Internships in New Zealand

What an adventure!

Submitted by Samuel - | July 17, 2018

Adventurous!!
My academic Course has been intellectually simulating owing me to some robust and compelling learning sections, to participate in role plays during classes with correspondence to my academic modules.

My Internship was the most important aspect as it created an environment which encourages innovative and out of the box thinking by meeting new people. The overall experience really made me think to take part in challenging projects and to make effective decisions as per the situations.

New Zealand is the perfect place!

Submitted by Jacob - | July 11, 2018

From the start of the trip I knew that I wanted to learn and experience as much as I could in the short 11-week window. I'm proud to say that I think I accomplished my goal. I stepped outside of my comfort zone to experience new things, travel to by myself, and meet a lot of new people. Plus, I had the privilege of learning from an up and coming HVAC business who sought to teach me as much as I wanted to know.
The Internship itself gave me a great look into what the business of HVAC/ heating and cooling systems really looks like. Much of my time went towards assisting the Design Engineers with building blueprints that show specific locations of the heating and cooling units and give the installation team as much information as they need to properly install the system. What I value the most from the experience was that the size of the office was quite small, allowing me to see all the interactions between both employees and leadership.
Personally, I knew that this offered a great opportunity to dig in and learn about myself. It’s not often that you can push your comfort zone this far, mainly because of the personal freedom and completely new, interesting environment that one gets to live in. I constantly sought new opportunities and talked to many new interesting people. I also tried to stay away from Netflix or cheap entertainment that I could easily do at home. I wrote down my experience for reflection, read a few self-help books and strived to get a better understanding of myself. Which, I believe, I did.
As far as the travel and Culture, New Zealand has sooo much to offer. Most of my travels were spent on the North Island where I saw tons of beautiful beaches, rolling mountain landscapes and just a few sheep. Haha If you enjoy being outside, exploring, and trying new activities; New Zealand is the perfect place. Plus, as an added benefit the Maori culture is deeply ingrained into many places in New Zealand. This gives those interested in anthropology or ancient cultures a great reason to come. I have yet to see the South Island, but I’m looking forward to it here at the end of my trip!

I wish I could spend more time in this amazing country!

Submitted by Tiffany - - | July 02, 2018

I absolutely love the field that I am in; this experience has me reconsidering what I want to do after I graduate university! I've always wanted to work with children, but now that I've been working with adults for the past few months I might want to pursue this route instead. Luckily I had a week off a month into my internship so I was able to travel around the south island, and other than that I'm doing loads of weekend trips. I'm halfway through my 12 week program, and the time has flown by. I wish I could spend more time in this amazing country, however l also can't wait to go home to see family and friends.

Getting out of my comfort zone and challenging myself!

Submitted by Jacob - - | June 17, 2018

I’ve learned that this is a great opportunity to work on myself and my weaknesses by really getting out of my comfort zone and challenging myself. Getting uncomfortable teaches you something, where as the comfort of home and watching Netflix everyday doesn’t really allow you to grow. I’ve had an amazing experience so far because I’ve been all in on the concept of learning, growing, and having a good time while I do it. I try to talk to strangers or others everyday and make new acquaintances, while at the same time learning about things to do around New Zealand. Plus, I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to pursue in the future and have been finding that my internship has been very helpful in the whole process. I've learned that a few of the job requirements, such as helping with the drawings/blueprints and making 3-D designs are more rewarding to me than other parts of the job. Because my degree at home is extremely broad and applicable to many areas, these revelations are leading me to start pursing Industrial Design or Architecture in the future when I return home.

It has been an amazing experience!

Submitted by Chelsea - - | June 13, 2018

My internship was fantastic! I got to perform actual engineering work, my co workers were so friendly, helpful, and informative, and they even gave me an opportunity to travel! New Zealand in itself is a beautiful place with so much to explore. To top it off I believe Wellington was the best place to stay. It had such a chill vibe, but it is still a city. You could walk about 15 minutes and completely be in nature. There is also endless restaurants! The other interns I met fastly became close friends. It has been an amazing experience

Second time intern NZ

Submitted by Martin Jan Kuiper - Auckland Netherlands NHTV-University of Applied Sciences Breda | May 13, 2018

Dealing with different cultures and meeting nice people are my favorite aspects about my overseas experience. And of course the nature of New Zealand.
This year was the second time I used the services of Intern NZ, after using their service last year. After great satisfaction last year regarding my internship, was I determent to return to New Zealand again, which was made possible because of the services of Intern NZ.

