GlobalWorks Stories
My responsibilities at Seen in the City consisted of pitching articles, writing press releases, listicles, and writing product reviews from items I tested. I attended restaurant reviews a few times a week and many times was able to interview chefs and get a behind the scenes look at the London restaurant industry. I also produced copywriting for various companies. Managing relationships and maintaining clear communication was crucial in my job as well. I spent a lot of time on my email, contacting various PR agencies and creating strong relationships with them. Additionally, I was managing the social media for Seen in the City. I posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram regularly to promote new articles and maintain reader engagement.
One of my favorite projects was working with artist Sophie Tea. Sophie has over 206k followers on Instagram and a global following, so it was a really exciting opportunity. The task began by communicating with Sophie’s PR and writing a press release for an upcoming art show in London. When I attended the event I was able to interview Sophie Tea and speak about her entrance into the art world. We also spoke about her new collection, “Hearts”. At the event I spent time with Sophie’s PR team and was able to keep them as a contact for future endeavors.
Initially, I had difficulty learning to navigate a full-time job. This internship was my first experience working five days a week. Unlike in school, journalism careers require consistent planning, calendar management and daily deadlines. Fortunately, my editor was very involved and made sure that I stayed on track with articles and events.
The most rewarding aspect of my international internship was creating international connections. There is a certain kind of confidence I gained after my internship knowing that I have a network of professionals in London, who I can reach out to should I ever need industry information. I was thrilled to get the chance to work as a journalist and gain first-hand experience on what it’s like to be involved in the publication industry of a large city like London.
London was more than I could have imagined. Spending the summer (2021) in the city greatly affected my career goals. I fell in love with the city and I plan on returning when I graduate. My internship gave me the confidence that I can work in a big city and find fulfilling work. Also, because I have gained so much industry experience I feel much more prepared to pursue jobs I really want. The interview process feels much less daunting because I have clarity on what kind of work and skills I truly exceed at.
I was responsible for launching a project that would promote olive oil sales for the company. I created a project called “Adopt an Olive Tree” which is a restoration project for olive trees in Tuscany. I also created 2 other experience based weekends involving picking from the vineyards, and a foraging walk. Some of the smaller sided tasks I had were photographing the oils and wines and updating the description card for both during tasting.
The most challenging part of my internship was the language barrier even though I did take Italian for 4 years in high school, I wish I was better prepared to speak the language. The most rewarding part was the relationships I built with the other people on the estate. These individuals will always hold a place in my heart, and their culture will be in mine.
This internship has had an impact on my career goals and has gotten me interested in Food & Beverage and Business. I have always had a passion for health and wellness, and after learning about the health benefits of olive oil consistently in a persons diet I believe there is a marketing for tying Health and Wellness into Business. Whether this is creating my own business or marketing for a specific health benefits product I think I will be looking into this career field as I move into my senior year.
One of my responsibilities was to make advertisements and posts for their social media pages.
I went to Italy with very little knowledge of Italian. There were small nuances where I struggled to get my point across. With the language barrier came the problem of where I would be the best fit to contribute the most. The winery wasn’t looking to grow their social media pages which is generally my main focus. Instead they wanted to create a new identity for a historic business. That involved a lot of communication with the winery on what will serve their goal while still moving into a more modern image. However, the fulfillment of finding a new style that worked with the company and learning enough Italian to communicate my ideas was one of the most rewarding feelings.
This internship had a huge impact on my career goals. Ever since I took my first Italian course I had wanted to visit Italy —and Italy delivered on all of my overwhelming expectations. I think Italy is the perfect location for me in the future. My post grad plan is to look for opportunities at advertising agencies in Milan. This year I’m planning to practice my speaking as much as possible so I can go back to Italy with fluency. This internship was an amazing opportunity for me to visualize where I want to be in the future.
