Program Reviews

I cannot overstate how much I recommend applying for this internship – I loved every second of mine! I worked for an educational NGO in Beijing, and fulfilled two of my greatest career ambitions: working abroad and working within the charity sector. Getting this experience was invaluable to me, and I hope to continue working abroad in this sector, and hopefully even in Beijing again!

Exploring the endless things Beijing has on offer has also been incredible. Every evening and weekend was filled with visiting a new site, restaurant, museum or bar. Being able to immerse myself in a new culture like this, as someone working in the city, rather than as a quickly visiting tourist, is a once-in-a-life-time-opportunity that I feel so lucky to have experienced.

I had such a fun time in Beijing, if you are into culture then this is definitely the city for you. Everything you get to see comes at a really reasonable cost and theres student discounts on most of the attractions.
My internship for the most part was very nice, I worked in a lovely firm that were really flexible with days off. I did not see much of my supervisors and this was not one of the perks however if we emailed them they were very quick to reply to us.
The projects we were given were fun and our clients are some of the largest corporations in China and the United States which was really cool.
When reviewing CRCC, I think the pre departure although when the information was received was useful, we only received our pre departure pack 3 days before we flew which was not ideal. The team in Beijing are led by a very competent able woman however the team underneath her are not always as organised. I feel as though some of the activities could be put at a better time, and some of the hidden costs were not ideal.
I would recommend the programme to anyone I had a fabulous time however I did not know I would be paying for my own sim and having to pay big electric and water bills when I was told on my scholarship would cover my accommodation. I also think the community and cultural events could be better organised I would have liked to have been told I had to make my own way there and back for some of them.
would recommend though had a great summer.

I had a great time with my host company doing branding. My boss was very personable and did the most he could to help me learn and grow. However, even with a scholarship to supplement a small portion of the program fee, I feel as if paying so much for the program on top of general living and travel expenses was not worth it. The internship was unpaid, and to claim course credit for UT Advertising, you would need to pay an additional 2K, which I felt was not worth it. If you have a ton of money to spare, I would say go for it though!

The program coordinators were very caring and always available in times of need, and the cultural events hosted by CRCC were fun. By staying for 2 months, I felt as if it was just enough time to travel around Japan, and not too long to where you want to go back home.

To be honest, as I am fluent in Mandarin I have not found living in China as challenging as some others perhaps. I really enjoyed my internship, as it was a very relaxed environment and I got along very well with my colleagues. Overall it was a very positive experience for me. I am very surprised and amazed by how well the cashless payment system and everyday convenience in China has developed. In general it has been extremely convenient to live there (given you have a bank account), I did not have to carry around any cash, I only needed my phone. If my phone was running out of battery I could simply borrow a charger from a box with multiple chargers for loan 24/7, same goes for umbrellas, items people usually tend to forget. You can rent bikes everywhere scanning a QR-code on the bike to access them, car hiring is cashless as well, even the smallest business has QR-payment, even very senior people know how to use modern technology. In my opinion, China might not be the country with the most original ideas, but what they are really good at is copying ideas from others and making bigger and better.
It was a truly amazing experience!!

Beijing was very cool and I was placed in a great company with a heavy workload. The apartments were very nice and in a good part of the city, but a little far from the closest subway. CRCC was not very organized and had embarrassing response time to their WeChat contact, and after the first week they basically left us alone. They did not really provide anything for us except for our internship placement, the first introduction week of activities, and a couple of cultural activities along the way that were not very exciting and very early in the morning. Their contact with the internees was very poor and if there was an emergency I would be worried about being able to reach them. CRCC made us take mandatory Mandarin classes which originally sounded fun, but the classrooms were a 45 minute commute from the apartments which is tough after a long day at work. Also the classes only had one level (beginner), so for someone who knows a decent amount of Chinese it was very painful to sit through them for an hour and a half twice a week. Overall, Beijing and my internship was cool but I do not think I would recommend CRCC at the price I paid for it.

My experience on the CRCC Asia china internship was incredible! I learnt so much both professionally and personally. I enjoyed being out of my comfort zone: I was in a completely foreign country, not being able to speak the language or have experience in the professional environment and yet I was able to adapt really well and enjoy my time there. It's a very rewarding feeling.