A fruitful internship experience!

Submitted by Amit - - | May 13, 2018

I learnt a lot about how do companies work in real life. I got better understanding of my field. I saw the aspects which I never thought of before. Overall it was a fruitful experience for me, and who knows this might be life changing for me as well, as the dream of being an Electronics Engineer doesn't seems far from here.
Thank you so much Intern NZ.

The perfect practical experience!

Submitted by Priyadharshini - - | May 06, 2018

Even though l have already been living in New Zealand for the past three years, this internship helped me a lot. It was the perfect practical experience in the industrial field as l was doing a logistics and operations internship in Auckland.

Intern NZ & Intern OZ provided great services. They did a great job in finding me this internship as it suited perfectly. Overall a great experience, thanks for everything!

Unfortunate Experience

Submitted by Kaitlin - Bath | February 20, 2018

My intent in posting this review is to share my experience, and keep this from happening to others.

I’ve been apart of a few study abroad programs (including a different internship abroad), and have worked with international education programs in my home country, and I am saddened by the lack of care that Intern NZ shows in their business practices.

From the start, InternNZ wasn’t great to work with, it took them weeks to respond to me, they were never clear in answering my questions (I always had to send several follow ups), and I decided to chalk all this up to differences in work culture, but learned later that this isn’t common.

InternNZ hosts their Auckland interns in Unistay, a hostel. I did not find this out until 3 days before my flight to NZ. Beforehand, when I had agreed to pay for housing through InternNZ I was under the impression that I would be flatting with people, as InternNZ never stated that I’d be staying in a hostel – this is a misunderstanding that you can find in many of the reviews of InternNZ, and they still haven’t clarified this for interns, which speaks volumes.

The cleanliness of the hostel isn’t great. The bathrooms are mixed gender, with one bathroom (located far from most rooms) being for women only. Sharing such an intimate space is something that I could have warmed up to, if Intern NZ had been honest about this. I told an employee of Intern NZ that I didn’t feel safe, but they didn’t offer any real solution. On multiple occasions there was no soap or toilet paper in the bathrooms.

The kitchen is community based, which itself is a fun thing, but the kitchen equipment you’re provided is lacking in quality. A lot of the “amenities” at Unistay are broken (broken toilets, showers, stove burners, etc.) You have to pay for internet, and laundry (this is on top of the extremely high rent).

The room you stay in, if it’s like mine, is very small. This didn’t bother me, but the rent I was paying was almost 100 dollars more a week than the rest of the tenants, who didn’t go through InternNZ. This is in addition to a 400 dollar administration fee paid at the booking. When I tried to contact InternNZ about this, they dodged my questions, but eventually clarified saying that the fee was necessary because they lease the rooms from Unistay. I asked how the fees for housing broke down before arriving, and this was never mentioned.

After much thought, I decided to leave early, and attempted to get a housing refund. In total, they would continue to neglect my calls for almost 3 weeks, I was told on 5 separate occasions that they would call me back at a specific time, but didn’t. They finally called me back and told me that I couldn’t be refunded because I had decided to leave my internship. This goes against InternNZ’s terms and conditions, which I then read to the employee I spoke to. She told me that she’d have to speak to her boss. It took almost a month, but when she contacted me, she told me that Unistay wasn’t accepting cancelations, so I couldn’t be refunded.

I wish I had known InternNZ offers the opportunity to win money to write reviews, and that they have staff write as well, before I had interned with them.

After my final decision to leave, I informed InternNZ of my decision, and they didn’t ask why I wanted to leave, or if I was okay. They just wanted to make it clear that I wasn’t getting any money back.

I hope that InternNZ improves their communication, clarity, and procedure for helping interns.

Coolest little capital

Submitted by Taylah - Wellington New Zealand - | February 06, 2018

Wellington truly is the coolest little capital. The staff members I have interacted with have provided friendly customer service. There are many events taking place for the time my orientation is scheduled. New Zealand is an absolutely beautiful country. I have loved my whole overseas experience. The internship sourced for me has offered opportunities I would not have otherwise be able to undertake. I have learnt so much in the two weeks that I have been in Wellington so far. I love that there is so much to do in the coolest little capital; there are so many amazing adventures to be had right in central Wellington.

