AIFS Abroad: Study, Intern, or Study & Intern in Australia

I had such a wonderful experience here in Australia! Being a marine science major and trying to start the next chapter of my life after graduation, I found that my placement was perfect for me. I worked with great people from all areas of the world and got to complete hands on tasks that gave me the experience I needed to decide my future. Not only was the placement a perfect fit, I was able to explore the city and other areas with my time off. Using Global Experiences allowed me to jump right into my work without the hassle of trying to find a place to live. My coordinator, Kiri, helped me with anything that I needed which led me to spending even more time in Australia after my internship was over.

Interning in Sydney was the best experience I've ever had. Global Experiences was extremely helpful in the time leading up to to leaving, during, and after my time abroad. This program allows you to be completely independent, while feeling supported during every step of the process. I felt fully immersed into the Australian culture, making both personal and professional relationships I will always cherish. Global Experiences placed me at an incredible company, which has already opened many doors for my career.

I just recently finished my Fall internship in Australia through Global Experiences (GE), and overall I had a positive experience. I’m not sure if everyone that’s been through a GE program can consider their experience as life-changing, but I’m thankful that my personal experience was in fact life-changing, especially at a key point in my life. For me, I believe my experience was made life-changing because of factors ranging from the pre-departure professional development process and from the company that I interned for, both being provided by GE. I also felt like I needed a break from school. Let’s dive in.

The first thing I’d like to mention is the wonderful staff that GE has; I mostly interacted with Carlie Kidd, Brian Brinkman, Chrissie Friedrichsen, and Kiri Murphy, and I could tell that they helped me not just because it’s their job, but because they wanted to help me gain an amazing experience. They were all well-mannered to say the least, but they were also enthusiastic, responsive, and flexible. I initially signed up for the Shanghai Summer Program 2016, but I ended up wanting to change to the Fall Program, and then I wanted to switch from Shanghai to a different location (ending up in Sydney, AU). I was fortunate that they allowed me to switch so seamlessly.

Next, the pre-departure was pretty unique. While the pre-departure professional development process was filled with stuff that you could technically access and do on your own, it’s one of those things where there’s a slim chance that you would actually choose to do that stuff on your own (let alone, even hear about them) and you’re thankful that you did through GE once you understand and experience how it applies to your professional development. You have the opportunity to bring the valuable things that you learn from this pre-departure professional development process beyond your experience with GE, and you’ll most likely end up taking that opportunity. For your GE internship’s purpose, though, the pre-departure professional development process will make you very well-prepared.

One of my less positive experiences with my experience with GE was in terms of housing, and most of it was influenced by me. Because of my multiple switches mentioned at the end of the second paragraph of this review, I was late in entering the Sydney Fall 2016 program. The housing that was already chosen would only fit 4 guys, and the program had 5 guys including me, and being late to the program, I was chosen and accepted to be housed elsewhere from the people in my program. I ended up living in a single room at a college relatively nearby. Personally, I’m thankful that GE was still able to accommodate housing for me despite entering the program late. The single room allowed me to focus better, and it was definitely comfortable. The problem was that arguably a big part of the program is living with the other people in your program, and I was not able to do that. As someone who was initially hoping to be a more social person by building a relationship with peers inside my program, I was at a loss. The distance between my housing and their housing was far enough that, to me, it wasn’t worth taking the extra time to visit them and try and develop relationships with them. Instead, given my situation, I was comfortable just being by myself in a single room and directing my focus on doing exceptional work for my company. In many ways, but not completely, I was almost doing an individual program and not immersed in a group program. As a reminder to whomever is reading this, though, I did enter the program late, so I actually admired GE’s ability to think of an alternate housing solution for me in a short amount of time, and the housing itself was nice but I missed a lot of the valuable social element of my GE program experience.

So despite having a slight loss in terms of housing, I was able to make the most of my actual internship. I requested a General Business internship from GE, and I eventually interned as a Marketing and Research Intern. Not exactly what I requested and initially wanted. But instead, what I got was something better. One thing that I learned through this internship is that a title is just a title. Sure, Marketing and Research might sound a lot different than Accounting, Finance, Management, etc., but what’s more important than your designated title is what you actually do, and I did exactly what I was truly interested in while working for, and I almost can’t exaggerate this, an amazing group of people. I was able to prove my value in a business setting while working in an above-average work environment, and I really can’t be more thankful for the people I’ve met and worked with and some of the projects I’ve worked on. I’m glad that GE had this connection with the company I interned for, and decided to match me with this company. It was through this company that I took my first steps in a business setting, was able to prove to myself that I can work harder than I originally thought, and reconnected with what I actually want to do in my life.

