loved their jobs and made great connections, I still email with my boss all the time. But by far the best part of the internship is interacting and exploring Shanghai with the other interns. An experience I will never forget!

An internship in China... who would have ever thought about it?? But WE thought & WE got it, WE went, WE worked & WE learnt, WE lived the CULTURE of CHINA.

Being an International Business Management Student, China was the best choice for an internship as China is the fastest growing economy in the world. It is a learning curve for all business students as it relates to the transition of international trade to global trade and serving the entire world as one supermarket, where China is considered the major outsourcing hub.

How to deal with situations where you know no one, nor can you speak in the local language? Shanghai presented us with such situation every day since people rarely speak or understand English and we didn’t Shanghainese or Mandarin either. So the solution was to learn basic Mandarin…..CRCC Asia provided us with the schooling facility where you can learn basic Mandarin and now we can rely on our Mandarin communication if we happen to visit CHINA again.

2 months in China, spent in meeting new people, friends, colleagues, learning business etiquette and Chinese culture and climbing the GREAT WALL of CHINA...…..time just flew…. CRCC Asia made it a visit worth with their excellent hospitality, celebrity accommodation and of course round the clock support for any single thing you ever thought about. CRCC Asia has the best people employed who look after all your needs and they are just a phone call away.

I miss orientation, welcome and leaving drinks parties, banquet, charity events and business seminars.

What a fantastic experience we had!

It was truly an eye opening experience. I have learned a lot about Chinese customs and culture in general, just by visiting many various sites across Beijing. Every day was a new adventure and I enjoyed every second of it. As far as internship itself, although people at my office were friendly, there was not much to do, other than sending e-mails and researching few things all day long. It all depends on who you intern for, but other than that it was an awesome internship.

I took this program during the peak summer seasons with a lot of other people. Even so, people's experiences seemed to fall into 2 firm camps. Some people found their internships fantastic; they loved their companies, had worthwhile work to do and they made fantastic connections. Others had a terrible experience that was a waste of time for everyone involved. Examples of the horror stories I heard: Whole days spent sitting emptily at a desk, bosses seemingly devoid of a heart and who couldn't care less about you, telemarketing for 2 months in English to a population that virtually only speak Chinese.

But I still think this program is worth it because of two things. If you have never been to China, spending 2 months in either Beijing or Shanghai will deepen your understanding of this country and really, really widen your global perspective. Two, if you don't like your internship placement, request a change, immediately! The CRCC support staff are wonderful and personable, and they work really hard to accommodate requests and listen to what exactly it is what you want. Without them my summer could have gone a whole lot worse, and many of the folks who started out with awful internships also took this step and found their second placement much, much better.