Absolute Internship

Finance Intern

May - July 2021 • Montreal, Quebec

What I liked

I really loved the communication between I and my placement manager. I also really loved the sessions, and the internship overall. I also truly appreciated the intentionality with which the placement team helped me to find placement.

What I wish was different

Perhaps having more contact with other interns who were participating in the Absolute Program would have been helpful and would have helped to expand my network.

Advice

Take full advantage of the experience, of the remote nature and shadow someone who can mentor you. There are a lot of opportunities out there, and grasping them would help you succeed.

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Project Manager Intern

August - December 2020 • Barcelona, Barcelona

What I liked

My employer promoted me first to team leader and later as project manager over other interns. He seemed to really value my input and liked my work ethic. I felt like he relied on me in a positive way. He always kept me busy with ample work loads but was completely understanding on days when I couldn't.

What I wish was different

Miscommunication!!! My employer is a particular man and likes tasks completed a specific way. We often butted heads trying to understand what needed to be done and how it should be done. Oftentimes we had to stop what we were doing to simply talk and listen to each other. After that, we worked amazingly well. We needed to learn about each other in order to work well.

Advice

Keep an open mind! You might not get placed with a company/country of your choice or in your field of study. You will learn something! No matter what, you will have something new to learn to apply to your career and professional life.

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Intern

August - October 2020 • Madrid, Madrid

What I liked

My experience interning remotely abroad was overall quite enjoyable. I enjoyed the opportunity to speak Spanish in a professional environment in addition to the opportunity to learn more about the nonprofit industry and the ways it aligns with my field of study at University.

What I wish was different

It was challenging to get used to the time difference and the different cultures surrounding work as well, and at times there were issues with communication and workload, and I found it difficult to complete absolute materials due to the remote format--it was difficult to have to manage work from my internship with tasks from Absolute.

Advice

I would advise people to be as communicative as possible to both the Absolute Internship team and your host organization's team about your capacity, when you're struggling, what you enjoy doing, etc.

1 One person found this helpful

Publishing Intern

February - April 2021 • London, England

What I liked

After study abroad was cancelled due to the pandemic, BC partnered with Absolute Internship so that we would still have the option of working with companies internationally. Absolute Internship matched me with a magazine based in London called The Migrant because of my interest in publishing, and it was an amazing experience. I get to attend conferences online with professionals from all around the world, publish articles every week in the magazine, perform outreach to experts on our issue, and more!

What I wish was different

The matching process was unsure at times -- when I was accepted into the program and indicated my interests, I felt a little up in the air about what my schedule would look like and if I could fit in the internship while taking a full semester’s worth of classes. We did not get to see a list of options for companies with their schedule availabilities, which is something I would have liked to have.

Advice

Absolute Internship is a resource that participants definitely should stay in touch with throughout their entire internship! They match us with a company and then continually check in with us to make sure we are satisfied with the experience. I would advise be clear about what industry you are interested in and keep a conversation going about what your professional goals are in both the big and small pictures.

1 One person found this helpful

Remote Intern

September - December 2020 • Tallahassee, FL

What I liked

This internship program has been a wonderful experience both culturally and professionally! The online courses, career speakers, coaching sessions, and cultural trainings, all provided in my Absolute Academy, were all very helpful for my time with my host company. Speaking of my host company, Absolute Internship placed me with a fantastic nonprofit organization in Portugal, called SPEM, that assists patients with multiple sclerosis. The relationship that I built with my supervisor is one that I am grateful for and intend to maintain long past my time with Absolute Internship. Overall, this program is a great opportunity for anyone seeking to expand their cultural and professional skills and I highly recommend it!

What I wish was different

I wish my directions had been slightly more clear at the beginning.

Advice

Apply for Absolute Internship's scholarship awards as well! And practice time management.

