• Intern Abroad: Testimony Letters 2010-14

    Dear BEST,
    As per your request I want to let you know a description of my duties and what projects I´m contributing to at Red Deportes in Madrid. I am helping locate and pitch to potential sponsors for a sports event that raises money and awareness to deal with AIDS. I also went to nearby towns to teach young children about Africa through an interactive exhibit of objects and paintings from Africa itself.

    Thank you for this worthwhile and exciting opportunity!

    David Raisler
    dmr2120@columbia.edu
    Jan. 2014

     


     

    Hello BEST,

    I am emailing you to keep you up to date with how things have been going at SdB, given that my internship ends this Friday.

    Up to now, I can safely say that I am beyond satisfied with my time there. First of all, my Spanish has improved enormously. I am not quite fluent yet; but I can hold most conversations without too many difficulties, and most of all my understanding of the language is near-perfect.

    With regards to the work I have been doing, things have been consistent, but enjoyable. Since July, I have worked mainly with the workers in the exports department creating invoices, sending out said invoices, calculating bills, and even helped the director with the creation of several excel documents, which are now being used by the company.

    For the last three weeks, I am expecting to do more finance-related works. I talked to the director about it last week and hope to talk about it again tomorrow.

    Thank you and have a nice day.

    Joseph Fissore – Logistics Intern Madrid
    fissore.j@husky.neu.edu
    Dec. 2013

     


     

    “I had the pleasure of working with Jill during my internship program through BEST Programs in Madrid, Spain. Before I even arrived in Madrid, Jill had three interviews already set up for me with dates, locations and points of contact. I ended up interning with a small magazine for six months and was able to directly contribute by managing advertising contracts and subscriptions databases, as well as writing various pieces for publication.

    I had a great experience and would recommend BEST to anyone who is looking to gain valuable international work experience. My experience with BEST has directly contributed to current work assignments I’ve been given to travel and do business in Latin America. The language and business skills learned through your internship will last a lifetime.

    Jill is very well connected and well respected with her intern placement companies and can offer placement opportunities in just about every business sector.Jill is also very organized, reliable, personable and is committed to helping you make the most our of your internship opportunity. She has been managing BEST for over 20 years, and it shows in the high level of professionalism, integrity and value delivered through her program.”

    Service Category: Career Coach
    Year hired: 2006
    Top Qualities: Great Results, Personable, High Integrity

    Alison Trauley (atrauley@gmail.com)

     


     

    “When I decided to move abroad in Spring 2010 to learn the Spanish language and culture, I researched numerous agencies and options before choosing to work through BEST programs. With the helpful information I received through their website and staff, I learned about their au pair program and decided this was the best option for my travel goals.

    Jill and the BEST staff connected me with a family in Spain, arranged my language classes, provided numerous resources, and personally met with me while I was in Spain. The language school was very impressive, and the family BEST connected me with could not have been better. I have BEST programs to thank for helping me arrange a Spanish experience I will never forget.”

    May 23, 2011

    Kori Hattemer, Au Pair, BEST Programs – (kori.hattemer@gmail.com)

     


     

    “While an undergraduate at St. Edwards University, I contracted BEST to find me an international sales and marketing internship in Madrid Spain. Jill evaluated my professional goals and placed me in a position that best fit my needs and level of Spanish. She was a pleasure to work with and the internship was a complete success!”

    Top qualities: Great Results, Good Value, High Integrity

    John Shipley (shiptx@hotmail.com)

     


     

    I did my internship in translation in Brussels from September to November of 2010. At first it didn’t seem good because they were kind of unorganized. Eventually things smoothed out. I was also eventually really welcomed. I even had dinner at my boss’s house! My experience was great! It really opened by eyes to other cultures and it strengthened by love for international travel.

    Here is a photo of me at the Mannikinpis in Brussels.

    Intern Abroad: Testimony Letters

    Sincerely,

    Elisabeth Ellingson (elisabeth.ellingson@gmail.com)

     


     

    Dear BEST,

    I had an extremely positive experience with Best Programs Paid Internship and would whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone looking to move to Spain for study or work purposes. Although I came to Spain with an advanced level of Spanish, the level of support I received with lodging, transportation work placement, Spanish classes and so forth was still invaluable and helped me transition smoothly to life here.

    Spain is a great place to live, filled with culture and life, but the bureaucracy is quite daunting. Going through Best Programs relieved me of so much of the paperwork, red tape, and bureaucracy involved. The entire process with my visa application and student card went through smoothly, the wait time was minimal and everything was trouble free.

