Planning an internship/work placement abroad

Reports written by former interns on their experiences are a good place to start gathering information. The reports are subjective and do not claim to give a complete picture, but they do give an indication of the general mood during the internship. They also give you an insight into day-to-day life, as well as a lot of information about the country, people and habits of those who live there etc.

Be sure to find out about the working conditions in individual countries. Please note that especially the terms ‘placement’ or ‘internship’ do not always mean the same in different countries. Gaining work experience during your studies is not common practice in all countries either. You should also find out about requirements for entering and staying in the host country in order to ensure that you can apply for a visa in good time if required.

For an internship or work placement abroad you generally need a solid knowledge of the country’s language. In the case of internships in large international companies it is often sufficient to have a good command of English. However, we recommend that you at least have a basic command of the language spoken in the country to help you communicate better with other members in your team or outside your workplace.

Required language proficiency

The skills you require in the foreign language depend on the company or the institution where you are doing your internship. In addition, we recommend at least having a basic command of the language spoken in the country.

Language courses

If you do not yet have the required language skills, the FAU Language Center offers a wide range of courses in foreign languages which you can attend alongside your regular degree program. The Language Center regularly offers courses in more than twenty modern languages, with some classes focusing on specific disciplines.

A further option to bring your language skills up to the required level is to sign up for a summer course in the language at a university abroad. The DAAD brochure “Sprachkurse an Hochschulen in Europa” (in German) is published each year and lists various options for language courses at institutes of higher education across Europe.

Erasmus interns who need skills in one of the less common EU languages can also participate in a free multi-week Erasmus intensive course (EILC language course) abroad. Courses are held before your Erasmus stay abroad starts. You have to apply for a place. You will receive further information from the Central Office for International Affairs after your nomination for an Erasmus scholarship.

A wide range of classes are also offered by private language schools abroad. Information is regularly sent to our university, and posters are either hung on notice boards or flyers distributed at the Student Service Center and the Language Center.

Proof of language skills

UNICERT certificates can be obtained in a number of languages from the FAU Language Center. However, these certificates are not always accepted by all companies, institutes or universities.

For Anglo-American countries, the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is the most common language test. It can be taken regularly at several locations in German cities/university towns, among them FAU’s Language Lab at the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law in Nuremberg. If you are interested, please register at www.toefl.org.

Preparation courses for the test, which is subject to a fee, are offered, for example, by the DAI (German-American Institute) in Nuremberg.

Depending on the requirements of your host country and host university, the IELTS or the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English may be accepted as an alternative to the TOEFL. To take the test, please register via the British Council or the University of Cambridge.

If you intend to finance your internship/work placement abroad with a DAAD scholarship, you have to get a DAAD language certificate from the Language Center before the application deadline ends. Please contact the secretary’s office at the Language Center to make an appointment with one of the native-speaker lecturers.

It is recommended that students only go abroad for an internship or placement once they have passed the intermediate exam (Vorprüfung or Zwischenprüfung), unless the study regulations for their degree program stipulate other periods.

In Bachelor’s degree programs, a placement is recommended after the fifth semester. Of course, it also makes sense to complete an internship in the transition phase from a Bachelor’s to a Master’s degree program but this means that you are not entitled to many funding options which require that you are enrolled as a student.

In general, you might also consider a combination of semesters spent studying and completing an internship. This might facilitate your search for an internship considerably as you would be available to attend job interviews in person at short notice.

You are not usually able to apply for an internship abroad in person. Therefore, there are a number of organizations and agencies, information offices and databases you can turn to for help, as well as referring to websites advertising internships and job vacancies.

Both commercial and non-profit organizations usually ask for a fee for their services. They can be helpful in dealing with immigration regulations and finding accommodation, but you should always be sure to check the quality of the work placements/internships offered (e.g. by reading first-hand reports) and weigh up the price-quality ratio first.

NB: Agencies/organizations which help you find an internship do not usually provide any grants to cover your expenses abroad. You should therefore apply for scholarships from other organizations. We would recommend going through the options listed in our list of links first. The DAAD has also compiled useful information on this topic.

If you plan to apply directly to a company, you should gather detailed information about the company first (does it meet your expectations? Why do you want to apply to precisely this company?)

Chambers of Commerce frequently also provide company contact details, general information on companies and organizations and sometimes even post or organize placements and internships. A further source of information are company brochures and reports as well as notice boards at the University. In many cases, your professors will have numerous contacts in industry – just ask them.

You can also create your own profile on websites advertising internships and job vacancies.

Usually, you have to submit your application in English or in the language of your host country. Please take country-specific formalities into consideration when applying and attending job interviews. Further help is available both online and in specialized publications.

