School and university are essential for your personal growth; you have the opportunity to improve and increase your intellectual ability and your social skills.
But all this is not enough to enter the world of work; it is highly recommended and lately also mandatory in many university courses or high schools to carry out an internship.
This is an excellent opportunity to gain valuable experience and establish a network of acquaintances and socialize with people who may be your colleagues and employers in the future.
Below I will illustrate five tips to find an internship.
5 TIPS:
1. Think about what you like and the scope of where you would like to do the internship
Having one of the most important experiences of your life in a company that deals with something not within your interests or that would make you do something different from your field of study would lead you to waste a great opportunity.
2. Create your CV or if you already have one, improve it as much as possible
The CV will be your business card for the companies you will contact; therefore, you should do it in such a way that companies can appreciate your path, here you can find valuable advice:
Among the skills in the CV, you can also talk about your thinking and developing soft skills, which are in great demand and can be improved thanks to programs like Accelium:
- When you write the curriculum, pay attention to the info you enter.
For example, photo and sensitive data such as gender, age, and address are not required in some countries. Furthermore, some companies need specific formats such as Word because they use software that can find keywords and if these are not in the CV, it will be discarded. The last tip: use the European format only if requested.
Then pay attention to the content you post on social media, as reported in this Harvard Business Review post: 70% of employers check candidate profiles as part of the selection process and 54% reject candidates because of what they find.
3. Find out about opportunities and calls like the Erasmus+
Doing an internship, especially if away from home, can be very expensive, so I recommend that you inquire about the funding made available by your school/university or rely on the Erasmus Plus.
Erasmus+ is a European program that supports internships abroad for students enrolled in a three-year and master’s degree course and for doctoral students in the countries participating in the program.
Recent graduates can also access this program (within one year of graduation).
It is then possible to combine an Erasmus + internship with a period of study abroad.
To access European funds: the internship should last from a minimum of 2 months to a maximum of 12 months.
The internship must be related to the degree and can occur in any organization that participates in the Erasmus + program (excluding EU institutions and agencies).
If the internship respects all the requirements and your application is accepted, you can receive an Erasmus + grant to contribute to travel, accommodation, and board costs. The amount depends on various elements:
- The difference between the cost of living in your country and the destination country
- The number of students applying for a grant
- The distance between countries
- Other grants’ availability
4. How to Contact the companies
After finding the field in which you want to carry out the internship and having created or improved your CV, it is time to search for companies and contact them. The internship can be carried out in various ways: face-to-face, mixed, or entirely online.
The request email must be formal, professional, short, clear and motivated, tailor-made, underlining what you can give to the company. Remember, the person who will read your email is not a chatbox, be kind and always reply.
The subject of the email must be clear and specific, such as “ITL Marketing Internship Request”, “Erasmus+ 2022 at ITL Group”)
5. The interview
During the interview, you must demonstrate that you have studied the company, prepare at least one question about the internship (e.g., team composition, typical tasks) and avoid asking just the lunch break and holidays. Keep in mind the importance of a dress-code that matches the company culture. When in doubt, wear a shirt.
The next step depends on what the outcome of the interview is.
IF YES> Organize the internship with the employer
After finding the company, talk to the company tutor about your working hours and learning objectives before starting the training to avoid problems later.
IF NOT> Answer and thank the company anyway
Even if you are not accepted, it is essential to leave a good impression and stay in touch, so add the company on Linkedin.
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