David Lloyd, one of The Intern Group's co-founders and its CEO, grew up in London. Having finished school and graduated from university in this city, surrounded by its culture daily, he wanted to step out of his comfort zone and see what the world had to offer.
This spirited mindset led David to make a life-changing decision: he wanted to gain work experience overseas, learn about working environments in other countries, and learn a new language.
But this was a daunting task - there were no internship program providers like The Intern Group to turn to for help. David sent over 100 emails to companies across the globe, in what he calls an "Odyssey and a nightmare". Finally, after hard work and colossal effort, in 2008, he landed an internship at Rolex in Argentina.
Working and living in Argentina proved to be one of the most important times in David's life, and it was his "horrible" housing in Buenos Aires and his initial difficulty making friends that planted a seed in his mind.
"How can this experience be better for others?"
After David's internship ended, he got a job in real estate in Buenos Aires and became fluent in Spanish by spending over two hours a day in language school and would go on to pass his Dele C2 exam. He'd found his feet in Argentina and made friends and connections for life.
He had achieved everything he planned when he left London.
What David didn't realize was how valuable this experience overseas would be in the London job market and for his future career. After getting everything he could from his time in Latin America, David began applying for roles in London in what, at the time, he thought was his passion: finance, sales, and trading.
David sent handfuls of job applications online and was mostly met with silence. Fortunately, one of these applications caught the eye of someone at Merrill Lynch, an investment management company within the Bank of America. Before he knew it, David was having an interview at their London HQ for a highly coveted role on their Sales & Trading graduate scheme.
What he didn’t anticipate was how interested the interviewer would be in his experience working in Argentina. The interviewer, an American who had done his MBA in Barcelona, began speaking to him in Spanish to test his skills.
David passed this test with flying colors. The interviewer said to him: "We get so many cookie-cutter applicants with the same experiences. Your time in Argentina shows curiosity about the world, a desire to get out of your comfort zone, and out-of-the-box thinking. This is exactly the type of person we're looking for."
The next day, David received a job offer.
It turned out that the number one thing that stood out in one of the world's most competitive global cities and industries, was David's international internship experience.
But what happened to David after this dream outcome?
Well, he realized that the world of finance wasn't for him and wouldn’t be part of his long-term future. In fact, he regretted not doing his internship in finance. He discovered how important it is to test drive a career before you commit.
He would leave Merrill Lynch because the seed he had planted in Argentina started to grow into a mission and a plan.
David wanted to create an organization that would help make international internships a normal part of higher education. He was determined to make the community overseas, the authentic immersion in new cultures, and the professional development that comes with an overseas internship part of degrees worldwide.
And that is how The Intern Group was born. The first-ever pilot program was launched in Colombia in 2011 with just 10 students - a world away from the 2,000+ interns we now have on program each year.
After The Intern Group was selected by Startup Chile, David would go on to meet his now-wife while living in Chile and the company was covered extensively in the world media by the likes of CNN, Forbes, and the Wall Street Journal. We are now partnered with 120+ universities across the globe with the number rapidly growing.
At The Intern Group, we make our key pillars seamless and straightforward:
- A well-matched internship for your career goals and interests.
- Authentic cultural immersion in a dynamic city overseas.
- A community of passionate interns and friends you'll make forever.
- Well-located and pleasant accommodations surrounded by a global community of other program interns to make you feel at home..
David created The Intern Group because he knows exactly what you want and need from your internship experience as he’s done it himself. He has been where you are now.