Unless the general conditions of the internship/placement are not already obvious from the agreements in the contract between you and the institution organizing the work placement/internship, it is strongly recommended that you conclude an internship contract. Similar to a German work contract, it should include the following points:

• Duration of the internship
• Working hours
• Agreements on position in the company and/or type of tasks
• Rights and obligations of the contractual parties
• Terms for termination
• Insurance
• Remuneration

The university is often required to co-sign the contract. In this case, please contact the FAU Student Advice Service.

Generally speaking, you should presume that it will be more expensive to study abroad than in Germany, as you are not familiar with the situation in the country, and additional expenses are likely to be incurred. It is only in countries in Southern and Eastern Europe where the lower costs of living may balance this out.

Expenses typically incurred before leaving: commission for the organization which arranged the internship for you, visa fees, costs for health check-ups and immunizations, expenses for additional insurance cover, fees for having documents (e.g. degree certificate) translated, fee for an international driving license etc.

Of course, travel expenses or costs for a return flight should also be taken into consideration.

Unfortunately, companies which pay interns remuneration or a salary remain the exception. It is still worth asking, though. If the company does agree to pay you, be sure to have this included in the contract. The amount of remuneration varies from country to country and also depends on the sector in which you are working and the level of your education.

The Erasmus+ traineeship program offers students funding for a traineeship in Europe of between two and twelve months and pays a monthly grant towards the cost of living. Funding is available for internships by students enrolled at university. However, Erasmus funding can also be granted for periods between two degree programs (e.g. after completing a Bachelor’s and before starting a Master’s degree), or up to 12 months after graduating. If you wish to apply for funding in cases such as these, you must be sure to apply to us for funding before de-registering from FAU.

Various external organizations also offer funding for internships abroad, either covering all expenses, some expenses or travel expenses. In principle, foundations can also fund stays abroad during your studies. In many cases, however, this requires that you have been accepted as a candidate in the foundation’s program before you even consider going abroad. An overview of potential scholarship organizations and funding programs is available on our website under external scholarship programs.

In addition, the German government offers students the possibility of financing an (obligatory) internship or placement abroad with an Auslands-Bafög grant or a low-interest study loan.

Students who want to spend one or two semesters abroad for an internship/work placement during their degree can apply for leave for the semester(s) in question. If you choose to do so, you remain enrolled at FAU and have to continue to pay the student services fee as before. Please contact the Student Records Office. Further details concerning leave of absence from studies are available on the website of the Student Records Office.

If you would like the work placement/internship to be credited towards your degree at FAU, you have to discuss the contents with your supervisor or the internship office responsible for your faculty or our subject before you leave.

You should start looking for accommodation for the duration of your stay abroad at an early stage since the search is often very time-consuming.

Possible types of accommodation are usually similar to the options available in Germany (staying with a host family, a room in a shared flat, student halls, own flat, etc.). However, differences occur not only with regard to the price level but also with regard to quality standards.

Some agencies offer to find accommodation for you or to at least to assist you in your search. In many cases, the company will also offer help.

Depending on the country, duration and type of your stay, you need a visa, a residence permit and/or a work permit. As a foreign intern, you do not enter the country as a tourist, which means that the often less stringent bureaucratic regulations for tourists do not apply to you.

You mustn’t underestimate the time you need to apply. Applying for a visa for the USA generally takes several months, for example.

In some cases, you have to present proof of certain vaccinations or an HIV test on entering the country, an aspect you should also consider in your planning.

Entry and residence regulations do not only vary from country to country but they may also be subject to quick change within one and the same country. It is therefore recommended that you check current entry and residence regulations with the embassies of the countries in question . You will also find application forms for visas on their websites. Since embassy telephone hotlines are usually quite expensive, it is advisable that you do an internet search first.

Contact your health insurance company before your departure to find out about the conditions for insurance coverage during your stay abroad. Most important in this respect is the general question of whether insurance coverage exists for the country in question and which services it includes.

Since January 1, 2006, the ‘European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)’ has been accepted in all EU countries as well as in Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. This means that you are insured for temporary stays in these countries, which will cover internships as well. Please note that only services necessary on medical grounds are covered.

Especially outside of the European Union, we recommend that you take out additional insurance coverage with a private health insurance company. Please also observe the regulations of your host university or the company you will be working for – in some cases it is mandatory to take out insurance under the university’s own insurance policy.

It is also recommended that you have a check up, e.g. at your dentists, before you leave and that you consult your GP with regard to any medication you should take with you.

If you receive funding from the DAAD or one of its partner institutions, you may opt for insurance coverage via the DAAD group contract which includes health insurance, accident insurance, liability insurance and luggage insurance. The same type of insurance packages for stays abroad are also offered by other insurance companies.

You should ask for a reference for your internship in good time. The certificate/reference should describe your tasks and responsibilities during the internship and provide an assessment of your performance.

For internships within Europe, the European Union offers the europass as a standard for the documentation of stays abroad (study stays, internships/placements).