Business Development Intern Review

Absolute Internship provided me with a placement in my chosen field of business studies, they asked of my career interests and used this information to find a placement that fits perfectly for my ambitions. I was so nervous about my internship as I felt worried in case I would struggle. However, I was challenged to new heights and found a lot about myself and my personal strengths and weaknesses in the work place. I highly enjoyed it to the point I would go in earlier and leave later !

Almost immediately after I got off my plane I was greeted by the Absolute team !. That is probably the first thing I always say to people is how welcomed and acknowledged I felt. For my first month we had around 30 interns and 5 Team members. Like family describes it perfectly ! At work it was just the same. Chinese culture is amazing in the sense that colleagues are so close. Everyone was beyond welcoming and helpful. We went to dinners and karaoke nights as a team. The Director of the company himself built a personal relationship with all of us and became a valued mentor.

Anything I was struggling with there was always someone ready to help. Where I faced more difficult tasks a briefing was explained before hand or examples of previous work was supplied to help me enhance on my own ideas. The Director of the companies door was never closed he encouraged me to come to him if i had any problems and provided us all with his personal phone number when he was out of office. There was many time we did work as a team so support again was instant.

Though during the time of my placement was not the busiest season for the company of my internship, this just meant in addition to the work we was given I was challenging myself to seek work for myself. Therefore my work load was always consistent.

When work was supplied I was given sole responsibility. I was treated like permanent members of the team so therefore any work I supplied was never under-looked or dismissed. Many of my idea's was implemented into the company as they valued my western outlook on business. As part if my responsibility I met with highly valued clients of the company and was in charge of the website these sorts of responsibilities demonstrated their trust in me.

My time in China was a whole new world for me. I can not describe the countless skills I have developed which I will take with me into my chosen career path. Working in the Marketing/ Advertising sector in the second largest economy in the world in such a city as Shanghai was phenomenal. Since I have come back to London so many employers are intrigued about my time in China. I think it is such a unique selling point for myself to say I have experience in another country as it shows how I have adapted and broaden my business outlook. My Assignments this year have been graded a lot higher when I mention anything I learnt in China about international trade, Eastern markets and so forth , which is always a plus !

It was never silent in our office we had the amazing balance of being social and working. Everyone said good morning and goodbye every evening.

The internship was given to me based on my career ambitions in the future rather than an internship that goes alongside a general assumption of the course I am doing at Uni. We was all asked before hand what we want to specialize in and therefore I felt Absolute demonstrated care and consideration.

I had a lot of training and advise from the director. He helped me turn my negatives into positives.

The company I worked for was very appealing in terms of the staff and atmosphere.

In terms of the other students on placement, the first night we was all together we was like magnets,an instant bond between every single one of us. I have never felt such a connection between such a large group of people especially with all us being from different countries around the world. We still are all in contact with each other. With my colleagues it was pretty much the same, our first week we had a pot-lock where each of us bring in a dish and we all have lunch together in our office. It was such a fantastic time for us to bond and get to know each other. Our director even preformed on his guitar for us as we all sang along.

China is the cheapest country I have ever been to in my life. Even though my internship was placed in the financial district of Pudong. It was surprisingly affordable. My food variety was amazing for 2 months I never ate in the same place more than twice. Where are hotel was situated it was even better, being right next to a metro station again meant endless variety. Travel on the subway and in cabs was ridiculously cheap. Night outs to clubs were practically free because the clubs love tourists. Also if you are looking to shop for souvenirs or clothes there are numerous markets and shopping malls at a fraction of the price here in England/ London.

No doubt the nightlife was amazing. The weekends and after work was always an enjoyable experience from restaurants, karaoke clubs to bars. There was not a single night I was disappointed. There are so many places to see and such a large variation of locals and tourists. One club we actually went to not only had sharks in tanks but we had David Beckham at the table near to us !

Absolute Internship set up numerous opportunities for activities, we visited various water towns and other cities in China including Beijing- down to water parks, treasure hunts, circus acts, fake beaches and laser tag. And that is only some of them listed ! It did not feel like it was just work for 2 months but the opportunity to have a holiday and cite see as well.