Asia Internship Program (AIP) Reviews

I have done an internship in South Korea in the field of PR & Marketing as I am so interested in the Asian business, especially in the field of entertainment. South Korea is the city that I can visit many areas easily with the public transportation, hence, the marketing in this country is super fascinating. The company I have an internship with always guide me from the very basic skills to the advance skills I should have if I would like to grow in this career path and it is such a helpful tip! Moreover, I really enjoy the food and the attractions there, I will surely improve myself to be more professional and if I have a chance to work there, I will go for it!

With a very unfortunate situation around the pandemic restriction, I was only able to conduct my internship while being at home. My family and friends were very skeptical about remote internship experience since it was the first time in history when remote internships were approved by universities as equal to face-to-face internships in order to get credits. However, after a first week at the company where I was able to utilize my language skills, it became obvious that remote internship before has nothing to do with remote internships post-pandemic. The majority of full-time employees were also working remotely, hence, I felt comfortable and not like an outsider. Everyone understood the current state and have tried to adapt to it as fast as possible. I am very grateful for the assistance AIP provided me with and most importantly for the placement in the company where I was able to learn a lot even remotely.

Part of my degree, I had to do an internship and I decided to go overseas and use AIP's services to do an internship in Thailand. Best decision I have ever made! Not only did I meet new friends in Thailand, I managed to gain knowledge in the business career industry of Asia, and I got to visit so many different cities and beaches in Thailand that made my stay in Thailand much more worth it and memorable! Will definitely be coming back to Thailand to visit again in the summer! I highly recommend this program to students looking to do an internship aborad!

If I could sum my internship experience in one word it would be "daebak"! In Korea, daebak means awesome! I wasn't initially supposed to go to South Korea. I applied to AIP with the intention of going to Japan. However, due to unforeseeable circumstances, Japan closed their border again so I was unable to apply for a visa. My internship supervisor suggested a change of destination to South Korea and I agreed. Best decision ever! Everything was great and the process was so quick! The company's office was very modern and all the staff were so kind and helpful. My internship supervisor along with AIP community manager were always ready to answer my questions and helped me settle in the country. Overall I'm very satisfied with my experience and would highly recommend it to students looking to complete an internship abroad!

My first destination to do an internship was China. Unfortunately, I was not eligible to go due to the Covid-19 situation and restrictions. However, the AIP team tried to figure out the best countries that matched my lifestyle, hobbies and interests!. They recommended Thailand since it's a bit flexible and luckily I went to Thailand while I took a gap year so I surely decided to do it in Thailand. I don't only receive valuable experiences from the company but also my colleague taught me some Thai language such as สวัสดีครับ and bring me travelled nightlife that was amazing culture! Including fantastic street foods! I swear if I have an opportunity to stay in Thailand, I will not hesitate to move to this amazing country!

Due to the pandemic, I could not go outside of my country because there were too many restrictions and it was super difficult to apply for the visa applicant at that time. I decided to do a remote internship instead and I found out that this internship helped me create the useful skillset that I would have to use in the future! Since I had applied with AIP and got a position offer from the company in Thailand, it was easy to start because it was remote working, so we started right away after the document was done. My supervisor was very professional and he guided me through the process and the given tasks I needed to finish. He also taught me some effective tips for working remotely because in the future he believed that the work type would be more flexible and we would have to work from home more and more. I agreed with him and tried to learn everything as much as I could. I wish I will be able to visit their office in Thailand once I have a chance!

All I can say is, I highly recommend using AIP if you are trying to find an internship in South Korea! Their service was great, they kept on communication with me and updated me with my placement process. They answered any questions or concerns I had.

I was trying to find an internship to be part of my degree and I got placed in a company where I learnt so much! The supervisor was helpful, and I definitely learnt new skills to use for my degree.

South Korea itself was absolutely beautiful! I loved visiting new places and Korean cuisine is my favorite so I was so happy to be able to try authentic Korean food! Because of the experience I had, I will definitely come back to travel to Korea again.

I used AIP to come to Korea. The internship experience was great, but that is definitely not thanks to aip. One of the interns I met used ISA to come to Korea, and not only was it $2,000 cheaper, her accommodation was much nicer and the program manager living in Korea was much more helpful to her. They went out for lunch together multiple times and her package even included free trips by ISA (like visiting the sky tower).

In comparison: my housing was much smaller (again her program was $2,000 cheaper), the manager living in Korea was not of great help to me and her attitude towards Korea was very negative (she said she hated the language here and wish she didn’t understand it). Lastly I had trouble at the airport upon arriving and was actually stuck there for 3 hours because AIP did not give me anyone’s korean contact number. And the check in time to my accommodation was wrong by 4 hours- I had to wait in a cafe alone for almost the whole day because of this. (side note: the manager living in Korea dropped me off at the cafe and left immediately, fully knowing I couldn’t speak any Korean at the time so I didn’t know how to order)

Final thoughts: the internship itself was great and I met a lot of people, but that is not thanks to AIP. If you want a cheaper and better quality program I recommend going to ISA or a different internship program

I have to say that overall I was very disappointed with AIP.
In the beginning, the agency seemed very competent, the registration worked perfectly and my supervisor took a lot of time for me during the consultation and answered all my questions. After I decided to find an internship in Korea through AIP, I transferred the deposit and immediately received notification that they were looking for suitable positions now.
I waited and waited.... and nothing. After asking several times whether there is a problem with my CV I finally got an appointment to talk to a potential company - but this appointment was never confirmed to me and on the day itself I didn't get any notification. The notification came one day later with the message that the interview could not be perceived by the company. I wanted to fly in April and it was the end of February now (I had registered at the end of December) and I still had not had a single interview.
After putting more pressure on my supervisor, I finally had an interview - and this company was great!
After the interview, it was clear to me that I wanted to go there, and luckily the company wanted me as well. So my supervisor and I discussed the process and when I could fly.
But for my documents, which I needed for the visa, I had to write several emails and I wrote directly to my future boss in between because I didn't get any news from AIP.
AIP already seemed very disorganized at this point, which was confirmed during my stay in Korea. When I arrived there, I let them know that I had arrived and was now sitting in my quarantine hotel for the next two weeks... I hoped that I would get some introduction to the Korean work-life or something... but again nothing. I got a reply to my email saying that I shall get back to them if I had any questions. That was the last time I heard anything from AIP while I was in Korea for those three months...
Finally, after my return to Germany, I got a mail asking me to rate them. That is what I am doing now.
In my opinion, AIP makes a thoroughly competent impression with their website and their possibilities throughout Asia. Unfortunately, this has not been confirmed. I perceived the company as very disorganized. You pay a lot of money, so I think more help should be definitely included and expected.
Especially in comparison to other companies, I think AIP performs poorly. A friend of mine came to Korea with Korea GapYear and was supported by them at all times and was even asked several times how she liked the internship and if there were any problems. (so a clear recommendation to Korea GapYear at this point).

I was lucky that my internship place was great and I got along very well with my boss. Therefore, despite the chaos in advance, my time in Korea was a success personally as well as professionally. Unfortunately, AIP had nothing to do with the success except for establishing contact with my internship company.

I was very worried I would not get the chance to go to South Korea and complete my internship because of the pandemic. However, things ended up working out and I didn't miss the opportunity to experience the culture of South Korea and interact with so many different people. I am glad I extended my internship to 2 months. I really got a lot out of it. The company I interned at taught me a lot about the import/export industry and how things are changing because of the pandemic. This internship will definitely benefit me in my future career. Thank you very much!