A review on Global Experiences Summer Internships in London

Other Reviews on Global Experiences Summer Internships in London

• C+

  Global Experiences Summer Internships in London Awful

  Reviewed by Amanda on July 11, 2011 .

  I have never felt like I was dropped off in a foreign country with 8000 less dollars in my pocket until now. I have been here for 7 weeks with 2 left to go, and have had little contact from Global.
  I love my internship, but it could have been acquired on my own. Global pocketed 6000 of the 8000 dollars I paid them.

• C+

  Global Experiences Summer Internships in London Rip Off

  Reviewed by Sydney on August 29, 2012 .

  I chose GE because I wanted to Intern abroad rather than study. Their Student Affairs guy, Alex, was the first person I talked to. He was incredibly nice and very helpful. He made me feel like that's how the whole process would go. There would be webinars to prepare me, yadda yadda yadda. I signed up for the program in July of 2011 to travel summer 2012. I didn't hear from anyone at GE again after the payments started rolling in. I thought "well it's still a long way away. Maybe there's not much I can do right now." They made me feel like I had to secure my spot in the London program NOW or I wouldn't get to go (because of the Olympics). So that's what I did.
  
  After a whole semester of basically nothing happening (not hearing from anyone at GE, not knowing WHEN I would be placed in an internship, nothing), I emailed Alex and asked him what I should be doing right now. He directed me to this portal where there was a million bajillion things of paperwork for me to do. Cool... so I did the paperwork. It's now Spring and I still don't have an internship. This is important because I can't apply for my UK Visa until I have an employer to list on the application...so after waiting and waiting, I FINALLY get my first interview in LATE APRIL. I leave June 8th... this is really pushing it, but it's still doable. I interviewed with this employer and one other employer before being placed in my internship on May 12th...3 weeks before I should be on a plane to London.
  
  I scramble to get all of the ridiculous Visa requirements done, while also taking finals and finishing out my school year, and get everything mailed off to the UK Border Agency 5 days before I'm supposed to leave. I had to pay extra to have it overnighted (GE didn't cover that) and pay to have the Visa rush processed (GE didn't cover that either). I'm not sure why I was made to feel like I needed to jump on signing up for this program LAST JULY if I wasn't going to be able to move forward with anything until the last possible minute. In case you wondering...no I didn't get to London on my originally scheduled flight. I had to pay US Airways another $300 to change my flight, I lost an entire week in London and at my Internship (I asked if I could be moved to second session so I didn't lose any time and they said no). I was not offered to be reimbursed for my flight change or offered to stay an extra week (even though I paid for it) and other people were offered both of those things.
  
  My time in London was fine. I had fun, but I worked a lot. To anyone out there considering interning abroad...think really hard. I prefer working to going to school, but it really doesn't leave a lot of time for just relaxing and enjoying the country you're in. My company was nice enough to give me a week off at the end of my internship so I got to see everything I wanted to see before I left.
  
  Once I got to London, Melissa, my GE coordinator, was pretty good. She was helpful whenever she could be, etc. But most of the time, we were all on our own figuring everything out by ourselves.
  
  If I were you (assuming "you" are a college student seeking an internship for school credit or just wanting to study abroad for school credit) I would go through my study abroad office at my university and do whatever they recommend. I did this all on my own and it was an epic fail.

• A

  Global Experiences Summer Internships in London I had an AMAZING time with GE!

  Reviewed by ItWasGoodForMe on September 14, 2012 .

  I had a great time with GE (My second internship with them).
  
  If you're coming from abroad GE takes your application, gets you hired, helps get your visa, and sets up your housing for you. Most of the fee goes to housing (London is CRAZY expensive) and the little that does go to administration is well spent.
  
  The staff is knowledgeable and makes an active effort to make sure that you are satisfied, safe, and having fun. I've been with GE before and their program is very easy to go through.

• B+

  Global Experiences Summer Internships in London Your experience is more than your program.

  Reviewed by Kate on October 01, 2012 .

