Program Reviews

I was in China for a summer Internship program via CIP Platform. I was placed into a company in Shanghai. Right from the airport, I knew I was in safe hands. I was picked up and dropped in my apartment to settle down. I had a dinner in the downtown with my program coordinator while we break ice and get to know each other well. Anyway my first impression about China is been good too
I took an investment banking position with investment analyst job roles. It makes sense sometimes to pay a whooping sums to go out. My roles bothered around: Analyzing investment themes / strategies, Commercial due diligence of potential investment opportunities, Financial modeling and valuation analysis, Competitive landscaping studies including financial and operational benchmarking.
First of all, my role scared me and while preparing for the interview, I will say, I was not ready for it but with the Interview coaching system that CIP had for me, prepared me for it. You don’t need any serious experience to acquire more – I was told.
I joined 7 other interns with the same organization who were placed by CIP so I had no much pressure dealing with first few days.
I was operating on low budget so I could not travel to other provinces but my weekends were awesome with social activities and meeting other interns.
It was worth it though.

Summer has never been meaningful as my trip to China. Although CIP has been at the center of arranging this trip. I will take credit for personally crafting the components and my program coordinators will recon this. May be I will give credit for the support they rendered and for being there when I needed them.
I arrived in China for the second time after I Studied Abroad in Shanghai in 2013. I was confident I will be back to Shanghai because it was awesome city full of opportunities and vibrancy.
I am a finance student in second year in uni with Wall Street ambitions. I was placed on a 3 month internship with a stock brokerage company headquartered in Qingdao but with an operations office in Shanghai. I assisted with building database by Data mining to help software designers build a module to predict the movement of financial systems around the globe. This is a live project that was not completed before my Internship. I then asked for a month more extension and this was granted as CIP facilitated the process very efficiently.
I like the placement because I learnt so much about Asian financial systems and markets. As usual, the social benefits cannot be left out too. I worked with very talented financial experts and organizations.
My host family was also very supportive, I had dinner with my host family every evening. Those who have been in China will know that Chinese are religious about their dinner times and adhere to it. I always marvel that the entire family will wait me till I am back home and we eat together.
My time has been beautiful in China.

I have had series of summer programs to other destinations and that of CIP is been a different perspective and taste. I usually like to spend my summer creating life long memories and adventure. I love to stress myself up and then get rewarded with good treat and rest.
It was an eye opening venture going to China. I combined Internship, Language Lessons and travelling. I spent 4 months in China. Arriving in Shanghai, I was blown by the reception. Gosh! Chinese are Hospitable!!! You will witness the real Chinese in everyday of life “lao wai” they call it.
I worked with a Management Consultancy firm which helps Chinese companies to restructure, Performance management and Leadership training. My roles was a job shadowing of an Executive Consultant. Mr Wang was appointed my Mentor and Coach throughout the Internship. I appreciate CIP for this arrangement because He is a board director on 3 different consultancy firms in Shanghai including Deloitte and some very popular ones. He has a wide network of social connections. Because of him, I had the opportunity to be invited as a special guest for Asia’s Finance Minister’s meeting. The memories live with me forever. I am now interested in working in Shanghai as an expat. So I will wait to complete University and decide what to do
I noticed that I had no time to travel as much because I got deeply interested in developing my skills rather than just travelling.
Weekends were awesome moments to meet people and have fun. Shanghai has a massive night life facilities with very good places to refresh and relax for the new academic year.
On an average, CIP has lived to my expectation and I can’t expect more than this. There are times that some of the components had delayed, and the right explanations were given. They don’t shy from their responsibilities. CIP 谢谢您们

Its been an issue of what defines you and the innate abilities that you are hungry to let the world know.
As per my university requirements, I am supposed to gain an industrial experience before graduation which I thought was and awesome opportunity as I could travel out of the Europe at least for once. I opted for 12 months program and selected CIP as the sure option.
Reasons I opted for CIP is that I am allowed to have 5 internship offers and supposed to choose one. I was also allowed to speak with the HR managers prior to making my decision. This was the major deciding factor for me as I had to compare programs.
Their information system is very helpful with selecting the right organization, right accommodation and Best city to travel
My Career center liaised with the Program Directors of CIP to make sure every step falls in place.
It was awesome how my entire 12 months was scheduled. Every first Monday of a new month bring smiles as there are surprises awaiting me :)
I spent time working with 2 organizations and travelling for 15 days non-stop.
Experience wise, I am impressed the working atmosphere and people! They are so loving and supportive.
I have been able to expand on my marketing and Management knowledge over the entire period I stayed in China.
MY host family was really awesome and they led my immersion.
My impression about China has changed with a more open minded approach.
I will not like to work in China but it is certainly a destination I will consider for holidays and family trips.
Support, Processes, Program Contents, Immersion and all others have been ok.
I love Sanya to the max!!!
Joanna and Kachi you are awesome coordinators!

