Busy staff head back to work with files. Photo: CFP

For many young people around the world, working or studying abroad is a key component for their employability toolkit. Each year thousands of foreigners come to China to study, work and intern in Shanghai. They get invaluable experience and life lessons. The companies that give them this experience benefit from the enthusiasm, energy and different approaches that they can bring.

The Global Times talked to three interns and their supervisors in different industries to see what life as an intern in Shanghai is like.

Legal practice

The partnership law firm Win & Sun was founded in 2006 and operates in Shanghai. It provides legal services involving banking and finance, corporate and commercial business, real estate, IP and arbitration.

Calvin Lee, a partner at Win & Sun since its opening, outlined the company's experience with international interns and the benefits they brought. "We give international interns a basic idea of how a Chinese firm works, but in turn we are also rewarded with fresh ideas from the foreign students, which contribute to the diversity of our team. The company takes one or two international interns every year, from early July to September." 

It's not just the company that benefits from the new angles interns bring, he explained. The biggest advantage for international interns was the global perspective they gained. Although there could be drawbacks in interning in a foreign country, he added: "Frankly speaking, a lack of Putonghua may be the biggest drawback for their practice, as most of them are coming to China for the first time."

While language might be an aspect that requires study, their native language skills proved most useful when helping the company prepare complex legal documents. "Their English skills allow them to enrich the preparation of English documents and legal research in foreign law topics."

Working in a global setting, a multiplicity of culture and languages enhances a company, particularly one that deals with international clients. Lee said: "We are working for clients from different countries and it is our priority to gain a global perspective in providing legal services."

International interns prove invaluable in this aspect, helping with legal research, document preparation and drafting, internal case discussions and sometimes attending client meetings.

Erika Grant, 21, has a one-month placement at Win & Sun. Back home in Scotland, she studies law and has a special interest in commercial law and insolvency. She said: "This placement was able to offer me the insights I was seeking. I was looking for international work experience to gain an insight into how cultural and legal differences are reconciled."

Grant learnt about the internship opportunity through Projects Abroad, one of the largest volunteer abroad programs in the world. She said when applying for a project, she had to fill out a form, detailing her previous experience, what placement she's looking for and what she's hoping to get out of it.

With this information, Projects Abroad then finds a suitable placement which matches the industry and area that an applicant is looking for. Grant said that she eventually wants to work in an international law firm, and she chose Shanghai as it would be a stimulating environment and its business connections would create fast and challenging work.

Previously she worked at a law firm in Scotland and an orphanage in Romania. "The work here is very interesting - especially as the firm practices in all areas of Chinese law. I would even consider working in China when I qualify as a lawyer."

Her work at the firm is varied. "To date I have been assisting a lot with a current case where the client is from another country and wishes to open a subsidiary company in China. Among other things, I have researched international concerns regarding directors' liability insurance, and assisted in drafting a contract of employment that fits with Chinese law yet is still in line with Western standards."

She enthused about her colleagues who have been supportive and friendly and made her feel welcome in the office. Grant said this placement was also vital for her future career prospects - this type of placement wasn't available to someone in her position back home.

"I have seen the practical application of commercial law, which is difficult for a student at my stage because commercial law placements are only available in later years. My introduction to Chinese commercial law has been invaluable."

Checking over work in an office. Shanghai is growing in popularity as a destination for foreign interns. Photo: nipic.com

Valuable lessons

Wordoor.com is an online language service that provides face-to-face lessons via the Internet with a teacher of your choice. Founded in 2009, the company is trialing its website and has 120 students so far.

Joren Bredman is a manager at Wordoor.com, which teaches English and Putonghua to people all over the world. It works from an international platform and accepts international interns.

Bredman explained the benefits of international interns: "Most of our development team is Chinese and have never been abroad. The international interns provide us with a 'Western' mindset and are able to communicate with our foreign users."

The different perspectives international interns bring are invaluable to the company as there can be differences between Western and Chinese working methods, according to Bredman. "Having the interns as part of that process is very helpful."