  My time with Global Experiences was generally very good. I applied late in the game, and they were very accommodating and made sure my first steps were completed in time so that I could be enrolled. From there, communication took a long dive off a cliff, however. Because I'd applied so late, I was concerned about getting my paperwork done for both the program and my visa, but when I would call with a question, it would often be days or weeks before I heard an answer. I was also talking to several different people at once, and I had no clear idea of who was doing what and who should be receiving which materials. Once I was in London, Melissa was excellent. She answered questions and had tips and pointers for everything from transportation to work to entertainment.
  
  Placement was a bit difficult. I didn't receive my placement until about two and a half weeks before I left for London, so there was some serious concern about whether or not I would have a visa in time to travel. I had to rush order my visa and send my passport express mail just to have a prayer of getting it back in time. This was both incredibly stressful and an additional expense.
  
  In preparing to go, I would say ask your employer what is expected of you instead of GE. I had almost a whole suitcase of business casual clothes that I never wore and did nothing but take room and weight, because I was told I would need them for my internship. As it turned out, my workplace was very laid back, and I was one of several people in this situation. The only time I needed to dress up at all was for a launch event for our summer project. What I'm saying is, ASK YOUR EMPLOYER ABOUT ATTIRE BEFORE YOU PACK. It is very possible that you will be able to wear your regular clothes for work. There will be souvenirs and food and whatever else you find to bring home that will be much more important than that extra pair of khakis.
  
  The program itself, I enjoyed a lot. My placement was wonderful. I worked at a non-profit called the Ministry of Stories, which does writing workshops and community events for children in the surrounding neighborhood. It includes Hoxton Street Monster Supplies, whose proceeds help to fund the workshops and draw attention to the organization. It was not directly in my field, but because of the environment in which I was working, I was able to develop many professional skills which I had used only minimally in the past. Teamwork was the most important, because we were a small group of people taking on huge projects. Because of that, I was able to gain experience in several areas including public relations, marketing, data entry, event planning and some retail work. My last project was co-heading a social media takeover with the Ministry's PR coordinator. It was a lot of responsibility and the learning curve was huge, but it was ended up being brilliant and it was fun to do! Everything I did was important to the organization as a whole, and that was both educational and fulfilling.
  
  While participating in the program, we lived at NIDO Student Center. NIDO itself was kind of dreadful, but it served its purpose well. It is better than most freshman dorm rooms, and you aren't there that much anyway. My tips would be to bring your own ethernet cable (the one they provide, which you have to purchase, is short and there is only wifi in the common areas) and don't eat there unless you have to, the exception being good coffee.
  
  GE did a very good job pairing us with roommates. My roommate and I, while very different, were great living together. Because of the dorm style of NIDO, we quickly made friends with the people living in the rooms next to us. It was a way that made a huge new place feel a bit smaller and more manageable, and it helped to have a friend right off the bat.
  
  I did not participate in many social aspects of the program. The welcome bus tour was excellent, despite the rain, especially since we did it the first day. It gave us a good feeling of where things generally were in the city as well as making us aware that we were really in London. There were three weekend day trips, one each to Dover, Brighton and Greenwich. I went to Greenwich, and we had a tour and then were given a couple hours to enjoy the area. There were also pub nights, a welcome and farewell dinner, and a couple of other things along the way. I enjoyed what I participated in, but I generally felt as though I'd rather be doing something else. There were a lot of cultural activities, both British and otherwise, that GE could have exposed us to, but I had more luck discovering on my own. For instance, NIDO was within 15 minutes walking of a whole street of amazing ethnic restaurants, everything from British pub food to Mexican to Turkish to Thai, and the only place we went as a group was a pub and a chain Indian restaurant that wasn't very good.
  
  In many ways, Global Experiences is what got me to London more than what made the trip for me. I fell in love with the city and the people, and the most memorable parts of the experience were the things I did on my own or with friends: I was able to take two weekend trips and several day trips, and though I spent as many days as possible sightseeing in London, I only scratched the surface of what the city had to offer. I was also lucky enough to be there during the Olympics, so I went to the opening ceremony concert at Hyde Park and two football matches in Manchester. I made friends with program participants, as I mentioned before, and with locals I met at the pubs or at work, many of whom I'm still in contact with.
  
