China Internship with Meiji Internships

I went to Shanghai to do a business development internship. It ended up being the best experience of my life!! I learned so many things about business, gained so many skills and met so many awesome people. This experience was really open-minding, and I am so grateful that Meiji Internships helped me finding this company. Each person in this company was welcoming and friendly, they all greeted me with a smile. Thanks to them I didn't feel any pressure on my working days and I was able to learn while having a fun and memorable stay. Shanghai is an impressive place, it was the first time for me to live in such a big city and it was a great experience. I also took advantage of being there to learn Chinese. This language is quite difficult and different from European languages but I like how it sounds!

Besides the work experience you will get, there are so many advantages of doing an internship abroad such as learning the language or visiting cultural sites. With so many people going abroad for their studies these days, I wanted to have my own experience to make a difference in my CV. So yeah, at first I was only thinking about my CV and my future job, but this internship was so much more than that! Every day was a new adventure with new challenges and I cherished every second of it! I know that having this kind of experience is a real chance and I'm so grateful to my parents who helped me in this adventure. I'm also thankful to Meiji Internships of course!

I knew it would be hard to find an internship AND a place to stay in Shanghai without a high Chinese level, so I applied at Meiji Internships. I had an online interview with them and after that, I had an interview with a Chinese fashion company. I was a bit stressed but it went very well and they offered me an intern position! Shanghai is a huge city, it's crazy! When I arrived everything was ready for my arrival: airport pick-up, accommodation, sim card, etc. I was reassured to already know some people there and to be able to contact someone if something was to happen. Fortunately, I didn't have to contact anyone because everything went well! I've learned about Marketing, Chinese language and culture, and also about becoming more independent so I'm very proud of myself and all my progress!

Through Meiji, I was able to gain a deep look of what it means working for a Chinese IT company. My company was located in central Shanghai and focused on offering blockchain and cryptocurrency related services. My major being in finance gave me the opportunity to combine my interest and passion of finance with the IT world. I was able to understand the basics behind cryptocurrency, how to perform fundraising and also prepared business pitches for foreign clients and high-class individual investors. Having had the business package gave me access to several business networking events Meiji provided me with. Most of them were organized by third parties. But I was granted access to a few "invitation only" events. Business is done here quite different from back in the States, but it was a sharp learning curve I undertook in these two months in the last Summer. As a result I am walking aways equipped with new IT skills, a large pool of international contacts I made and a lot of cultural experiences. China is great! You should find out for yourself!!

Tbh I was rather skeptical about the concept behind “arranged internships“ but since I struggled with finding an internship in China on my own, I decided to go through the admission process and was accepted into Meiji Internships program. When I told friends and family that I was going to China, my decision was met with stereotypes and criticism. “Why don’t you stay in Michigan?“ “You could have just gone over to Chinatown, that’s cheaper“ “You don’t speak any Chinese, how do you plan on communicating over there?“, to name a few ridiculous comments I have heard. I have always been interested in Asian culture and going to China seemed like the logical thing to do since China’s culture influenced so many other parts of Asia. I am a business major who has not quite found his niche yet, so I was flexible when it came to choosing an industry. During my Skype call, Meiji’s consultant encouraged me to start looking into Tourism because it would be the best option (given my limited experience and language skills). I agreed and soon was invited to a Skype interview with a Shanghai-based adventure tourism company. I love the outdoors and adrenaline rushes, so this talk got me hyped! Luckily, the company accepted hosting my internship and I was good to go! Arriving in Shanghai, Meiji had taken care of airport pick-up, accommodation, and provided me with a data sim card and a transportation card. It was nice having all these things ready upon arriving in Shanghai, so I didn’t need to worry about anything after spending around 24h on planes:P I thoroughly enjoyed my work and learned a lot about the Chinese tourism industry as well as the Chinese work mentality. My tasks varied a lot which was great! It also inspired me to think more about my long-term goals. I could see myself living here in the future. I guess far from home has become my home:D I got to know some of the best people I have ever met. From Asia to Europe to America to Australia, they were all amazing and loads of fun to be with. The Meiji staff is highly considerate, plans ahead and organizes all sorts of events. I had the time of my life!

Thanks to a recommendation from one of my professors, I was able to intern at a Digital Design Studio in Shanghai. During my time there, I produced content for websites and marketing material. I also wrote and proofread blogs. Carrying out these tasks, I learnt the basics of copywriting, SEO and a bit of HTML. I also got some insights into the Chinese startup scene which is very interesting. My colleagues nicely welcomed me into the team and taught me many things I was unfamiliar with. My internship was definitely the most memorable time this year. Unforgettable!

For me it was a good opportunity to start my career in a country like China. It is the world’s largest economy and hosts many international companies. VISA applications, Insurance and finding accommodation went smoothly with the assistance of the Meiji team. My stay in China was very good. I visited a lot out sights, interned with a company in my field of expertise and made many friends, both Chinese and international. As a business intern, I took on many different tasks, namely, assisting the team with month-end financial reports, proof-reading documents, joining business meetings, filing documents, research and many other related tasks. The program was very well organized and met my expectations. I can recommend it!