Gaining these global perspectives can be crucial to a company and Bredman told the Global Times that because his company is a start-up company, hiring full-time Western employees would be very expensive, which is why the interns were highly sought after. 

He said that while they enriched the company, there were drawbacks too. "Interns have little experience working in a Chinese company, and they are not able to join in the meetings, because they are all in Putonghua."

However, with proper supervision they were able to take on responsibilities. He said interns' tasks varied and they could be involved in human resource management, drafting standardized interviews or guidelines for users. "Their tasks are updated weekly to fit our current needs, as our platform is still moving and changes quite frequently."

Bredman said that the company would continue to use interns as they had their own advantages.

Tom Webster, 20, from the UK, studies history at Northumbria University and interns at Wordoor. He had never been to China before, but explained why he chose to come to Shanghai for a one-month placement.

"Shanghai is a major financial center and one of the most populated cities in China. For me, it was not a hard decision. The cultural differences between China and the West fascinate me. There is no better way to embrace and learn about this cultural diversity than by living and working in China."

He has never previously interned but was excited to begin his placement. "I was interested by the company's business plan and its core idea. An online platform to learn and teach languages is a brilliant idea. The lack of English speakers in some parts of China demonstrates the uniqueness of this company's plan to connect Chinese speakers with native English speakers."

Webster said his placement was made up of international workers, which was something he hadn't expected, but added that this helped him: "One of the most important aspects is the ability to work successfully day to day in an international company, taking into account different cultural practices."

His duties involved designing the recruitment process for language teachers, conducting interviews, working with human resources and editing Wordoor's English translation service on its website. Webster said he will certainly come back to China but would like to see other parts of the country.

Fuel for thought

Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies was founded in 2003 in Singapore, and works with fuel cells and their materials, hydrogen supply and hydrogen storage, and pressure related devices.

Jason Jin has been the deputy manager at Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies (China) for six years. The company works with renewable energy, and currently operates five international subsidies. It has four main areas of expertise - automotive, telecom, defence/aerospace and consumer products. Jin said that having international interns work for the company was highly beneficial, as they mainly dealt with overseas clients. "We have a lot of manuals for our products and it is important their English is good."

The company has had interns before but previously all the local interns had studied abroad. This meant their English skills were good, and they also brought different dynamics to the company from their own experiences in different cultures and working environments.

Jin said this ensured they had the best tools, both in materials and minds, in the market. Interns typically undertook product testing, and wrote, revised and reviewed the manuals that accompanied the company's products.

Jin said last year's interns had been a new experience for him. "Previously someone from the sales department would liaise with the interns and give them work. But he left last year and so I have been doing it." The company has a history of taking on interns, and will continue to do so in the future. All its interns are unpaid but the company pays for their lunches.

Louis Mialhe, 24, from France, has interned at Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies for two months, having previously undertaken engineering apprenticeships in France and completing his master's degree. "One of the reasons I came here was to learn as much as I could about this industry as I would like to run my own company one day."

Mialhe also learned about the internship opportunity from Projects Abroad. He said he received the information a month before he arrived in Shanghai, detailing the accommodation and his placement.

"The agency makes the whole process quite smooth. You are picked up from the airport, taken to your accommodation (which we share with other interns) and you are taken to your placement on the first day. We are given allowance for food and transport of 90 yuan ($14.68) per day, given to us each month. Transports allowance varies depending on how far away we each are from our accommodation."

He had never been to China before but wanted to come because of its business links and to experience a new perspective. He said renewable energy was a field where he wanted to broaden his skills.

"Fuel cells were something that I had little knowledge in. Working here has given me experience that I wouldn't have got otherwise, and it has got me thinking about their application elsewhere. I chose China for the cultural aspects. I get to meet people from different organizations and because Shanghai is an international city you can meet people from lots of different countries and from all over China too."

What Mialhe enjoyed most about the placement was being given major tasks to work on: "I like to have different goals and challenging work. After I had been here for a while, I began to take on more responsibilities which was really good for me."

He has previously interned in Spain but that was very different compared to China. "I have now seen the global way of working with people from all over the world. I would love to come back to China - I like this country but not the weather!"