"Get the intern to do it…"

• Source: Global Times
• [11:00 May 17 2010]
• Comments

Learning on the job.

A recent intern at That's Shanghai magazine. Photos: Courtesy of Nextstep Connections

Jokes about the office intern are all too common in most industries. And yet it's an experience many of us undertake in order to get that all-important first step into the world of work. Even a few short months of unpaid, or marginally paid, employment provides college students with the kind of hands-on experience that should help them obtain better-paid and ultimately more fulfilling job opportunities. And due to Shanghai's rising prominence as a world economic and cultural center, more and more students are choosing the city as an ideal place to undertake an internship program.

Programming an internship

For students coming to Shanghai, adjusting to a different working environment, finding suitable housing, and dealing with a foreign language and culture are all major issues. As a result, a number of agencies have been set up in the last few years in order to facilitate this sometimes arduous process.

Jerome Le Carrou, co-founder of Nextstep Connections described the founding of the company in 2007 as "a realization it was hard to find internships and make connections in Shanghai for foreigners." Programs from the company include not only placements, but also housing, Mandarin lessons and even events for networking.

InternAsia also offers placements, but with a greater emphasis on networking by arranging for meetings and talks with CEOs and entrepreneurs who have extensive business experience in Shanghai.

InternAsia's executive partner Paul Peronin explains, "Shanghai is hectic. You need to listen to the experiences of others to learn how to navigate it all."

Both Le Carrou and Peronin acknowledge that internships can be obtained in most fields. But Le Carrou points out that a placement in a financial services firm, for example, usually requires fluency in Mandarin. Peronin concurs, noting that "investment banking isn't well developed in China, so it requires Mandarin speakers to help build the industry." Le Carrou cited journalism as the easiest field in which to obtain an internship.

While such comprehensive programs take the uncertainty out of finding an internship and adjusting to life in Shanghai, it does come at a price. Both companies provide programs from one to six months, including housing, language lessons and networking events which range in price from approximately $3,000 to $12,000 depending on the length of the internship.