Program Reviews

My experience with Meiji was amazing! The team did a wonderful job getting to know me and my expectations and came up with a plan for my dream internship. My placement was quite spot on! I learnt everything I had set my mind to: Local culture, basic language skills and a solid set of hard skills in Journalism. My colleagues truly became family and it will be incredibly hard to leave them behind.
From experience, I can tell you that it is crucial to do as much research as possible on your host company before going with them. Make sure you know who you’re working for! Another insider tip: Go for start-ups! While big companies might looking hot on your CV, everything you’re gonna do there will be copying & printing (so I have heard) and won’t benefit you skill-wise. Go for smaller companies as you will have maaaany opportunities to take on new projects, try different tasks and implement your own ideas.
Last but not least: Taiwan is a beautiful country with is much history, culture and wonderful people. There is so much to see, do, explore, discover. Taiwan might seem overwhelming at first glance, but really, it isn’t. There is unspoilt nature and everything anyone could wish for. Embrace it!

Hi fellow traveler, uni-credit-seeker or just hi person reading this!
I know you have bucketloads of questions, so let’s jump right in.

Who are you?
Hi again! I am Sammy, 21 years old. Cali born and raised. Your typical Business major. Hoping to escape my daily life of procrastination, Netflix and student loans, I hopped on a plane to Vietnam to get a slice of that “hands-on work experience“ everyone at home kept bragging about.

Why Vietnam?
Good question, buddy! Vietnam’s cool! I would love to start telling you a story of how my grandpa always told me the most fascinating stories of his time in Vietnam, how he hiked the biggest mountain there and how I would love to follow his last wish and see his favorite country for myself. But my grandpa never left the US. So when I looked for a place to intern in, I just googled different destinations. And Vietnam had some pretty solid Google Images. Loved all the green.

What did you do there?
If my future employer asked: I gained valuable skills, both professionally and personally, learned to adapt to a foreign environment and got hands-on experience in my field of interest.
To all others: I had a hell of a good time! My internship in Hospitality & Tourism was exactly what a couch potato like me needed: It made me go out, explore and work harder than I ever did for uni. And I loved every minute of it. I worked in a hostel among super chill people and learned to mix my own drinks, helped tourists to find their way around town or planned activities. I was also in charge of their marketing. And to produce good marketing content I had to, you guessed it, TRAVEL!

Going toward graduating, I knew that having a unique and impressive internship on my resume would help set me apart from my fellows.

Good internships are crazy difficult to find without having any business connections. So I went with Meiji because they have those connections that I myself was lacking. My goal was to have an internship that would give me work experience and fancying up my resume. My roots are in Vietnam, but I have only been there twice to visit relatives.

That’s why I chose to intern in Hanoi to experience my country of origin from a new perspective while gaining actual hands-on work experience. In that regard, Meiji surpassed my expectations. They worked hard to match me with the ideal company in the best location! Great job!

I did a design internship in Shanghai this year because Chinese designs always struck me as outstanding. There is something about the colours and patterns they use that is just extraordinary and does not compare to the style I am used to from back home.

I worked in a company close to the port. There were approx. 20 full-time employees and one other intern. It was great to have someone who’s going through the same stuff on-site. Since the other girl worked in Business Development, we never competed. Instead, we would go out for lunch together or meet up on the weekends. But don’t worry, you will also make friends if you are not placed in a company alongside another intern. I met so many people during my first week in Shanghai and many more as time went by.

I am incredibly excited to return home and implement all the inspiration I have gained from working on Chinese design into my own work for uni. My internship definitely helped me develop my own distinctive style!

Through my time in South Korea with Meiji Internships, I was able to get a lot out of my time abroad! The incredibly dedicated and phenomenal staff helped me to find an internship that my university awarded credit for! While my classmates interned with companies in our uni city, I went on a fun adventure to South Korea! I really immersed myself in Korean culture. Outside of work, I usually hang out with other interns or international students who I met through Meiji’s activities or facebook groups. Meiji provides you with so many information and cultural excursions that you can go on, language assistance and the best career advice I have ever gotten. My apartment was very close to my job, putting me at the very heart of the city with loads of public transportation and shopping opportunities at my doorstep! I would highly recommend this program. Interning abroad really sets you apart from all your competitors in the job market.

