Ad Mgmt Student Embraces International Internship in Singapore
Multilingual junior, Lauren Burns, works summer advertising internship for McCann World Group in Singapore
By: Maisie Dufour
Lauren Burns began learning Chinese in kindergarten through a Chinese immersion program. As a result, she formed a passion for the language and culture at an early age. In high school she dual enrolled at Western Michigan University to continue her studies. Burns, now a senior at Michigan State University, is continuing her learning by pursuing an undergraduate degree in Chinese along with a degree in advertising management.
Landing the Perfect Internship
Burns reached out to MSU’s Office for Education Abroad and advisors to find a program where she could combine her passions for advertising and Chinese.
“I was just on the abroad website, scrolling through, like different places, different Asian countries and I stumbled across this one,” said Burns.
After working with abroad advisers, Burns went through the process of interviewing with McCann World Group in Singapore and landed an advertising internship that allows her to speak Chinese, putting her diverse knowledge to use.
“I’m very excited to finally be in a place where the language I’ve been learning is one of the native languages,” said Burns. “I just grew up with such an attraction to the culture as well, so I’m excited to finally use my language besides in class.”
Preparing to go Abroad
As an advertising management student, Burns has completed countless projects, case studies and presentations that have prepared her for her future work in Singapore. In addition, Burns completed an internship with Amway where she did brand management and strategy.
“That was a super cool experience because I was emailing back and forth with people in France and Shanghai and Taiwan,” said Burns. “So that internship set me up so well, just the number of things I had access to and working for such a huge group on various projects.”
Taking with her everything she has learned in school and her previous advertising internship with Amway; Burns is energized by travels abroad and new career experience.
As for advice to students looking for internships or study abroad programs, Burns says doing research about the business and culture is important.
“I didn’t just research the company. I looked everyone’s personal LinkedIn, just to see how they say things or how they celebrate,” said Burns. “They don’t want just anyone coming in, I’m there to learn from them.”
Burns was connected with her McCann World Group Singapore internship through the Office for Education Abroad. Students can their website to connect with internships, travel programs and more.