Jasmine Walker
Marketing Intern in Barcelona, Spain
“I was the Marketing Intern for a basketball analytics company, but my responsibilities were not solely focused on marketing. Since I was a part of a start-up, where we had 5 total employees, I was tasked with a variety of projects and responsibilities. I did things from data entry, to graphic design, to creating email campaigns and cold calling. I had the opportunity to really see how the inner workings of a true start-up were done and how real business decisions were accounted for when running such a young company.
“The tasks that I did benefited this company more than I could have imagined. I thought that some of the projects that I was working on were not so important, but what I discovered is that I helped and impacted this company in a big way.”
My overall experience is an accomplishment to me. I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect, and with all the positives and negatives over the two months, I am proud of myself for sticking through it and finding ways to cope mentally in another country. I believe the experience itself is the biggest accomplishment, one that many individuals in their lifetime do not get to have. From figuring out the metro, to dealing with work friendships, to dealing with issues in my home country, all were part of an experience that took determination, dedication and strength.
Check out Kate’s internship video below.
This whole internship abroad experience has been crazy and, as cliché as it may sound, it has definitely been life changing. Living and working in Singapore has been my first real taste of what life will be like after graduating college. I have been able to learn a lot about myself, such as whether or not I would want to live abroad at some point in the future. In terms of my career, this internship experience shined some light on what direction I want my career to go in. Coming into this experience, my mind was set on pursuing a career in the computer science field. More specifically, I wanted to become a software engineer specialized in artificial intelligence. My internship primarily revolved around this field of work, and thus provided me with insight on what a career in that would be like. This, along with the personal goals I set up at the beginning of the year, really helped me make the most out of my internship experience.
I was tasked with cutting out people for thumbnails, creating a children’s alphabet book, and a multitude of other digital tasks involving Adobe Creative Suite.
The challenging parts about the job were creating unique designs for the covers and formatting the inside of books and pamphlets. The company wanted to challenge me and gave me criticism, which I did not get often from school, so it was rewarding when the head designers liked something I had made. They were always willing to help me out.
This experience gave me confidence. This internship helped me out in understanding how graphic designers play a role in certain companies. I am looking forward to a graphic design career, but I am also open to any other design-like career as well.
At the start of this, my main career goal was to work for a nonprofit and coordinate fundraising events, but now I am more open to other job titles in the communication/public relations/social media field. This whole experience has taught me that I need to learn more about the field that I am wanting to go into.
Overall, the whole experience was rewarding, but at the beginning there were definitely some challenges. Parts that I found to be difficult at the start were things like grocery shopping, laundry and being away from friends and family for that long. I am a fairly independent person as it is, so things like going out to eat or exploring the city by myself weren’t much of an issue. It was more that I have very few people to share those experiences with. Now looking back on it, I don’t think that I would’ve wanted it any other way; learning how to be okay with doing the smaller things by myself, I think has shaped me into a more mature person at the end of the trip.
Kiana Hosaka
Software Engineering Intern
My internship was in Tokyo, Japan. The company’s product is an iPad application that teaches young students mental arithmetic calculations based on abacus and gamification concepts. As a software engineering intern, my main responsibilities were data analysis and working on the company’s artificial intelligence software. I spent half my internship collecting and analyzing data on student and multi-school achievements and the other half evaluating, testing, and helping to improve the company’s artificial intelligence software. My internship solidified my interest in artificial intelligence. While I am still open to explore various fields of computer science, I am excited for a potential career related to artificial intelligence. My internship also helped me gain confidence applying my technical skills in a real-world work environment and I am excited to bring the knowledge I learned into future positions.
A challenging aspect of the internship was the language barrier and immersion into a different culture. While I knew Japanese prior to my internship, it was a new experience to communicate using Japanese in a professional workplace and live in Japan. My improved Japanese language skills and deeper understanding of Japan’s culture have been rewarding aspects of my international internship experience.
I have gained the type of professional experience that I think will benefit me in the future and have had many great learning opportunities related to my work. Aside from the two events that I helped organize and the meetings that occurred along with them, I have also been able to attend three large summits/conferences, one of which I attended entirely on my own, read and reviewed important documents related to future projects that my company intends to pursue, and translated multiple articles that will eventually be posted onto our company’s website. In being able to attend these three events, my internship organization has been able to connect with potential clients to set up future meetings, as well as learning more information about future innovative projects that will be happening in the near future in or around Shenzhen.
