Even though the other interns I met during the Beyond Program were lovely, the actual program itself was very poorly organised and very much overpriced for what it was. I have separated the issues I encountered both as part of the internship itself and Beyond academy issues below as there aren’t many reviews for Beyond Academy and I think it’s important for aspiring beyond interns to consider before spending that much money.
Beyond Academy:
The pay over time scheme isn’t actually what you’d think as you end up paying 75% if your programme fee a few weeks before you depart.Myself and a few of the other interns only had interviews with companies a a few weeks before we actually flew out.
During the application process you don’t get to pick from a range of companies a new company is only offered if you reject the one presented to you.
You don’t get much CV or interview help, you just get recommended a website (Novoresume) where they give you a template and you fill in your details
Most of the events that were held for the duration of my internship were very repetitive. The ‘welcome’ day for the new interns that arrived every week included 1 paid drink at Hongdae (already covered by the overpriced program fee you pay). So if you were there for 2-3 months chances are you won’t attend all of the events organised by beyond because they’re the same.
Some of the events were actually awful. One of the planned trips was the Hyundai mall, which I know recently has become more of a touristy attraction but as someone who’s internship company was right by it, it didn’t feel like my £5000+ ($6300) was being used efficiently.
If you don’t attend an event you don’t get your budget allocated for that Beyond Academy trip back. For example most of the interns worked regular office hours 9am-6pm (some until 8pm) so could not attend the event, however they couldn’t have their allocated event budget back (which is covered by the initial £5000 you pay them)
For £5000- I would expect the taxi back to the airport covered as well however this wasn’t.
The SIM card they recommended didn’t arrive until the third week and there was not any help on how I could get mine until the 3rd week which meant getting anywhere in Seoul was very difficult.
The two beyond academy leaders we had were lovely and helped us navigate the city and gave us recommendations as well. However when I had issues with my internship, I wasn’t made aware that I could change my internship if I had experienced issues in my first couple weeks until my 4th week- by then I couldn’t switch as many companies understandably wouldn’t want an intern for 4 weeks.
Internship Beyond Academy found for me:
As for my internship, from the second week on I had already finished all of my projects and told my beyond program leaders about this however was not told that finding a different company was an option. So I spent the next 6 weeks sitting by a desk with no work, despite raising this issue with the company I worked at. Someone at Beyond offered to email the company to ask for more work, however I think the issue is Beyond Academy as a company not researching the companies their interns work at properly.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend Beyond Academy for aspiring interns. It was my first time abroad by myself, as most students who are contemplating on doing one of these internships, However I was disappointed at the lack of the support given in the first week to settle in and the overall poor planning of the whole internship. I would recommend either a different company or even better researching your own accommodation and making a list of places you would like to see beforehand because myself and the majority of the other interns did not see where the thousands of pounds/ dollars we were spending were going to.
I believe I could’ve seen more of Korea with the money I gave Beyond Academy if I had organised my finances myself or picked a more reputable and affordable company.
Response from Beyond Academy
Dear Lara,
Thank you for your feedback. We have reached out to you personally to resolve your concerns on the points that you have brought up, and also to share on how we are continuously working on improvements to our program for future cohorts. Separately and for the benefit of other prospective interns who are currently doing their research on internship programs abroad, we would like to be given the chance to share our views as well.
We do indeed offer a standard payment plan and checking back on our records you did pay according to schedule. How it works is first, a 10% deposit is due on program enrollment. Next, 45% is due 1 month after the deposit payment. Finally, 45% is due 1 month after the internship role confirmation. More information on this is available on our website at https://beyondacademy.com/payment-plans/.
Our role-matching process is designed to focus on the strengths and background of each individual candidate. Instead of having interns try out for multiple roles, we take care in understanding what interns are hoping to achieve from this internship experience, then find interns a role and company that we consider most suitable for them. This adds a human element to the role-matching process which we see to be very valuable. Occasionally we may source for multiple roles where we feel necessary, or if the role does not align with the student’s preferences.
By subscribing to our program, we give interns access to a premium version of Novoresume which has many more features than the free version and has received great feedback from many of our interns. The Beyond online portal is also available to interns and it has great material on how to build a CV well. Many students have benefitted from these platforms and our Role Success Team is also there to offer more support if a CV needs more work before the interviews.
As for the organized events, our goal is to help interns build an international network with like-minded people and to take part in local activities. This is one way that we have differentiated our programs to stand out from others, and also the reason why many interns choose us as their partner for an internship abroad. Generally, we organize 2 to 3 outings per week and this can range from movie nights, shopping excursions, visiting a museum and more. While we also involve interns in the outings we plan to ensure there is something for everyone, we understand that everyone may have different preferences. Nevertheless, we highly recommend interns to take part in the outings as much as possible in order to meet and network with other interns who have joined the program on different dates.
With regards to your comment about not getting money back if you can’t attend an event, the only time this would happen are for larger excursions where we need to book in advance and make a full payment upfront. In such cases we do always inform interns that if they agree to go we are unable to accept cancellations after the booking is made, which we believe is a reasonable request. We hope you can understand that our event program is a mix of included excursions and a range of optional events that happen every week.
Telecom providers in South Korea have a rather rigid process for the application of long-term SIM cards. While we could have offered a quick solution with a short-term tourist SIM card, this would have been very costly for you and would not have been able to cover your internship period. The best way currently to do this is to apply for the SIM card in advance prior to departure from your home country. Our Community Team will make it a point to remind interns on this so that the SIM card can be delivered to your accommodation in time for your arrival if the application is done within the recommended time frame.
Regarding our program prices, they are very much in line with industry standards and in fact we are cheaper than most of the other main providers in the industry. The costs we charge not only goes toward running the program on-ground, but also to the various teams working behind the scenes to ensure that we always have someone responsible for you every step of the way from application till your program is complete. We urge prospective interns to look at the cost in its entirety, through the valuable and unique learning experiences we bring to you.
Finally, every internship experience is unique and dependent on several factors, including the seasonality of role availability, the educational background and experience of the candidate and the nature of the role and its tasks to name the least. We do in fact conduct due diligence checks on all companies before we place interns. In the event that the internship does not meet expectations, we are on standby to provide any support needed in finding a solution, whether that is talking with the host company or looking for a new placement under certain circumstances if the program timeline and visa may allow for it.
Beyond Academy is an ethical company and all of our team members work hard in order to make the program possible for each intern. Though we are equally disappointed that the experience fell short of your expectations, we will keep working to improve our programs for the future and hope that you have had many positive takeaways nonetheless. We wish you all the best for the next steps in your education and career!
Yours sincerely,
The Beyond Academy Team