1 One person found this helpful

Legal Intern

August - November 2020 • Beijing, People's Republic of China

What I liked

My supervisor at MingDun law firm in Beijing immediately sought to get to know me as a person and as an intern. His warm welcome allowed me to feel as though I was truly part of a community an ocean away. I was soon supplied with several tasks to research and provide notes on for the firm’s use. Because this particular firm specialized in intellectual property law, each issue I researched brought me closer to understanding the nature of and interactions between intellectual property laws worldwide. From reading Trademark Infringement laws in the U.S. to interpreting the legality of the infamous TikTok ban, to conveying my findings, I began to understand the value an internship of this caliber could have in the eventual success of my career. Each time I submitted my research, my supervisor continued the learning process by meeting with me over Zoom and discussing any potential questions or clarifications I might have. This step was instrumental to my learning because it allowed me to speak with an expert in the field (not just over email) on a topic I was interested in pursuing as a career. It also granted me the opportunity to digest the mass amounts of information I was gathering and articulate it concisely.Each member of the Absolute Internship program is given access to this informative platform to supplement their experience. From workshops on emotional intelligence at the workplace to the art of communication to understanding diversity, the Academy has a course on how to excel in any internship. Score! But the learning doesn’t stop there. To make sure you are receiving every bit of internship wisdom possible, the program also offers many workshops designed to enhance soft skills necessary to career success. My favorite workshop was The Art of Communication, in which I utterly embarrassed myself by showcasing my unfortunate lack of communication skills. I applied the lessons I learned from this and similar workshops to my work at MingDun Law Firm

What I wish was different

Obviously, I was hoping that I would be able to fulfill my internship abroad initially. While I did have a great experience with my remote internship; being able to learn in my pajamas with the comfort of my own home, a large piece of a great internship is being able to interact face-to-face with your colleagues and mentors. Of course, it is not Absolute Internship's fault that we could not enjoy the luxury of travel or face-to-face contact. However, I wish it would have been possible to have some kind of group meeting to get to know other people going through the same internship process that I was.

Advice

Check and double-check the emails you send, especially to your supervisor. It is easy to type a response quickly and press send but communication is so important in a remote internship. So, you must make sure everything you are saying is clear and concise.

1 One person found this helpful

Intern

June - August 2018 • Hong Kong, Hong Kong

What I liked

I liked how throughout the 8-week program there was always an Absolute employee in Hong Kong with us. They assisted with everything from managing our professional experience to making sure we were seeing the city and embracing living in a different culture. Wholesome experience, where I grew professionally and made some of the best memories of my life.

What I wish was different

I wish I had made the effort after work on weekdays to see the city of Hong Kong more.

Advice

Taking the risk of going somewhere completely foreign and immersing yourself in the culture is well worth it.

1 One person found this helpful

Graphic Design Intern

May - July 2019 • Singapore, Central

What I liked

I loved connecting with other interns from local universities abroad in Singapore. Sharing the experience of a new culture while developing professional skills was enriching and inspiring. Being given the opportunity to work on editorial design material for diverse companies and collaborating with Singaporeans on creative projects to achieve a collective goal --was one of the many highlights of being abroad with Absolute.

What I wish was different

I enjoyed interning abroad and the amenities Absolute provides. One of the perks are excursions to connect with local businesses. I wish I took more advantage of the opportunity to connect and explore the professional scene through Absolute. Its a great way to learn career wise while immersing in a new culture.

Advice

Be open-minded, adaptable and flexible, I enjoyed my experience abroad because I focused on developing these three skills. This has been transferable to my career endeavors and development in Singapore and other professional settings back home in the States.

1 One person found this helpful

finance

July - September 2020 • Abidjan, Ivory Coast

What I liked

I would definitly recommend absolute internship to every student desiring to have a remote internship with a company abroad. I truly enjoyed my two experiences with them the first being a finance Intership in London and the second one being a finance remote internship. During my remote internship, the Absolute Internship was constently available and checking on me to make sure that my internship was doing great. Moreover, during the remote internship we had a platform with information about how to succeed our internship; and we had online share meetings to connect with the other interns. They matched me with a private investment companies and this was a major steps for me to helps me grow towards my careers goals. I really enjoyed my remote internship opportunity because as an international student I was able to go back home and then travel back for the beginning of class all of that while completing my internship.

What I wish was different

Advice

Feel free to share with the absolute team your expectation, and your concern. They helped me adapt my weeks hour with the beginning of my classes. Also, donnot be afraid to try remote internship because you will learn a lot.

1 One person found this helpful

Administrative Intern

July - August 2019 • Montreal, Quebec

What I liked

With Absolute Internship, I interned with the Montreal Children's Library. My experience with the library was amazing. The environment was caring and I was able to learn a lot about not just administrative services or library functionings but also Human Resources within a library. My experience, once I arrived in Montreal and interned with the library, was amazing.

What I wish was different

I wish I could have received an open work permit in order to receive a stipend or some other sort of financial support.

Advice

I feel that everyone should have an internship abroad experience. One piece of advice would be to understand the transportation system of the place you're going to. Even though Montreal is a metropolitan area with a metro and bus system, its system is definitely smaller than NYC's. It is not too big of a deal, but as you would probably use it every day, you might as well get comfortable with it or learn it.

1 One person found this helpful