During my eight weeks in Hong Kong, I learned an immeasurable amount about not only myself and my career path, but also about international relations and perspectives on the world. Communication was a major part of this journey as well. It played the key role in how I kept in contact with my friends and family back home, the ways in which I introduced myself and made friends in Hong Kong, and also how I carried myself in the workplace to come across as professional and earn the respect of my employers.
I believe that there were two major challenges at play during these eight weeks, and although they were separate, they definitely had their respective overlap. I believe the real task at hand was to, A, find the best way to gain respect in the work place without overstepping your bounds as an intern, and then B, to find the fine line of taking in and exploring a new city in a new country, while also maintaining ties and communication with friends and family.
I work within the premium ticket section within the company. The premium level is similar to the club levels of the major league sports in the States, but there are no tickets that are sold on a match by match basis. All tickets are sold as a part of a long term contract of 3, 5, or 10 years. Premium members have the opportunity to sell back their tickets if they are not able to attend the match or buy up to four extras for a match using the ticket exchange. The ticket exchange is my main responsibility of my internship. Every day I log into the google form that members fill out to post their tickets and I post their tickets for sale using Archtics. Archtics is a ticket software that will be super beneficial for me to know going forward in my career. I also answer phone calls relating to the ticket exchange, write contracts for members who have just bought seats, and send tickets to their new owners. I also do a lot of “typical” intern stuff like organizing tickets and stapling files. I also assist with match day. I help out at the reception desk and help with any problems with premium tickets.
All in all, my career goals have drastically changed since beginning my internship. I went on this internship experience to see first-hand if the hotel industry is what I wished to pursue. However, I have realized with time that it is not a field that I would like to pursue. I do believe the experience was worth it because I grew a lot as a person and I was able to find out early on that a hospitality career is not for me. I love helping people and want to pursue a job that makes me feel a more profound impact on others. This experience has led me to realize that I should pursue my other interests such as education and psychology, but has also given me the tools, such as patience and confidence, to succeed in whatever field I decide to pursue.
Callie Teague
Virtual internship for Hasekura 2.0, An non-profit organization based in Sicily, Italy
“I primarily spent my time in my internship researching, compiling data, conducting interviews, writing articles and creating websites.
I was able to work on my digital design skills by constructing the early parts of the website for Hasekura 2.0’s various NGOs that I provided consulting services for. I also gained a lot more comfortability with communicating in a business/workplace environment.
I learned a lot about grit, hard work, and time management during this internship. Working with a supervisor can be daunting and overwhelming, but it is especially difficult to navigate some of those anxieties and challenges from the other side of the world. I objectively think that this experience helped me learn a lot about my weaknesses and strengths through trial and error. I have acquired a knowledge of how to adapt when things do not turn out the way that I plan, how to communicate suggestions, and complete work as early as physically possible.
Not only was this experience really helpful in terms of navigating my work preferences and competencies, but it also gave me a real, accurate depiction of in what areas of my life I struggle with managing my time the most.
Coming into this internship, I knew that I probably wanted to start out working for a large corporation when I am younger, and then transition over to working in a non-profit or a B corporation workplace setting. I think that my feelings about this have remained the same for the most part. I have loved my internship and working with social entrepreneurs has been such a rewarding experience. I have, however, learned that I love working in a consultancy setting in which I can marry multiple interests of mine.”
“This internship gave me the deepest impression in my life. Not only that it happened in the special time “COVID Time”, but also it is the first time that I did an internship remotely and worked with the foreigner workmates.
There was a time meeting with the whole group and my boss. I met some challenges which made me in trouble and struggling. After my boss taught me how to face it and using which kind of attitude to do it. I said, ” Anyway, I would do my best!”. He interrupted me and said ” Don’t say ‘do your best’ anymore, just go and do it. As a seller, if you think about plan B every time, you would never get pay for the customers.” It helps me a lot during the rest of the internship.
