Overseas internship at Studios92.com - Internship UK
As a NHL CMD student one will always encounter the semester where one has to experience what it is like in the big big business world. It is almost time for my 90 days industrial placement.
I am still slightly confused about which term to use: ‘industrial placement’ or ‘internship’. According to my placement coach the first is correct. But I get the feeling that the second one is becoming more standard nowadays. I’ll use ‘internship’ ..I am lazy.. oh well, I can be…..
..anyway..
Internship abroad
I can’t exactly remember WHY I chose to find a company abroad for my internship as I have many reasons to do so. I recall a convo with my previous mentor about study opportunities in Vilnius and how cool (and cold) it is to be there. He painted me a picture so clear, that I definitely wish to visit it one day either to study or just to experience being there for a while. After this the ball started to roll and one of my lovely colleagues recommended me a web development company in Edinburgh. My first contact moments (email) with the owner of that company was quite oke. After a while it was harder to get in touch with him as he was quite busy. No problem.. I just look for other ways..
So… search and you will find!
I found internship-uk.com, immediately applied on Nov 2nd 2008 and got accepted Nov 6th 2009. I must say, they respond fast! Their speed is overwhelming! I wish every company has this speed of replying..
Today I created a new blog Category: MY internship @ Studios92. This category will contain posts related to my internship, or industrial placement, in New Romney with Studios92.com / Studios92.co.uk
Well, it is all fine… I’ve been accepted..I need to deposit money for my accommodation (poor me). It feels all good..
It feels too good to be true!
People all over the internet (and world) warn each other. Bells must ring when things feel too good to be true and when it seems all things happen way too easy. Yes, my bells (ding..dong) began to ring (ring..ring) about a week after I got accepted. Can you blame me? I am about to send 3000 GBP to them… what if I arrive in New Romney searching for my internship dream company and start to realise that there is none. I would hate myself for that…
I started searching for proof. Proof like, students who did internship there as well, who kept a blog and shared their experiences. Funny enough (or not funny actually) I could not find any… 
well, yes.. I found one where a guy (I think it is a guy) called the boss of internship-uk a jerk (I shall not let his statement influence me)….but I found nothing more!
Either the company doesn’t let it’s interns write publicly about it.. OR the interns there are just not the kind of people who share their experiences publicly. Perhaps mostly our school teachers stimulates this with their students.
UPDATE: they let their interns write blogs about the company. correction: it is implicitly forced to write positive articles on blogs about the company, you have no choice. In my opinion, blogs suppose to be personal and come from within. if it is not, then it should be professional. Not because the company says you have to write at least 300 words about the internship using at least certain words and more requirements and be all positive. And then they tell you the next topic you have to write about, for example movies etc. Otherwise it seems like the blogs are forced. This totally is against my grain. What I have learned from this company is to be suspicious of every blog article about experiences with a company or service and reviews you read on the internet. Especially the positive ones!
Tip if you are interested in doing an internship:
Anyway.. like I mentioned earlier… search and you will find!
After a few more search attempts I found someone who has listed her UK internship at Studios92 in her LinkedIn page. I contacted her and she was nice enough to respond to me about her internship there. She had a wonderful time and even showed me a few photo’s. ..she managed to make me want to go to New Romney even more now.. :
Now…. I go and find me some money to pay for my internship there.. 
Are you sure they are offering you an internship and not just accommodation for an internship? They seem to be a hostel/b&b type company.
Ivo, thank you for your concern. It is a company, specially for internships as well
and their core business is the accommodation company. I might be working in one of their other companies that compliment Studios92: http://gift-tours.com
I can’t wait till I am there!
Hi, I just read your blog about going on an Internship to Studios92 in New Romney. I have been there in 2005 and believe me, for most people there it was hell.
Some more opinions here (in german unfortunately): http://www.unicum.de/community/uniforum/karriere/14357-praktikum-bei-studios92-england.html
Chris, thanks for sharing the link. I have read it but unfortunately didn’t understand everything. I am sorry to hear that your experience was bad. Hopefully Studios92.com Ltd. is better now 3 years later..if not, then I will have to spend a lot of good times with the girls
Kana(atje),
You do realise that their websites all seem to be coded using legacy asp?
Will this mean you are going to learn a new language, other than php?
Hi
who are you? Please say hi to me 
Greetzz
Remco, yes you are correct. It is a different language from PHP (can you believe?) ..
not sure if I will fall in love with it like I did with PHP…
@Chris:
You are right about the ‘hell’ part. I was too excited to listen to you, though there are plenty of signs that tell me the place isn’t right. At least, not what I expected according to their website. (it might be right for some people who like to work in those conditions)
I left the company after 4 weeks and now found myself a good company!
yay!
@R:
Very supicious .. saying hi to my blog but not in the company..and not replying to my email.
@Remco Reitsma:
Still in love with PHP .. cause that can make me do more wicked things compared to ASP
Hey everyone. Just a quick word to say that it was probably the worst experience for many people. It’s more a scam than really an internship. Regarding your article, I am surprised that you didn’t find anything, there are plenty of internship review sites, blog articles and even a facebook group that confirm this company is a rip off. I was there in 2006 and can’t believe this company still exists. Only foreign interns work there after paying thousands of GBP. Atmosphere is bad, learning experience is nearly null, and of course, you will be treated as a slave by the big guru Dino.
If anyone actually had a good experience, I’d like to have a word with you!
@adrian, Thank you for your reply. I stopped looking for something e;se because I found this. But I left after 4 weeks and found a professional company in London (Touchnote) where I learned many things.
Studios92/internship-uk are indeed rip-offs. Not only for students who are looking for internship, but also for people who look for accommodation through their site. So far there is no one I know who had a good experience.
Adrian, please help other students not make the same mistake. Share your experiences from 2006 at http://internship-reviews.com/internship-uk
thanks u guys…guess what i applied 2 days ago & they have already shown alot of intrest in taking me & i was very excited. I was gonna do Accounting with them but after reading this i think i know what to do….just will stick to my studies other wise i was gonna take a gap year for this..
Im in London plz plz if any one of you know how i can get into a good internship for accounting, i hav no experience as i am still studying i do know accouting really well but only theoretically…..plz plz opinions & suggestions are welcome
@adrian
Hey Adrian, yes I had a great time at the ‘company’. No, it wasn’t professional but I did learn a lot and met some really cool people. And no, I’m not ‘one of them’ .. I was, back in 2004. This blog implies they haven’t moved forward much (which seems realistic considering its an intern-powered company).
What I really wanted to know, what facebook page are you referring to? Did they take it down?
Cheers
Are you guys serious?! All of this sounds really, really convincing. I was accepted to do an internship with them starting april 2010. After reading this, as well as several other forums, I am seriously considering not going. I have not yet transferred the accomodation fee, save the £100 deposit. PLEASE, tell me, are you sure it’s that bad and you’re not just posting this because you personally had a bad experience or something there?
I would hate to waste my time and a lot of money…
@vince
Most of the things they wanted to teach me were lies. Even if I had evidence to support me, they didn’t want to believe me.
The Facebook link is: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=ts&gid=66159127088
@Fred
It may not be easy to believe all these stories but this is the reality unfortunately. If you can go for a few weeks without paying, then I suggest you to look for yourself.. but if you pay money, know that you won’t get it back.. and if you really want to learn something, know that you won’t..
For you this Facebook link too:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=ts&gid=66159127088