    The first week of classes was fantastic – the materials and quality of instruction provided and the cultural immersion activities at the school really helped me jumpstart my somewhat rusty Spanish skills and was a great way to segue into life and culture here, meeting local Spaniards as well as students from all corners of the world. Work-wise, everything also went smoothly as promised. Through Best Programs, I was able to find work placement. The training and support provided by Xavier and the staff there are very comprehensive, I have been working for 2 months now and am very happy with everything – the work content, the support system provided and the work salary.

    Jill herself was kind enough to arrange an apartment for me for my first 3 months in Madrid. Lodging-wise everything could not have been better. I had a cozy, well-furnished room with my own private bathroom, the apartment was beautiful and there was such great energy in the house. Jill and Nimi are extremely positive, friendly people – they made my stay in Madrid very pleasant and were always there to help out with any issues that I came across while adjusting in Spain.

    Initially, I came across Best Programs by pure accident while surfing on the net. At the time, I was considering a host of other similar stay-abroad/work+study programs offered by other agencies. I chose Best Programs purely out of gut instinct, and was worried about how it would be before arriving in Spain. Luckily, everything turned out great! Like I said, the support I received with just about everything was tremendous and it made life here so much easier. For me, it was definitely worth the money!

    David Tzeng (darvinchy80@gmail.com)

     


     

    Elise Novak (Au Pair)
    Family: Blanca Sanz Santander – Dates: 2/12/10 – 6/1/10

    Tasks/Responsibilities:

    My au pair responsibilities were pretty minimal. Everyday after school I spent 2 hours with the kids working on their English homework and reading comprehension. A few days (mostly over Semana Santa) I was asked to babysit the kids for the morning or afternoon, and some evenings the woman who does the housework/cooking would ask me to help them with their showers. This was all I was required to do, though most days I ended up spending pretty much from 5pm until I went to bed with the kids, between homework and dinner and everything.

    Rating of my performance:

    Overall I feel satisfied that I gave it my best effort. I often would prepare ahead for homework time, and I made math flashcards for the girl and a huge vocabulary list for the boy. Unfortunately the boy had some behavioral issues, especially in March and April, so at times I felt like I didn’t know how to deal with him, but he was having problems in school and with the family too, so it wasn’t just in his relationship with me. In general though I got along well with the family and from what I could tell they seemed comfortable with my living habits.

    Rating of the family:

    I could not have asked for a more generous family in terms of how they introduced me to Madrid, included me in all their activities and took me to several palaces and monuments. For Semana Santa I went with them to Vitoria and during that trip they took me to La Rioja. Also in my first month or so the parents stayed up later than usual with me after dinner to speak with me in Spanish and give me practice. In general the kids are pretty well behaved and sweet, though as I said the boy has some behavioral issues, which I think stem out of a lack of social skills.

    Strong points of my experience:

    I saw and learned a lot in Madrid, and in the second half of my stay was able to travel on weekends to other cities. My Spanish definitely improved. My au pair responsibilities were light so I was free to do whatever I wanted during the day and after dinner.

    Weak points:

    My family’s previous au pair had come with another American so they were able to go out at night and meet people together, but I didn’t have anyone to go out with in the first place.

    Would I recommend/change the program?

    Yes, I would definitely recommend the program as a way for young women to get to Spain and explore. I can’t think of anything I would change about the program overall, other than obviously it would be nice to have a larger group of au pairs at any given time in order for them to be able to keep each other company!

    Please let me know if you have any other questions that I didn’t touch on.

    elise.novak@gmail.com

     


     

    Hi,
    The internship was great. My work mates spoke English but they tried to speak Spanish with me and wanted me to speak Spanish, so I learned alot! They also had another intern who I spoke Spanish with most of the time.

    I walked to work every day and it only took 10 minutes. I wouldn’t complain about anything and thought it was great. I have some photos, but don’t have my camera here, but I’ll absolutely send them another day.

    Thank you so much,

    Christina Lindstrom (Swedish Fashion Intern, Spring 2010)


     

    Hi

    I just wanted to make my own comments about my experience with my program in Madrid. I had a totally awesome time and could never have done anything like this without BEST to help arrange everything for me. I shopped around before commiting to the program and found that BEST’s prices were far better than many other comparable programs – alot of which did not included housing at very high prices.

    Your accommodations coordinator found me a great, central apartment and really enjoyed the mix of nationalities that I lived with. BEST gives you a choice to live with a friend, other international students or local Spanish people so you have to decide which option is best for you and for your Spanish skills! My internship was great – it was tough in the beginning to communicate with my coworkers but after the first 2 or 3 weeks things got much easier and then I got more responsibility and more work to do.

    Having this experience has really boosted my confidence and Spanish skills as well as being a lot of fun and giving me a lifetime of memories. I have only good things to say and have recommended the BEST program to MANY people.

    Thank you!
    Betty Salinger

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