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Internship Opportunities in China

At REDSTAR we have a pretty amazing internship programme. We know this because every single person that interns with us, loves it!  What’s not to love – we have 2 offices in China, we are a creative bunch and you will get to be involved with all aspects of making a magazine and lots of other stuff associated with that – from helping out with our websites and WeChat digital platforms, to creating cool events – you will learn lots and you will have a great time!

About us

Established in 2003, REDSTAR Works is a boutique, UK-owned media and design company. Our office in Brighton & Hove (UK) focuses on ‘creative’ work such as graphic design and web-development; while our two China offices (Qingdao & Hangzhou) focus on the publishing of ‘REDSTAR’, an English language city magazine, as well as an annual education guide. This is where we would love your help. 

REDSTAR Qingdao website / REDSTAR Hangzhou website

We are a very creative and dynamic company; our hours are flexible, and we have fun delivering high-quality work. We write about the best places in Qingdao and Hangzhou and work with a variety of interesting local and foreign people, in a constantly-changing China. If you’re enthusiastic and dedicated and want responsibility, creativity and space to grow, then this internship is for you!

What to Expect

This is not an internship where you are left to make coffee! At REDSTAR we have a hands-on, continuous learning approach and value all inputs. You can complete our Intern Application form below – this will tell us a lot about yourself, your skills, your goals and your objectives. We aim to match these as well as we can, so that both you, and the company, get as much from the internship as possible.

About you

  • You have effective communication and cooperative skills.
  • You are a team-player and work well with different personalities.
  • You have good English, and although Chinese ability is not essential, it would be an advantage.
  • You are willing to explore a new city, network and bring creative ideas to the table.
  • You have already told us that you have some of the following skills: writing, graphic design (we use Adobe In-Design, Illustrator & Photoshop), photography, videography, social media, digital marketing, events planning, project management, sales & marketing.
  • Most importantly you are creative and entrepreneurial.
  • You will have your own laptop.
  • You are not the type to be overly frustrated at some of the China-specific challenges you will invariably face. For example, these might include lack of high-speed internet; not being able to access some sites you are used to browsing when at home, etc, etc. China can be a challenging environment but at REDSTAR we feel part of the enjoyment is in embracing the differences, and having fun overcoming the problems you may face!

The Internship Experience…

I thoroughly enjoyed my short 5-week stay at REDSTAR. I had the incredible opportunity to publish my own content in the REDSTAR magazine, writing articles for both the Qingdao and Hangzhou editions on the topics of culture, travel, as well as write-ups on events.

Moreover, I helped organise events such as the REDSTAR pub crawl and Gatsby Party, being particularly involved in utilising WeChat both in the run-up to and post event.

I was also responsible for launching REDSTAR’s first ever debate in the new Chit-Chat series, hosting a small seminar of around 15 people on the topic of Veganism.

Unfortunately, I didn’t quite get a chance to be as active on REDSTAR’s Facebook page as I would have liked, but the chance to go to Hangzhou and prepare for the publication of the new magazine there was so much fun.

Tim Foulds, United Kingdom

Intern, REDSTAR Qingdao

Working for REDSTAR was an incredible experience. Every day new tasks would pop up, new content had to be found and written about. I put more thought into what I wrote about, I didn’t just state facts, I was rather trying to tell a story.

I learned so many things about Qingdao and China that I would have never learned without this internship. Exploring the city for a piece on the different markets in Qingdao was definitely a lot of fun, it made me get out of my comfort zone and dive right into the adventure.

The most rewarding thing has been seeing articles WeChat posts that I helped create online or in the Hangzhou REDSTAR issue. I wrote about 3 articles for the magazine in total. I got involved in the anniversary cover, taking pictures of 15s around Qingdao (if that counts). I also helped set up the third Instagram for REDSTAR Qingdao and posted regularly, while I was there.

Writing/editing WeChat posts was my main occupation, I enjoyed learning About the platform and the balance of simply editing content for WeChat and creating some on my own. Especially because it will come in handy in the future.

Lucy Ter-Minassian, Germany

Intern, REDSTAR Qingdao

I think that what I wanted in terms of completing the internship and having it on my resume. I also got my work published so I can show potential employers.

The most rewarding thing about the internship was seeing how working in a magazine/ media organisation operates and how it can be so cool, casual and free. I wrote two 900 word articles for the magazine, edited and wrote some WeChat posts and edited and took some photographs. I would have liked to get more involved in Redstars social media. I also think my articles would have benefited from having sources in them.

I think REDSTAR would also benefit from having a style guide for interns writing articles. Getting into sales pitches and some marketing would have been interesting too as we just started that near the end of our internship and enjoyed it. All in all, I had a great time and Jasper was an amazing supervisor!

Bridget Frances Mellor, Australia

Intern, REDSTAR Qingdao

JOIN US

If you want to apply for an internship at REDSTAR, or if you’ve already been accepted and are on your way to us, please help by completing our form so we can be better prepared!