The staff were also really accommodating. We had organised events which allowed us to really make the most of our time, for example learning wushu, getting weekly Mandarin lessons and attending a Chinese business seminar.

I'd definitely recommend this programme to those who wish not only to build their CV but to challenge themselves personally. It was my first but definitely not my last trip to China!

It was a really fun and unforgettable experience to live and work in Tokyo and it also boosted my resume. It made me more confident about traveling and working internationally. However, there were some things I expected to get from the program for its expensive cost, that I did not get. You do not get to pick the location of your office or housing so most of us had to take transportation to work. CRCC did not tell me or prepare me for how much I would have to spend just to get to and from work, which was about $400. I expected them to cover the cost of commuting since the program is so expensive. The activities provided were also not that great quality, only the Disney trip was good. The networking events are at a super inconvenient time when everyone is tired and hungry after work.

I didn't really know what to expect when coming to Beijing, but despite this, the city was very different from what I imagined. When we first arrived CRCC full on threw us in the deep end by taking us to a restaurant by the hotel and then just leaving us there (with no idea of how to order, how to pay, or how to get back to the accommodation). I feel like this first night could've been planned better).
In regards to sim cards, we were given the option to purchase unlimited data, which many of us did, but we were not told by CRCC that this could not be used until the 1st of the month (three days from when we got the sim card) so we all started using our data, but as a result many people had issues with their sim cards as they had gone over the limit given for those three days, despite us not being told that there was a limit. Also collecting the sim cards was a long process and I think CRCC could find a better way to sort this out as we were sat in the phone shop for over two hours with only 12 of us in need of a sim.
The 798 art district is an amazing place to live, so top marks to CRCC for location of the accommodation there (even though it then is quite far out from the rest of Beijing - at least an hour travel to any of the major tourist attractions). My only issue with CRCC is the amount of free time they take up. Between mandatory mandarin sessions (which were not very helpful, the syllabus was very sporadic and we were not learning things that would help us - there is also only so much you can learn in 3 lessons), mandatory drop in sessions which were at an inconvenient time which took up the whole evening for a five minute chat that could've easily been done over WeChat and the cultural events being on weekends, we found that between working and these CRCC commitments, we struggled to fit everything in to the time that we had in the city (also down to how long it took to get to places from the accommodation).
My internship was okay. My supervisors met me on the first day and that was it. They never checked in with work that I was doing and I, along with my fellow intern were basically helped by a fellow intern who was only 18. The work at the firm was boring and was nothing like what I had descried to CRCC as to what I wanted to do.
Over all my experience in Beijing was amazing down to the friends that I made and the things that I did in my spare time, as opposed to the actual internship.

There is too much to put into words for my two months of Tokyo.
I went as someone who had no formal work experience and had never traveled completely alone before but it has been one of the greatest decisions of my life. Japan is always a country I had wanted to visit and when I applied I never expected to go. In short, meet new people, experience a different culture, work in a chosen industry, explore and most of all, gain new life experiences while meeting new friends.

I loved Tokyo because of its uniqueness unlike anywhere else on the planet. The lights, cars, robots, foods, and culture made it a must for me. It was never somewhere I would have been able to go if it was not for CRCC. Crucially, the work experience is going to help you excel and move forward, specifically in interviews where you can shine most. Not many people can say they have interned abroad in Asia successfully so I hope that I can move forward in my career always being thankful for this experience. Employers will be able to see what you've learned and how you can apply it visually better for them.

My time in Manchester was an incredible experience that I will remember forever. Meeting and networking with new people from all over the world and gaining first hand business experience in my desired field was an invaluable opportunity that will assist me post-graduation in being employment ready. Weekends provided me with an amazing opportunity to travel as Manchester is less than 2 hours away by train to most of the United Kingdom's other major cities like Liverpool, York, Edinburgh and London. Furthermore, the program staff at CRCC Asia where extremely helpful and no problem was ever too much for them to rectify. Additionally, I was fortunate enough to even be offered full-time employment with the business I interned with after graduating in 2020.