  Overall, I had a wonderful summer, but it had very little to do with Global Experiences. Your internship experience will be what you make of it. Take advantage of the city and surrounding area and be the best employee you can be, and it will be worth every once of stress and every penny spent it took to get you there.

• A-

  Global Experiences Summer Internships in London Great Experience!

  Reviewed by Sarah on October 02, 2012 .

  Overall I had an amazing summer, I had a great internship and made some great friends. However, I know that a couple of my good friends were not as fortunate as me, they had struggles with Visas and placements. But I had a great internship this summer, loved every minute of it and was able to experience the city. My friends and I took advantage of the location and tried to make the most of our experience. When I was applying I dealt with Chrissy who was very nice and helpful. She is probably the person who sold me on the London program. When the paperwork started coming in and we had questions, we were asked to contact Jodi. While Jodi is quite knowledgable in the area of international travel, she is nearly impossible to get a hold of and does not respond to emails..or if she does they are too late and are not helpful at that point. I emailed several times and never got a response until I called in and had to talk to her. But Melissa was great throughout our whole time in London. We had a Facebook group which informed us of activities and if anyone had a question another person had an answer. When I signed up for the program I was not expecting to be babied through the process and I wasn't, we were given directions to where we worked but we had to navigate the Tube and figure out the city and I think that is what made the experience better for me. We were truly on our own, but had people to fall back on if we needed help. I would recommend the program, if you are like me and had everything work out well then it's a great opportunity and a once in a lifetime experience.

• A+

  Global Experiences Summer Internships in London My Time in London!

  Reviewed by Lemcmurry on January 25, 2013 .

  Hi there, my name is Ligon McMurry and I was an attendee of the Summer 2012 London Internship Experience studying Graphic Design. There are so many highlights from my experience that I have no idea where to start. My internship position was working for a company in Teddington, England which was one of the furthest internships away. The company was called Tru SportsWear. I stayed in the Notting Hill Nido building and met some wondering new friends who were also with Global Experiences. There were about twenty of us all together. Some of my highlights was being a part of Project Moda Season 2 in going to Italy which I have never been to. Probably the hottest day of my life it about 110 degrees I would say. Other place I went to was Oxford with a friend my internship where I worked. Me and three others who I met from another internship company also asked if I would like to get a ticket to see the USA vs France first soccer match of the Olympic Games up in Glascow, Scotland. It was so much fun! Throughout my time in London, I went on the trips that GE had for us. We went to Brighton, and to the White Cliffs of Dover. I saw three other Olympic Games which were also amazing. Eight weeks wasn't long enough I wish I could have stayed a whole year and do study abroad and travel more, but my time spent in England was well worth it and thanks to GE and our representative Melissa I felt I have grown more to know who I am as a person then when I first got there. If you want a good place to intern then you'll loveliving in London and going through GE they get back to as soon as you sign up!

• A+

  Global Experiences Summer Internships in London My Time in London!

  Reviewed by Lemcmurry on January 25, 2013 .

  Hi there, I was an attendee of the Summer 2012 London Internship Experience studying Graphic Design. There are so many highlights from my experience that I have no idea where to start. My internship position was working for a company in Teddington, England which was one of the furthest internships away. The company was called Tru SportsWear. I stayed in the Notting Hill Nido building and met some wondering new friends who were also with Global Experiences. There were about twenty of us all together. Some of my highlights was being a part of Project Moda Season 2 in going to Italy which I have never been to. Probably the hottest day of my life it about 110 degrees I would say. Other place I went to was Oxford with a friend my internship where I worked. Me and three others who I met from another internship company also asked if I would like to get a ticket to see the USA vs France first soccer match of the Olympic Games up in Glascow, Scotland. It was so much fun! Throughout my time in London, I went on the trips that GE had for us. We went to Brighton, and to the White Cliffs of Dover. I saw three other Olympic Games which were also amazing. Eight weeks wasn't long enough I wish I could have stayed a whole year and do study abroad and travel more, but my time spent in England was well worth it and thanks to GE and our representative Melissa I felt I have grown more to know who I am as a person then when I first got there.