Melissa Sconyers is originally from California and graduated in August of 2007 from the University of Texas with a BS Degree in Advertising, a BA in Chinese, and a minor in French. Melissa participated in the IES Abroad program in Bejing.
What would you describe as some of the benefits that students receive when doing an internship abroad?

I can’t imagine doing anything better for one’s career. I have an interesting and diverse background and the first thing employers wanted to discuss was my degree in Chinese and my experience abroad in China.


Can you please provide 2 or 3 examples of internships abroad that are available to students?

After participating in IES Abroad, I had a lot of friends who joined the program as well. Some of the internships they participated in included: financial services, working for NGO’s, and some government related opportunities.

During my first internship I worked as a consultant for the Chinese government’s official office that handles the website for the city of Bejing. My responsibilities included website design in addition to handling translation and language issues for the website. I assisted them in how to present their online presence to people from other places in the world. For my second internship I was a photo journalist at a Beijing magazine. I actually did more with photography than writing and did a lot of photo shoots involving people and local restaurants and bars that were being highlighted for the magazine.

Many students often become frustrated when looking for internships abroad since there are so many options from which to choose and it’s often difficult to compare what each has to offer. Can you please describe what you see as some of the benefits of getting an internship through IES versus some of the other programs that are available?

I did look into other programs and I found that what IES Abroad offered students was pretty unique. They were fantastic at helping students find internships. They took care of coordinating everything and the people from IES that I dealt with were either Chinese; or had been in China for so long that they knew the area and the people so well; they might as well have been Chinese. I liked the fact that the internships offered were not just English translation jobs. IES Abroad makes sure that the internships offered are worthwhile and related to the students’ major and career.

If you had only one piece of advice for students looking to do an internship abroad what would it be?

To go to a study abroad program like IES Abroad – you never really know what you are going to get without the help of someone who knows what they are doing. Many of my friends got involved with other programs and complained of internships that were not related to their interests or career goals.

IES Abroad has been in business for over 50 years and they really know what they are doing. In a place like China I couldn’t have gotten an internship that was so worthwhile on my own. I also recommend that students consider working in a country that’s not as popular for study abroad. This will afford them additional opportunities to choose from when selecting from the wide range of options that are available.

Tell us a little bit about how you went about finding an internship abroad and how you decided that IES Abroad was the best choice for you.

I did all my own research and I based my decision on two factors:

1. The internships were accredited and they offered extensive support for finding and securing them.

2. IES Abroad use to offer a trip every year to Tibet but unfortunately that has been eliminated from the program due to the political situation over there.

Please describe some of the opportunities IES Abroad offers students for summer?

The summer semesters are not long enough for internships. They do offer a language intensive program and in the area studies program. Also, in general when you graduate from a study abroad program for a “real semester”, you get more respect. Summer programs in generally seen as opportunities for students to travel and have fun. Please discuss a little bit about your experience as an IES intern.

The most important part in choosing a study abroad program is making sure they are reputable. There has been a recent boom in the popularity of studying abroad. It’s important for students to make sure that the program knows how to do it right. Many of the other programs I looked into could not offer the valuable experience that IES Abroad brought to the table.

Do you think your IES Abroad internship experience will have a positive impact on your job search or career options? How?

Yes, definitely. I have been out of school for almost a year now and my experience abroad is still the number one thing people want to talk about. While I was working at the advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy in New York, I had the opportunity to work directly on campaigns that will be launched in China. I just recently moved to the San Francisco to do marketing and business development for a start-up technology company.

Would you recommend this program to your friends?

Absolutely! I have recommended IES Abroad to everyone I talk to. I believe that IES Abroad is one of the best organizations in the field of getting quality internship opportunities for students abroad.