A Note to Parents
How can your son or daughter gain work experience in 2014?
Over the last 20 years, the Bachelor's degree has gone from being a piece of paper that is "nice to have" to one that is essential. A Bachelor's is the bare minimum for your child to get their resume viewed by HR, but employers are turning more and more to previous work experience as an indicator of value.
The situation we have now is that millenials are entering the workforce with an average of $30,000 in debt, no work experience, and many expect it to be handed to them.
The simple fact is that, in 2014, employers value experience over grades. That experience is necessary now.
Summers spent at the local deli just aren't cutting it anymore, and in fact even an internship alone are China will not guarantee appeal to employers.
An internship in China will help your child to gain the global experience that is increasingly valued by employers today and will also allow them to gain more experience than the would back home.
"While a student at the Ohio State University, I did a study abroad program in Beijing. Those 3 months were life-changing: I gained eye-opening insight into another culture, learned to love travel and embrace new experiences, and taught myself how to adapt and correct my mistakes quickly. However, I came to feel I should have been working in China instead.
How would an overseas internship have benefited me? For one it would have given me the practical, real world experience that employers value. Instead of gaining this experience in an entry-level position as a college graduate, I could have entered the labor market with a step up on my peers- not only would I have real world work experience, but that experience would have been in China. If I could do it all over again, I would have gained international work experience earlier and tried to translated that experience into an overseas position immediately upon graduation.
Even if your son or daughter's end goal isn't to work overseas, working as an intern abroad will prove to employers that they're willing to handle things on their own to meet their goals and work through problems. Adaptability and flexibility are key in the age of information and communication at our fingertips."
Why Intern in China?
Interning in China will provide your son or daughter with the tools necessary to succeed in our "global village".
Sometimes the pace of change here is downright absurd, but this rapid change forces everyone to be adaptable, resourceful, and comfortable making decisions in the face of ambiguity and incomplete information.
Whatever the industry, our interns work with other young go-getters as well as more senior expats and local Chinese employees. Networking opportunities abound, and the pace with which a young and ambitious go-getter can climb the "career ladder" here makes career progress in Europe and North America look downright slow in comparison.
Why SmartIntern?
At SmartIntern we're experienced, reliable (see our Testimonials here), and involved in every intern placement we take on.
As Co-Founders, we have a combined 12+ years of experience in Shanghai and Mainland China. We are intimately familiar with the local landscape and, after having spent time working in both China and the US, help our clients to "sell" their China experience to prospective employers back home.
We take pride on being an authority on career building in China and have had our work featured in publications such as The Nanfang and on university websites form schools including Pepperdine University and Brigham Young.
We tailor every one of our internships to our client's exact needs, and take pride in being the most personable internship company in Asia.
Why can you trust us?
After working our way from internships and entry level jobs into management positions in Shanghai, we have strong knowledge of what it takes to succeed here. Since launching, we have placed interns from a variety of top universities, including Harvard, Emory, University of Toronto, and University of St. Andrews.
The customized, tailor-made placement process that we perform is more thorough than that offered by any other placement company in China. We carefully review and analyze what our candidates seek, ask what is their ideal internship and how can we place them in it. We are transparent and communicative through the course of our placement process and usually make a placement between 2-8 weeks after beginning.
We vet each and every company we work with. Just as we are selective of the interns who we accept into our program, so to are we selective of those employers we work with. Each of our partner companies is reputable, responsible, and able to provide its interns with the environment and the tools they need to succeed. Your son or daughter will receive their own desk and workspace, an English-speaking manager, and real responsibilities and projects.
Our interns work hard and contribute- they don't fetch coffee.
Is Shanghai Safe?
Shanghai is one of the safest cities in the world. It has an incredibly low rate of violent crime and most people (ourselves included) report feeling safer walking the streets at night than in their home countries.
In our Supported Program, we provide top-notch housing & accommodation that includes 24-hour guard desk and a secure front gate that limits foot traffic into the compound. We also provide airport pickup, 24-7 support, seminars, Chinese lessons, a city guide, and metro and SIM cards along with other amenities. For a trimmed-down program package, please see the Solo Program, and a comparison table here.
At SmartIntern, we are always only a phone call away, and we'll be there for them checking in as often as necessary.