I am also better at communication, especially in English. Before the beginning of the internship, I thought I was lucky enough that I can use my first language Cantonese instead of English. That’s the main reason why I chose a Southeast Asian company. But the fact is, our task is facing worldwide which means English is still the best way to communicate.
I am clearer about what sports business is and what kind of knowledge I need in the future studying. I was so happy and excited that I found the way I want now. I believe that sport marketing and management would be my next dream in my life now. Really thanks for this chance to internship for Red Card Global.”
As a public relations intern for an international agency, I got to do a bunch of different projects for a variety of clients. From translating presentations for an Estonian professional fridge, to researching media outreach for the islands of The Bahamas, to gathering several hundred news outlets to promote a Korean artist based in Barcelona, I was always doing something new. Something that was challenging for me and a lot of other interns, were the smaller cultural differences that you don’t tend to notice immediately. After a few weeks, I got adjusted and was more able to read my supervisor and the style of how they worked. I’m surprised at how much I’ve learned in a relatively short amount of time, especially since it was all remote. While I appreciate this experience for all it was worth, it’s also helped me realize what I don’t like doing. I don’t have any solid plans for my future, but I know I’m not interesting in going the agency-route.
“This internship has been really great for me as a student and as a person. A few key accomplishments I have identified are: in-depth research skills, communication excellence, time management and initiative.
I learned what effective communication really looks like. My supervisors had very high expectations of me. I love that because that shows they value my knowledge and work and know I can accomplish what they need. However, it was important to me to tell them that I am still an intern. I found this very valuable because it showed me that advocating for what you want is a positive thing. Adjusting expectations so that you can work effectively is very important.
My biggest learning experiences weren’t the skills I obtained but rather working cross culturally. I am learning about all aspects of German life science from the medical device regulation process to their biotech economic impact. I love seeing the difference between the two industry’s based on regional location. Seeing how the biotech industry in Germany works in conjunction with the biotech industry in the US is fascinating. Learning about biotech funding and the amazing innovative ways institutions and private companies are working towards a more accessible future in medicine is amazing.”
“During the beginning of my internship, I supported teachers with lesson planning, supervision, trips, breaktimes and general administration. This was an informative experience on understanding interpersonal relations within the teaching staff, what it takes to be disciplined and committed to the work and how to conduct myself in a professional manner. In addition, this first step enabled me to learn and understand the daily routines of each department and the responsibilities that come with teaching infants or young children. Since we need to be co-ordinated as a whole unit it was a great experience in teamwork as well.
Once I had proved my competency and that I could be trusted with more demanding responsibilities I began to actively led workstations/parts in lessons before eventually planning and teaching lessons all together. This culminated in a “test” where the director of the institution observed one of my lessons and capabilities before offering me feedback and the possibilities of employment.”
“I have the opportunity to be employed as a teacher at this institution after graduation! Since I am interested in education but am unsure about what level to specialize this would be an excellent opportunity for me find out what I want! I’ve always wanted to live in Japan so I think this is what will be next for me!”
Alexander Noriega
Virtual Internship, SB Capital Partners, London, UK
I served as a Financial Analyst Intern for a family-owned private equity firm in London working with various clients from all over Europe and conducting financial research and analysis. I worked on tasks such as preparing and conducting financial research and modeling to Venture Capital outreach and client relationship management and even served as the American Representative for an Investment Platform my advisor started up.
A challenging aspect of this entire process was the ability to work with time differences as well as working in a virtual setting, however, coming out of this program I have gained so much insight into the ins and outs of the Private Equity sector and how important not only the numbers are but how important client relations and communication are.
This internship has significantly impacted my life and career goals by solidifying my dream of becoming a financial analyst! This opportunity ultimately led to a full-time offer as an Associate Financial Analyst at Dolby Laboratories post-graduation and I am so thankful for all I’ve learned these past 8 weeks. This internship has provided me with technical and non-technical skills that I would have never had otherwise, and I am truly thankful for the opportunity.
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