If you've visited us before, you all know that I am a big proponent on doing at least one internship abroad. The wealth of knowledge and cultural understanding that comes from doing an internship abroad cannot be achieved through any other experience. Today I'm writing about internship opportunities with Next Step Connections (NSC).
Next Step Connections is an international organization that offers internships in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing. NSC offers internship opportunities to a wide-range of applicants who have various interests in a number of different industries. Upon completing an interview with Jerome Le Carrou, Director of NSC, along with two previous NSC interns; I am quite impressed with the organization and the experiences they offer. Although Next Step Connections is a fee-based internship program, the program does include internship placement, housing, travel insurance, airport transfers, chinese lessons, and a stipend.
First I'd like to share what Jerome has to say about the organization, "NSC provides professional Internship programs in China for students, graduates and young professionals from all over the world, where they can get a glimpse of the professional world and meet seasoned professionals from various backgrounds...we are currently planning to expand our program to other cities outside China."
Samantha tells us this about her experience with NSC, "My two-month journalism internship was utterly fantastic - no better explanation. I was involved in several high-profile events; proofread articles and wrote a couple of small clips; and my first feature story was published September 1. In addition to strengthening my skills in journalism,
I learned proper business etiquette, which will be beneficial in the future. I also got a glimpse of life in the workplace, the challenge of studying another language, and experience in a very unique culture.."
In an interview with previous NSC intern Felix, he says: "The internship gave me a much broader perspective of global business and how companies conduct business between each other at the international level. From my experience, I feel that the exposure of immersing one's self into a country and exposing one's self to a culture outside their own is a once in a life time experience."
Logan, from Seattle, tells us this, "I would definitely recommend NSC to my friends as it was exactly what I was looking for in terms of gaining experience in an environment I was not accustomed to."
One thing that I was quite impressed with is that Next Step Connections offers students a way to contact students who have previously interned with NSC. By emailing alumni@nextstepconnections.com students can connect with previous interns and get their questions answered.
I always recommend that students speak with several people who have completed internships abroad when selecting a program in order to get an objective opinion on what the experience will actually be like. I do find that many organizations do not make it as easy as NSC to conduct these kinds of inquiries.