Intern in Shanghai with Absolute Internship

Absolute Internship gave me an incredible opportunity this summer. For the first time, I was able to visit China and complete an eight week internship abroad in Shanghai. It was an incredible time where I was able to put past skills to use, all while gaining new ones. Additionally, Absolute had structured a great program with a strong balance of planned activities and free weekends to explore the city on one's own. Absolute hosted several day trips and two weekend trips, all with chaperones and busses that drove us to our locations. They planned activities for us, got our train tickets, and essentially made sure all we had to do was show up. It was amazing not to have to worry about details all while getting to see new places. One thing I absolutely loved was the housing Absolute chose to put my program in - we were in an apartment with our own rooms. Being able to come home to an empty room after a long day at work was incredible. I don't know if I would have been able to finish the program as happy as I did if I had to share a room the entire time, knowing I would've been incredibly burnt-out the entire time. It definitely wasn't the 'best' part of the internship, but it made it much better.

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After studying Mandarin for ten years, moving to Shanghai felt like turning years of learning into real life. Suddenly, the language I had studied in classrooms became the language I used every day: to work, connect with people and truly experience China from within. My internship challenged me professionally, while living on the other side of the world pushed me to become more independent, adaptable and confident. Knowing Mandarin helped me overcome cultural barriers and made every interaction more meaningful, from the workplace to everyday life and travelling across China. I went to Shanghai looking for international experience in one of the countries I love most, but I came back with something much bigger: the feeling that ten years of studying had finally found their purpose. China was no longer something I had learned about—it became a part of my story. Choosing just one photo to represent this experience almost feels impossible—two months in China gave me far too many places, people and memories worth capturing in a single frame.

After studying Mandarin for ten years, moving to Shanghai felt like turning years of learning into real life. Suddenly, the language I had studied in classrooms became the language I used every day: to work, connect with people and truly experience China from within. My internship challenged me professionally, while living on the other side of the world pushed me to become more independent, adaptable and confident. Knowing Mandarin helped me overcome cultural barriers and made every interaction more meaningful, from the workplace to everyday life and travelling across China. I went to Shanghai looking for international experience in one of the countries I love most, but I came back with something much bigger: the feeling that ten years of studying had finally found their purpose. China was no longer something I had learned about—it became a part of my story. Choosing just one photo to represent this experience almost feels impossible—two months in China gave me far too many places, people and memories worth capturing in a single frame.

After studying Mandarin for ten years, moving to Shanghai felt like turning years of learning into real life. Suddenly, the language I had studied in classrooms became the language I used every day: to work, connect with people and truly experience China from within. My internship challenged me professionally, while living on the other side of the world pushed me to become more independent, adaptable and confident. Knowing Mandarin helped me overcome cultural barriers and made every interaction more meaningful, from the workplace to everyday life and travelling across China. I went to Shanghai looking for international experience in one of the countries I love most, but I came back with something much bigger: the feeling that ten years of studying had finally found their purpose. China was no longer something I had learned about—it became a part of my story. Choosing just one photo to represent this experience almost feels impossible—two months in China gave me far too many places, people and memories worth capturing in a single frame.

During my summer internship in Shanghai with Absolute Internship, I had the opportunity to work at Knudsen & CRC, a consulting firm helping international brands grow in the Chinese market. My main project focused on launching a cruelty-free cosmetics campaign, where I designed a 24-question consumer survey, conducted 88 street interviews, and analyzed insights to guide our strategy. I also collaborated on cross-cultural projects, such as Halal certification research and market behavior analysis on Douyin and Little Red Book. This experience not only strengthened my ability to work in a fast-paced, multicultural environment but also gave me real-world exposure to market research, campaign strategy, and client presentation development. Living and working in Shanghai pushed me outside my comfort zone, taught me how to adapt quickly, and allowed me to build meaningful professional and cultural connections.

I had a great time in Shanghai and learned a lot from my internship. Thanks for helping me find an internship to gain working experiences. My housing in Shanghai was very good. But I would wish to go to my priority city - Hong Kong for internship. But since the visa didn’t work out well, Shanghai was good too.