In terms of the social events that were planned for our GE program, unfortunately I didn’t capitalize on going to every one of them. One of the events that I went to was pretty average, while the other few were good experiences. From my perspective as someone who was housed in a different location than my program members, these social events were the reason why I felt like I wasn’t completely in an individual program, and allowed me to connect to my program members to some extent.

My Tip/Suggestion:
The price of the experience was more on the expensive side, but I really can’t “complain” since I’m sure it takes a lot to give a lot. As someone who took a careful approach to my on-the-ground expenses during my program, I was a bit disheartened by the lack of travelling opportunities that I gave myself. I believe that, to get the most out of GE’s “experience abroad” side of the program, you need to be comfortable with not being frugal with your money while living in your destination or else you’ll miss out on a lot of great opportunities.

Summary of my GE experience:
The GE staff receives recognition from me for their wonderful personalities. The pre-departure coaching was exceptional and I highly recommend this process. My experience on the ground was positive overall; while my housing made it hard to get to know my program members, I was able to get to know most of them to some extent through the planned social events. My internship itself was life-changing through the people I met, the projects I completed, and joy I had going to work for my company every day.

In short, while I can’t comment on how the complete social experience is through GE, I can definitely say that my internship experience was life-changing.

Thank you, Global Experiences, and I hope future participants of your programs can enjoy their internship experience as much as or more than I experienced mine!

I did this internship back in 2009. I know there have been many changes within the last 7 years but even then I still found my Australia internship experience to be hassle-free, well organized, and more improtantly...fun! I enjoyed my work experience, the culture, and new friends I made abroad that I still keep in touch with today. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. It's an amazing opportunity most people only get a short window in their lives to experience. If you are on the fence, do it! I will remember it for the rest of my life.

I had one of the best times of my life. I made some really great friends and I even had the best internship possible. Although I had a tough time living and working with my roommate I did my best to make sure I had a good experience. I think it was a very unfair situation to have to work and live with someone. There is not any space and after a while there isn't anything to talk about. Other than this tough situation I had a great time. My internship was challenging and fun. I learned so much about myself and the entertainment world. It is so exciting to have a motivating boss who has so much experience to offer. I learned so much from him and I also met some great people along the way of my internship. Coming into this internship I quit my job and took a risk hoping that this experience would help me grow and gain a full time job when I do go home. I took a risk and I think it was the best risk I took. I made some amazing friends, I learned so much about myself and I feel even more exciting to see what my future holds. I am actually staying longer in Sydney to better my skills and to work closer along side my boss as I feel that he has been a great motivation in my life. I am very happy about my experience in Sydney. I feel like I am a much happier person and much stronger. I have gained confidence within myself and feel very eager and excited to get into the job world and see what I can offer it. I feel that my time in Sydney was so quick and I can't express how much I enjoyed my time everyday. As nervous as I was to come, and as hard as it was everyday to live and work with someone I am still very happy and proud of myself.

I learned a lot about myself and living in the "real world." I was forced to grow up and act like a responsible adult by having a real 8 hours a day 5 day a week job and living on my own. I learned a lot interning and the experience there was also very worthwhile.

I felt I paid a lot of money to get here and did not really see much of it. While I really did enjoy the social events, none of them actually cost that much and added up to much money so I am just confused to where all my money went.

I was expecting to meet more locals, which is partially my fault for not going out and purposely meeting locals. However, I wish I lived in a local housing arrangement, even a home stay would have been nice. I felt I wasn't as immersed into the culture because all the people I met from our house are international and don't know much about where they are either.

It is all what you make of it. It is your experience for you to make the most of. You have to be will to open up to feed back even if it is not something you want to hear, in the moment you have to be willing to take the feedback make it positive and have it there to help you grow.

Honestly such a great experience being abroad and having an internship in a foreign country. I was in for a surprise with the huge work load I had coming into my internship and not knowing a lot of the things I was doing on a daily basis. My director was able to find what I was good at and develop it through the course if 3 months being here. Although a big work load there was always a sense of positivity in the work place and out from my program coordinator. I made amazing friends and have amazing memories that I will carry on for the rest of my life. Difficulties I have encountered? Not many. One that in coming in really quick that I can't avoid, is FOMO (fear of missing out) but hey, looks like you're doing it right Australia! It is very difficult to put into words all the things i have learned and experienced on this trip, all I can say it that it was absolutely amazing and you need to get out there and experience it for yourself!