Q&A with a Colleague: New York City Director Melanie Pellis

Global Career Center (GCC) has been offering internship programs in New York City for many years. The team recently spoke with New York City Program Director, Melanie Pellis, to find out what makes interning in NYC so special.

First, a little background

Melanie grew up in Melbourne, Australia and has been living in New York City since 2023. After studying abroad at Michigan State University in 2016 (where she met GCC's Co-Founder Chris McKenzie), Melanie later moved to Toronto and then decided to pursue her career in International Education in the Big Apple.

View of the iconic New York City Skyline, taken from Long Island City across the East River.

Melanie wears many hats in the GCC team, originally joining as our Director of Content & Communications, and now she also manages the NYC Internship Program.

Below are some lightly edited highlights from our conversation:

What are some of the top industries that have great internship placement opportunities?

NYC is a great hub for finance, business and marketing/communications. We have many students majoring in these areas, and a range of host employers seeking intern support for projects in these fields of interest. Internships vary from full-time in the office (typically in either Manhattan or Brooklyn), to hybrid and sometimes fully remote.

View of the Empire State Building in New York City and surrounding skyscrapers, taken from Midtown, Manhattan.

What are some recent Universities and companies you’ve worked with on internship/co-op program?

Our primary partners for NYC are UC Berkeley, University of Oslo, and recently Keystone Sports. Berkeley's students are in NYC for the summer (June-July), the University of Oslo during the fall (September-December) and Keystone Sports with a combination of both.

We have a lot of great host organizations and can accommodate a wide range of interests. A few partners that stand out are;

• Ariel Partners; an IT Services and Business Consulting organization

• Dress for Success; a non-profit organization with marketing, communications and operations projects

• Social View Agency; a marketing and social media agency

What are some of the challenges you face with placing interns and co-op students?

Short duration programs can be a challenge, as oftentimes employers would like to host students for longer periods. Bigger companies often prefer local students because they will use the internship as a pipeline to full time employment.

However, companies still like to have interns with an international perspective, and would actually like to host these students more regularly than a 1x summer internship. They would host different students for Fall, Spring, and Summer semester if they could!

Juxtaposition of the World Trade Center/Freedom Tower in the Financial District (FiDi). Left: View from Jersey City across the Hudson River, Right: Close-up from outside The Oculus.

What do students do when they are not working?

Day to day life after work can vary based on the hours students are working in their individual internships, but oftentimes students might have dinner together as a group, and do some sightseeing on weekends.

In NYC, some of the top things to do include seeing a Broadway show, Yankee game in the summer (both of which GCC incorporates within the summer program!), exploring Central Park or walking the Brooklyn Bridge.

Away from the hustle and bustle in NYC - strolling the charming streets of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

So, there is a ton to do and see in NYC, but with its great location do students explore other parts of the Tri-State Area?

Many students will travel on the weekend within the state of New York (it's quite easy to get around via the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) and MTA (NYC's public transportation), and some also choose to take the Amtrak to Philadelphia, a short 1.5hrs by train, or DC (around 3hrs).

What does the future hold for GCC NYC?

We will always offer great internship placements for students here in NYC, and our numbers each year are steadily increasing which is so great to see!

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If you're an employer seeking interns in New York City, or a university looking to discuss a partnership with GCC, reach out at info@globalcareercenter.org to continue the conversation!