The heaviest ambition in mind after deciding to pursue a bachelors in finance was to work in a venture capital organization. And the ideal reason is to learn what goes into getting an organization prepared to source much funds at startup stage. This is consistent with my ambition of setting up multiple organizations internationally.
When it was time for my sandwich Year, I embarked on an internship Placement with CIP Platform in China. I did not think twice at all.
Leaving Manchester for Shanghai, I was full of hope and the expectations were great. As the hours drew near, I was filled with much anxiety. I finally left for China. The greatest experience so far with a properly combined Cultural Immersion and experience enhancement.
I arrived in China and as usual CIP Staff had to play their role. I am not supposed to be too appreciative of their services because I paid them to do this. I will rather discuss the experience.

MY concentration was on the experience and that was my prime concern. The Program Coordinator from CIP introduced me to my host supervisor on a Monday and that begun the process. My first impression was the WOW feeling. The company is located in the heart of Shanghai. The office over looked the “waitan of Shanghai” the bund which anyone who visits Shanghai must see else it is a no go. I virtually had this view anytime I raise my head looking through the fine blue tinctured glasses. The environment is so inspiring and the culture is more multi in nature. I met 7 other interns from CIP who had arrived before me.
I had 2 weeks to study the company and my department as well as roles associated with my office. I was responsible to perform due diligence on possible business investments and acquisitions. I spend my mornings combing through corporate records and archives, financial statements. I am part of the team that probe target organizations and ask questions as well as talk to people at all levels in an organization. Aside working as a group, my supervisor asks me to submit final Reports of corporate evaluations on organizations by performing tasks to formulate an informed decisions. The reports will be my opinion whether businesses show enough potential profitability to warrant investing. I always submit my report even before the group’s recommendations. Though tough, it has been the right approach to shaping my experience.
As usual, Venture capital firms often require a seat on the board of directors of an organization in which they invest and I accompany some of the senior Executives to these board meetings and the insight were awesome. I have been to serious meetings and the mode of conduct and decision making is awesome.
How did this Help Me?
In the first place, my mission was accomplished, and I am sure to lead any organization in the area of venture capital and Business Acceleration. I could start up a business from the scratch as a venture capitalist or know how to woo business investors to my business venture. But the most important is that I have what it takes to start up my own business in China. This is why I am going back to China After 8 months.
One word for China Internship Placements’ Program - Awesome :)

I am just turned 18 and did not know what to do with my life in the future especially regarding my career decisions. I was confused between picking a career of one of my parents. Probably I like the way they are busy as Business Executives and their influences are felt in society. I was at a point in time wanting to be a pilot and another time, nurturing a career which qualifies me as a CEO someday. My mother is a pilot and Daddy is a CEO. At age 15, I was considering something else like a doctor. I was then entirely confused.
My mission in China was for a fulfilling Gap Year which will help me clarify what my passions are by experimenting with various fields of work. So I chose CIP as the Platform on which I will come to China. I noticed CIP is more than an Agency because they have a solid platform with linkages to various players like Government Agencies etc. At least a sign of credibility. I wanted some mentoring and coaching as well as a professional career guidance and advice. So I did what I was supposed to
I was nervous but upon arriving in China, I felt at home. I joined a 13 month gap year program in China. It was comprised of Chinese Language, Internship, Travel and other immersion elements.
Upon arrival, I was allocated to a career expert who took me for dinner and coffee segments once every week to discuss my career aspirations. She was so helpful in psyching me up with the right mentality. As a mother, she was good at asking the right questions to unravel my passion.
I thereafter started with cultural immersion and language classes for 3 months. I took intensive Chinese language lessons, Chinese History classes and Travel itineraries. After 3 months, I could afford basic conversation which I was so much pleased with. This pushed my quest to learn more Chinese.
I started with an internship with Copal Amba; a rating organization belonging to Moody’s Global network. I did a Job shadowing as an assistant to one of the Associate members for 3 months to learn the life of a Business Executive. I then proceed for a 2 months internship with an International Law firm. Here, my roles basically was a paralegal. It was awesome going to meetings where serious cases of Copyright infringements were discussed and possible implications for Internationalization of firms. Getting into China as a business requires so much legal research apart from the Market Entry Strategies. I was then moved to Shanghai for 5 months with Lehman Brown an accounting and Finance firm upon recommendation of my career adviser.
My mission in China led to self-discovery and career fine tuning. I finally settled on Investment Banking and Finance as my future career pursuit and I resolute about this. I was given the opportunity to experiment what I want and it yielded so much results. I paid official visits to engineering companies and also spoke with experts in various fields. I got to know so much about opportunities and possible businesses chances are in china from IT to consultancy etc. From consultancy aspect, there is still so much opportunities for foreign expertise to help local Chinese organizations to maximize their efficiency and grow.
With the kind of satisfaction and value CIP is churning, I have no doubt they are one of the best. I think this is the future of Study and Internship abroad. I noticed the components of my services were not standard but customized which caused some few delays but the output was awesome.
But it was more awesome when my parents paid a surprised visit to me 3 weeks to my departure. It was arranged to surprise me and I indeed was. I will recommend this program to anyone!

