When is the best time to go abroad?
Examination regulations aside, you should plan to do your internship at a point during your studies when you will have gained enough relevant knowledge to be able to put it into practice. This will allow you and your employer to get the most out of your work experience. The earliest you should consider is the end of your third semester and no later than when doing your Bachelor’s or Master’s dissertation.
How long should an internship last?
The longer you plan, the better. You will need time to acclimatise and integrate into a different lifestyle and business culture. In our experience, students generally feel “settled in” after one semester abroad. Spending an entire year doing your internship will give you the best insights, although this is not possible for everyone. You can do your internship abroad during your compulsory practical semester. Longer duration internships will help you to develop your language skills better.
How should I plan my time?
Searching for an internship abroad is often time-consuming so you should start planning about a year in advance. At the very least you must have started actively sending applications no later than six months before you intend to go. Internship organisers and grant providers have a long application period, too. The earlier you start to organise things, the better. Internships that come with a good level of supervision can therefore have long application processes. This is even truer if you need to apply for a visa.
Searching for an internship
You should first decide on your aims. Do you want to work for an international organisation, a global business or a local company? Are you looking to do voluntary or compulsory internship? Before going ahead and giving money to a private internship agency, you should first get advice from whoever is responsible for internships in your faculty as well as the international office and/or careers service at your university. Your advisor should be able to answer any questions you have about doing internship abroad and to help you to achieve your objectives on your own. You will get:
Sources of information
Once you have gathered your ideas and goals, you can go to your international office/careers service to find information about searching and applying for jobs in the country you are interested in. Make sure you find out about working life and customs in your country of choice. Along with our own country information, here are some further links with information about various destinations:
Placement agencies
Please note: Organisations that arrange bursary-financed placements can be found in the “Finance” section.! There are many charitable and commercial organisations that can arrange an internship for you in exchange for a fee. The scope of their services can vary from being a complete package, including flights and accommodation, to help with individual aspects of the process. Whether or not you should use an agency depends on your personal circumstances, aims and finances. Selection criteria When choosing an agency, you should consider carefully which services you require. What should you be looking for? The fees charged by agencies can vary widely. You should read through the service contract very carefully. Consider the following criteria:
Applying
Sources of information Precise instructions for writing an application can often be found on the website of the national labour agency for the country you are interested in. Another good source of information is the careers services’ website at universities in your chosen country. The international office or careers service at your university may even be able to provide some training on the application process for your country.
Funding for self-organised internships
There are various options for financing or subsidising a placement abroad. In addition to your savings and/or student loan, you can also apply for international student loans (Auslands-BAföG) and various scholarships and travel grants. On the DAAD website you will find a database that you can use to search for funding programmes. Depending on the destination country or subject area, there may be suitable funding available. Erasmus Internship Scholarships For an internship of between 2 to 12 months in the 33 countries participating in the Erasmus+ programme, you can apply for a monthly grant from your college/university and also access support services for preparatory activities such as online language courses. Please check with the International Office for the general application deadlines, as these scholarships are administered by the colleges and universities. Graduates please note: This offer is still applicable to graduates within one year of completing their studies (Bachelor, Master, Diploma, State Examination, Doctorate). The Erasmus funding period lasts for a maximum of 12 months. If you were abroad for five months during your Bachelor's degree, you can still receive seven months of support as a graduate. PROMOS Grants Within the framework of the PROMOS programme, the DAAD awards funds to colleges and universities, who distribute them to increase student mobility. This funding primarily supports placements outside of Europe with monthly scholarships. Travel allowances are also available through this scheme. Please contact your International Office for information on application deadlines, funding and target countries. Funding opportunities offered by Bavarian Higher Education Centres The Bavarian university centres for South America, China, India, France, Eastern and South Eastern Europe support internships with a one-off mobility grant. You can find more information about the respective centres on the website.
Scholarships with internship placements
Some scholarship programmes not only offer funding, but also arrange the internship. RISE Worldwide This DAAD programme offers funding to Bachelor students from the fields of biology, physics, engineering, geosciences, medicine and pharmacy and related disciplines, as well as a place for a research internship at institutes worldwide. If you want to take part, you must register in the programme database. In November/December you will be able see all the available vacancies and apply for a maximum of three positions by mid-December. The research internships take place during the lecture-free period in summer. RISE internships in Canada are awarded in cooperation with the Canadian organisation Mitacs. Here, the application deadlines run from July to September, because the internships sometimes start as early as May. In addition to a unique experience abroad, RISE also gives you access to the international science network. Carlo-Schmid-Programme Applications are open to students and graduates of all academic disciplines who deal with international topics in their studies. Programme line A supports applicants who apply independently for internships in international organisations at EU institutions and selected non-governmental organisations. Programme line B allows you to apply directly for internships advertised on the project website. The internships on offer are always published in mid-December. IAESTE Die IAESTE has been arranging remunerated internships worldwide since 1948 for students from the following disciplines:
It is not always easy to find an internship and this may require a certain amount of planning. This naturally also applies when looking for an internship abroad. Here you will find important information and valuable tips to make your search a success. Your internship should be related to your area of study. If an internship is a requirement for your programme of study, please make sure beforehand that your department will recognise your internship and find out what requirements need to be met. To ensure the quality of the internship, an agreement has been made as part of the EU’s Erasmus programme that defines the aims of internships. These can also be used as a good foundation for non-European countries. Your international office can supply you with the version used by your institution. When you start planning, get in touch with your student advice service, international office and/or careers service.
The information, in particular on entry regulations, has been composed to the best of our knowledge. Since these can change regularly and at short notice, you should always check the currently valid regulations when planning your internship.
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