Great internship and country!

Submitted by Susan - Wellington New Zealand - | January 15, 2018

I had a great time at my internship. I learned a lot and felt like I was in the right place and country. I will definitely come back to New Zealand one day to explore even more and maybe live here since it is one of the most beautiful country I have ever been to.

InternNZ did a really good job with finding an internship and the socials were very helpful for getting to know more people!

Friendly and welcoming country

Submitted by Anonymous - Netherlands Eindhoven University of Technology | January 14, 2018

New Zealand is without doubt the most beautiful country I have ever been to. Especially the South Island is amazing. New Zealand also does not feel to touristy and a lot of areas are completely untouched. I am still amazed by the scenery you find on a lot of places. The NZ culture does not differ a lot from the Dutch culture, but the people are more friendly and a bit more relaxed over here.
I have learned a lot at Air New Zealand, and not only in the area that I am studying but they also learned me a lot of aviation. Also my soft skills have improved here. The company culture is very welcoming and especially the team that I am working in. They do a lot to make you feel like home.
Would be helpful to know that I needed a local bank account. Dutch credit card was not sufficient.

Beautiful country

Submitted by Marion - Auckland New Zealand - | December 12, 2017

The country is beautiful and the company that I worked for was amazing and really nice with me, especially with my accent and my poor knowledge in mechanic. New Zealand is an amazing country, beautiful and surprising landscapes. I loved everything over there and I'm waiting for coming back.

Intern NZ was awesome

Submitted by Sujata - Auckland New Zealand - | December 12, 2017

Intern NZ was awesome. My sincere gratitude to Claire for her amazing help and assistance. Thank you for keeping in touch via emails throughout my internship journey, it makes a newcomer feel at home.
You guys are doing a great job at Intern NZ with so much of dedication and pro activeness. It feels good to receive emails as it makes you feel at home and not lonely in a new country. However I personally feel that you do lose out on a lot number of candidates for Internship as it goes unpaid. Many of my batch mates could not pursue internship as sustenance is a huge factor in a new country.I do hope that in the near future this aspect will be looked into. Overall I had a great experience and it wouldn't have been made possible without the efforts of Inter NZ.

Awesome service

Submitted by Harpreet - Auckland New Zealand - | December 12, 2017

It’s really awesome service to get into the field for non experienced persons. Thank you. It was totally different from here. They use different techniques to do work. Would be helpful to know about their culture and working behaviour.

Great internship experience

Submitted by Yat Wah - Auckland New Zealand - | December 12, 2017

If I have to give a comment. I would say the service was great! I am getting more familiar with the working culture in oversea. I really love the work balance culture in New Zealand, which was totally different with my home country. In addition, I realized that my English have improved. As a matter of fact, internship is a good way to improve English apart from gaining work experience.

Intern NZ did everything to help me integrate me in New Zealand

Submitted by Sander - Netherlands Fontys University of Applied Science | December 10, 2017

Intern NZ did everything to help me integrate me in New-Zealand. I liked that I had a social event the second weekend I was in Auckland because then you immediately meet new people.
My favourite aspect of my overseas experience was that I found football again. That sounds weird, but I stopped playing football two years ago and I thought I would never play again. My internship company does a 7 a-side competition Thursday and I joined them. I found out that I still love football and I never expected that that would happen.
Also, my colleagues are great. I really feel part of the team. With two engineers, we talk a lot about football and sometimes we watch live games before work.

New Zealand is God's chosen country

Submitted by Sujata Mazoomdar - Auckland New Zealand Auckland Institute of Studies | October 01, 2017

Beautiful green clean country, friendly people, dignity of labor, simplicity, patience. Well connected Transport systems. I couldn't have managed without the Metro trains. Peaceful journeys to my institute and later workplace. Fresh crispy mornings and the aroma of coffee would give me a good head start to begin my day.New Zealand is God's chosen country. Beautiful country and beautiful minds thrive here.

Intern NZ was awesome. My sincere gratitude to Claire McCann for her amazing help and assistance. Thank you for keeping in touch via emails throughout my internship journey, it makes a newcomer feel at home. You guys are doing a great job at Intern NZ with so much of dedication and pro activeness. It feels good to receive emails as it makes you feel at home and not lonely in a new country. Overall I had a great experience and it wouldn't have been made possible without the efforts of Intern NZ.

