The internship is the centerpiece of the EUROBIZ Program, and quality work experience is vital to its success. Several steps will be taken by program staff to insure that the internship will be appropriate for juniors or seniors in a business program (e.g. site visitation, written description of student’s responsibilities, student interview, company questionnaire).
Why is an internship important?
An internship is the critical piece of practical learning that employers look for when they hire business students. By participating in an internship, you will get hands on experience in the industry and hone your management and German skills. Internships are an excellent opportunity to make connections in that industry and often lead to an offer of full time employment after graduation.
By interning at an organization you also receive key insights into the day-to-day operations of a firm that reveal things beyond what you may expect from classroom learning. You may decide that you enjoy, or are skilled at, a different occupation than what you originally were interested in. There is no better way to test your practical understanding, skill and passion for a subject than by actually doing it.
What is required of an internship?
Appropriate professional, linguistic, and intercultural preparation is critical for a successful internship experience. Only students who are sufficiently advanced in their business studies, foreign language skills and interpersonal workplace skills will be allowed to intern abroad. The staff will evaluate whether or not you are sufficiently advanced in your business major, your German studies and will also consider the reports from the summer supervisors as to your social skills during your summer internships.
Since you will earn up to six credits in German Studies for the internship, each student will be required to do a variety of assignments to demonstrate his/her development of linguistic and intercultural growth. At the beginning of the internship, students will be given a list of required writing activities that must be completed before credit will be granted.
These include:
- An initial report in which you indicate what you hope to achieve during your stay in Germany, what you think you might gain from this experience, and what you anticipate to be some of the problems you might encounter. This report should address aspects of living in a foreign culture in a more general sense as well as specific aspects of your work and studies (4-5 pages, double-spaced).
- A video report at about the midway point of your stay in Germany. This report should build on the initial report and address the same points, e.g. how your expectations have been met/disappointed, what you have already achieved, what you still want to do, how problems have been resolved (if not, how you plan to go about resolving them), and cultural differences you encountered on the job as well as in everyday life (video report should be about 5-10 minutes in length, in German).
- A final report in which you write about what you did, list your achievements, present the new skills you've acquired (relating both to your job, your language skills, and your intercultural insights), and on things you wished you had done but didn’t do. This report should also address how well the program prepared you for this internship, what might be done to improve the preparation of future interns, and what you would like to tell future students in this program about your experiences (4-5 pages, double-spaced).
Receiving Credit
In order for you to receive the full number of credits, you will have to compose these reports with particular attention to accurate, appropriate and idiomatic usage of written German. The German professors in the program will give you feedback on your reports so you will know what is expected of you. If necessary we will ask you to submit revised versions of these reports before credit is given.
After Your Internship
Upon your return from Germany, you will share what you have learned in a forum of EUROBIZ participants and visit lower level classes to answer other students’ questions. A shorter version of your internship report will be included in the newsletter with images (you provide) to illustrate your experiences. We will also set you up with underclass students for whom you serve as a peer mentor for the rest of your time at UConn.