This internship was my take at breaking out of my comfort zone and trying something completely new. I honestly pushed myself to explore things I had never tried before and worked as hard as I possibly could. It absolutely paid off! I had the time of my life interning with a Design company near Orchard Road. I felt confident embarking on my adventure because I knew that Meiji would have my back if I would fall. That motivated me to just go for it and try living in Singapore, a country with a language and culture that is very different from my own. I felt more and more like a local as time went by. By the end of my 3 months stay in Singapore, I felt like part of me was Singaporean now and I will never forget the things life in Singapore has taught me. It has become my home away from home.

¡Hola! My PR and marketing internship was with an international company in Taipei. Here, I learned a lot about work in big companies and how to adapt to a new work environment in a foreign country. Believe me, it is a challenge to live in a culture that is foreign to your own. Costa Rica is also a small country like Taiwan but still, you can hardly compare the two. The food, climate, nature, people, language, past-times, daily life, work mentality, working hours, parties, supermarkets…. all very different. Through my internship, I learned to love both!!! It was a fantastic opportunity and awesome for my future career as I plan to start my own PR company after graduating. For that, I have made new skills, important business connections and talked a lot to people who have already succeeded in the industry I want to get into. I was glad to have chosen the business package because like this I met many inspirational people at networking events who taught me a lot.

My overall experience interning in HK went above and beyond what I had expected when I applied back in 2018. With the help of Meiji Internships, I had a great and smooth start into living in Hong Kong. Coming from a rather small town in Holland, I might have underestimated Hong Kong’s enormity a bit. It is HUGE and there is SO MUCH going on. It is an awesome place to explore, try new food, just go crazy! Since Hong Kong is in such a central location in Asia, I could cheaply travel to Singapore and Japan! I checked so many boxes on my life goal list, some I didn’t even know I had on there hahah!
And to get back to Business: My internship with a local HR company was just what I was looking for. Not too big, not too small, with plenty of space for skill development. I learnt a lot and it will sure look great on my CV! If you are looking to get the best of it all - working hard, traveling harder - Meiji and Hong Kong is where it is at!

After applying for internships in Japan through Meiji Internships I was able to gain teaching experience in Fukuoka. My work was usually from 2-10 pm, where I advanced from a teaching assistant to running my own classes. My students were a pleasure to teach and I formed many good friendships with them that I hope to stay in touch with. My accomodation was simple but perfectly adequate and only a 25 minute walk to work. The area around my flat was excellent, as it included everything I could need: restaurants, shops, a subway, and sightseeing. On the weekends and I was able to explore Kyushu and experience so much that Japan had to offer. My major recommendation is Beppu, a city with amazingly coloured hot springs. I also loved trying Japanese food, especially foods that I had never heard of such as motsunabe (of course ramen and sushi were as delicious as you would expect). I highly recommend going to Japan as it is unlike any other country and an experience you will never forget.

When I first dived into the adventure of looking for an internship, I was hoping to find something where I can improve my Mandarin and Business skills. I massively struggled with finding an internship in a mandarin-speaking country by myself, although my skills are quite strong. That’s why I chose to go with Meiji Internships. They allowed me to test the waters in Taiwan and smoothly sail through my internship voyage!

Growth: What a philosophical question. Well, I would say that I have definitely learnt a lot during my internship and while traveling Taiwan. So 10/10, I guess?
Support: Solid 10/10! Definitely! Meiji Internships was great from start to finish and beyond. Right from the first contact through Skype, I felt like I had placed my internship quest in the right hands. I could ask them anything and could count on them to look after me as I stepped out of the plane in Taipei.
Fun: I rated this one 9/10. Meiji did a good job here, I just didn’t partake in many activities they offered, so I am not really fit to rate them. Most of the time, I just met up with people I had met at work or in my gym.
Housing: I stayed in an apartment 20 mins away from my company. It was clean, rather small and had all the necessary amenities. 9/10.
Safety: I was always as careful as one should be traveling alone as a girl (skip shady bars, don’t talk to weird strangers…) So I never encountered any situations where I would have felt unsafe.
Overall: One of my favourite experiences ever. 10/10.