It was an amazing experience that make me realize what I want to do in the future. I’ve met the greatest people here. I wish I had more time to explore Shanghai or at least finish work a bit earlier, but overall- one of the best decision I’ve ever made.

Overall, I met quite a lot of people during my internship here, and I know the relationship will carry forward. I have learned a lot about the culture here and loved the trips that Absolute organized. It is a great experience!

The service can always improve, but I had a really incredible experience; between an interesting firm in which I had a good amount of professional advice and advancement, to some really nice absolute colleagues and fun trips. The brand of Absolute tribe is really nicely developed and program coordinators are really available to follow you and give any type of advice.

I loved all of my coworkers and am very happy I was able to work with them and get to know them. Our absolute team was amazing and the social coordinator was the best. We had so much fun, and Shanghai is a wonderful city!

Handling visa issues prior to arrival was rough...and came back to cause trouble later in the trip. Original placement company turned out to be terrible fit, but Absolute did a great job finding a new placement. New placement was great- met incredible people, did interesting and relevant work, and had great working environment. Because of visa issues (Chinese embassy gave me two 30-day visas instead of one 60-day visa) I had to leave China for a week and stay in Hong Kong. Great experience, and Absolute took care of everything. However, Absolute had also told me that there would not be any further issues with the visa, but when I was at Shanghai airport to leave for Hong Kong, I was briefly detained by Chinese security for a "visa overstay." My name is now in Chinese legal system, not happy about that at all. Overall, still managed to learn a lot.

With the bursary and support received at the University of Birmingham, I was given the opportunity to intern at a boutique law firm in Shanghai through Absolute Internship. This experience was beneficial both personally and professionally; exposing me to a new culture and refining my approach to the working world. Professionally, the internship enabled me to stand out from the crowd, especially when it came to obtaining a graduate role at an international organisation such as Ernst & Young.

As the only history and anthropology student (who loves Chinese history and is taking the language), I can appreciate the history and beauty of China more than any of the other students in my group. I am going to miss Shanghai and the coworkers that I befriended at my internship. In fact, I already have in mind to come back and either work for the place I interned or go through their program (they hire people to go to China to teach).

I’ve learned alot while living in Shanghai, and have experienced the good and the bad. Through AI, I’ve explored different parts of China, which I appreciate. Ive learned about a different way of life and how to understand cultural differences. After this trip, I’ve become more culturally aware.

I've really enjoyed my time here in Shanghai. My internship has challenged me more than I expected and overall it is a great city to stay in (just the right balance between a big modern city with traditional Chinese influences as well).

I had the time and resources to have a meaningful internship experience and do everything I wanted in the city. I was not sure how it would go as I knew no Chinese or anyone in the program, but the transition was easier than expected. Shanghai has plenty of local and western options for food and attractions.

Discovering a new place such as China, new culture, new people made me actually discover myself as a person. I learned to exploit my strengths in my professional career as well as in my personal life.

My Internship in Shanghai changed my perspective of the world and people around me: culturally, spiritually and as a young professional.

I thank my experience with Absolute for everything that I have achieved today. It was my turning point - the most productive and memorable summer. Those 2 months opened my eyes to a whole another world of work which I wasn’t exposed to previously. Not only that, but meeting so many like minded people really motivated me to progress and achieve more. I made many life long friends, I learned to work hard and play hard. It showed me the way and to never stop until I reach my full potential. I still have a long way to go, but I can say for sure Absolute was the start of it all.

Absolute Internship is more than just an internship abroad. It’s all about seeing the world in a different way, the incredible people you meet, the delicious food you eat, the places you visit and the life skills that you gain. Yes, you do an internship and you learn a lot from it. You network with professionals and you get to learn job skills that will be useful when you graduate. You step out of your comfort zone, you explore a new culture but you also get to know other cultures as the students that are part of the program are from all around the world. It’s a fantastic program for a college student that want to learn more about yourself, meet other students and develop skills that will prepare you for a job after graduation.