I am happy that CIP rescued me from a mission impossible agency which promised heavens. It is mandatory for many young people to gain some experience before venturing the job market but there are several issues that every prospective intern needed to deal with prior to going abroad for an Internship. I made a serious mistake that cost me so much but I am happy CIP stood for me even though I rejected them in the first instance during the preliminary stages.
I selected an Internship Agency which offered me a placement in Shanghai into the area of International Business. They looked big enough and took huge fees but the reality is that they are disorganized than ever. As per the offer, I was supposed to intern with a fortune 500 organization. Upon arrival, I was told the organization rejected me which I think was strange. I gathered patience enough to see what the alternative arrangement will be. After waiting for 4 weeks, I was surprised with a Placement with a start up with 5 staff members who do not even know their reason for forming the organization. I was supposed to assist them develop their international market strategy. They never spoke English hence communication was tough and the rest is history. I asked for a refund and some stories were told to my face.
I contacted CIP again and they were more than willing to help the situation. I just had to maintain my apartment and pay few fees and then I was sorted out with a Placement into Lehman Brown. They are into Accounting, Tax and Management advisory services. My responsibilities were to assist Overseas Operations Department research about Environmental Factors in the US prior to going abroad. This I will say came with much responsibilities and expectations which made me nervous and I confessed to my Placement Director as well as internship Coordinator. But their experiences and advice kept me going. I had a supervisor who was firm on me all the time and made sure I did it right.
After 3 weeks, I was in shape and begun to deliver my best there, I noticed the best was yet to come. My stipend also increased with time as I was working part times and over time duties. The joy and satisfaction came from the fact that my efforts never went unnoticed. I had traveled to Qingdao and Beijing for business trips and dined with the best of Business Executives and CEOs of some giant Chinese companies looking to go abroad.
CIP staff was on point and responded anytime I needed them. They have the logistics to handle much pressure. I was in China when they had about 115 interns in Shanghai and the beauty is that each of them was treated with utmost respect.
For $300, I was allocated to a career expert who taught me the rudiments of launching my carrier online and the art of marketing my skills, blogging and resume construction. This has been so helpful as I am able to write my daily experiences and gained followers who always read my pieces and advise me.
In short, I never knew my sad story could end up with a 360 degree turn around.
I learnt of reviews for CIP this morning and I thought it is a great opportunity to let others know about them. Their services are reasonable and their values are intact.

"CIP provides mentoring and Grooming and it is an awesome experience Go for it"
I decided to Intern Abroad and was sure China is to be my destination. I will share here why I selected China Internship Placements and the hard work I had to do just for this. I first googled the keyword Internship in China which returned so much program providers which CIP never surfaced but after I flipped till 6th page of google. I was confused initially but I sorted out my confusion. For the records, I applied to 8 [eight] Internship programs and painstakingly went through the procedure to know what’s right. I later resort to reviews for validation but I noticed most online reviews of most internship providers were faked!! 100% fake and it was obvious. Even a lame person could get this.
The real deal here is that I had to attend eight interviews  so sad huh! What set CIP apart is that their interview is conducted by their Placement Directors. These directors are in charge of placing applicants into the Internship companies and are Ex-HR personnel. They asked the right questions and test for the right skills, the concentration here is my future goals and aspirations. I did not hear any marketing pitch in the Interview. To me, this is how it should be and not an hour telling speaking about why a program is superior or not.

The rest of the process went alright till arrived in China.
My task was to prepare preliminary Business Asset valuations for Mergers and Acquisitions and as usual, this was not that simple as I thought. The company had its own processes and established standards for going about this. With a week of training and good supervisor, I was able to cross the hurdle. Haven done this for 4 months, I moved onto a different role. After being able to speak some Chinese because I was taking Chinese language classes, I decided to practice professionally by performing a role that made me speak or write Mandarin every day. I was placed in a department that does research by combining and comparing Business Annual reports in order to prepare industry highlights and growth of China’s various business sectors.
The Bulletin was released annually and are to be prepared in English and later translated into Chinese, Korean and Japanese languages. The challenges were real but the team managed to meet all deadlines.
I can read and write very good Chinese language just over 10 months because for 6 months, I was translating and reading materials, combining and extracting figures from sources other than English.
I had gained so much insight into various sectors of Chinese economy especially with history of growth and trajectory of events. To me my arguments and discussions about Chinese economy is now solid. I deeply understand the operations of Chinese stock exchange and how they differ from other countries as well as loopholes in the system.

Overall, the experience was great and the people were awesome. I made a trip to Dalian, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Hebei, Nanjing and Fuzhou. Experiences I will never forget as those moments with other interns were fun. I don’t want to launch my career in China but I think I will be back for Business.

CIP always reminds us that they are not perfect but they always try their utmost best to serve us and I agree to that. Since they did not promise me heaven, I will say they were at their best. Try them if you are looking to Intern or study in China.