Amazing overseas experience

Submitted by Marion - Auckland New Zealand - | September 12, 2017

The country is beautiful and the company that I worked for was amazing and really nice with me, especially with my accent and my poor knowledge in mechanics. New Zealand is an amazing country, beautiful and surprising landscapes. I loved everything over there and I'm waiting for coming back.

Civil engineer 's internship

Submitted by Axel - Rochelle United States Rochelle | July 16, 2017

An internship in New Zealand has been a great opportunity for me, really awesome.The Intern NZ team was very helpful about the internship program. Thank you to the team, I have gained the practical experience and working cultures of New Zealand in the professional company. I have really enjoyed my internship program. Doing an internship in a consulting engineers company has been a valuable chance to improve my skills. Since the internship has provided me large numbers of challenging tasks, they offer me knowledge and experiences to improve my analysis skills, researching skills in construction
So lovely, that was just awesome

Engineering in New Zealand

Submitted by Cameron Aldred - Hamilton Canada University of Exeter | July 13, 2017

I have nearly completed a 2 month internship at GDC Consultants in Hamilton, NZ. The work is a good combination of interesting and challenging, where there is lots of variation. I get to go out on-site testing for half of the week and spend the other half in the office which is a nice balance. I have traveled away from Hamilton every single weekend so far - although mostly to the same place..Raglan! As it is a great place to surf and chill out. Overall, I can say I've had a wonderful experience in NZ, experienced the culture first-hand, and InternNZ were brilliant at sorting out everything for me which made it nice and easy! Thanks guys!

I don't think there is anything I would really change!

Submitted by Viktoria - Toronto Canada University of Toronto | June 21, 2017

Everyone working at Intern NZ is very engaging and keeps up to date with how your internship experience is going. Also, the World Internship company I went through that coordinated my travels from the U.S. was very helpful in answering all my questions before my flight.

I loved it! I got much more exposure into my field than I imagined. I spent the first half of my internship helping set up and collect data for ongoing projects in a face perception lab at Victoria University. A month into my internship my supervisor allowed me to begin designing my own study, with which I collaborated with a infant and child developmental lab. Starting a study from scratch gave me a sense of the entire experimental processes. I got a good degree of freedom but also support from my professors. I also found I became much better at learning how to handle issues in the experimental process quickly and with flexibility when they arise. The studies I collaborated on with my other lab members provided me with exposure into the research into various subtopics in face perception literature. I also got the opportunity to evaluate research by outlining ~50 studies in a mini review, which taught me how to properly assess methodologies and think critically on how design variations may impact study outcomes.
I think my internship was an invaluable learning experience. All the projects I have been involved in helped me grow substantially as a researcher. The professor supervising me served as a wonderful mentor and set up an encouraging environment where I could voice my input and learn from my colleagues. It has definitely helped shape my career trajectory going into my graduate studies.

New experience in new fields!

Submitted by Payal - Auckland New Zealand Auckland institute of studies | June 18, 2017

I was supervised by regional coordinator. My daily tasks included booking locations and assisting with recruitment activities. They were very helpful but the trouble was major operations like recruitment, finance etc were based in Australia. Operations manager was also in Australia. My regional manager and coordinator assisted me as much as they could.
I was very new to fundraising industry. I never heard of it in India or in our classroom lectures. It is very different and doesn't relate much to other industries.

Wonderful opportunity!

Submitted by Appanna - Auckland New Zealand Auckland Institute of Studies | May 08, 2017

It was wonderful. The entire team have made me feel so welcome and have helped me completely understand how the branch runs.
Thank you for this wonderful opportunity. Your entire team have made my dream come true. I owe it to you all. Please keep up the wonderful work you have been doing and help students like us pursue our dreams further.

Learning new skills with a lot of autonomy!

Submitted by Laura - Auckland New Zealand Ecole Polytechnique de Louvain-la-Neuve | May 08, 2017

Thanks for finding this internship :)
It was not really on the field that I asked for but it allows me to learn new skills.
New Zealand is a wonderful country with so many different landscapes. People are really nice and always ready to help you. I really enjoy this country.
During the internship, I had a lot of autonomy and I could lead a project to the end.