Looking for an internship abroad?

First of all ask yourself the following questions: what do I want to achieve with the internship? What do I want to learn? What does my ideal company or organization look like? What contribution would I like to make?

Going on Erasmus can be a stressful thing for many, something which one should prepare well for.

Here are some useful tips which you should follow to have a successful Erasmus experience.

1. Choose what type of company you want to join with. Probably you already know which industry you will be heading to, but what about the particular company? What about its rules and values? This can be a tough choice as it must align with your career path, views on company ethics, and prospective colleagues.
2. Do research about the chosen company that you are joining. You should start by making a google search and see the results, check their Facebook page and their website. Maybe you could also ask a friend if he ever heard of them and what are his/her views of the organization. You could even try to get to know the manager which will be supervising you by making a skype call.
3. Do research about the Country you are travelling to and about its culture. Maybe one should also check what places he/she should visit once traveling to that place. What are the typical foods found in this place.
4. Learn the do’s and don’ts in the environment you will be working in. This also applies to what would be the necessary dress code.
5. Check out the simpler everyday particulars about the country!
   Be sure to notice:
   – Which type of power supply is used in that country (do you need an adapter?)
   – What kind of food do they have in this country? Do you have an intolerance? And would you find alternative food?

6. Inform yourself about the jobs and roles you will be doing during the internship. Are you prepared to do such tasks? Or should you do some research to help you out? The skype call might also help you in this.
7. Get to know the basic jargon used in the industry of the organization you are visiting . This would help a lot as it would not only make your life easier when expressing yourself but it would also make you sound more professional.
8. Prepare all the necessary paperwork needed (passport, identity, visa, travel insurance…). It is important not to leave this last minute as it can become pretty stressful and certain documents take days to be issued.
9. Inform your bank that you are travelling as they might think your card was stolen and thus they would block your card.
10. Find time to meet up with your family and friends before leaving. Even if I put this last I don’t want to diminish its importance as you will be all the time without them during your time at this foreign country and you would definitely miss them.