Internship
An internship is an important part of growing one's expert identity as well as one of the most concrete forms of working life connections.
Internship gives you a contact to working life within the field of your studies and a possibility to gain relevant work experience. Internship carried out in the final stages of studies has a significant effect on employment after graduation.
Internship is both studying and working in a field equivalent to one’s studies. It gives an employer a possibility to get to know a potential employee and the intern a chance to show their know-how.
Internship opportunities
Practical training is both learning and working in temporary employment that corresponds with your field of study. The training period gives your employer a possibility to meet a potential employee, and you a chance to show your know-how. There are many ways to find a suitable position, thus there are also many ways to complete a practical training period.
- Practical training can be completed without financial support from the university. In this case, you agree independently on the time period and salary of the training with your employer. The university is involved only when you agree that the training is included in your degree with the teacher in charge of practical training credits. Also, the university can furnish the employer with a certificate that the training is included in the curriculum. You can request the certificate from the Academic Affairs of your study field.
- Another option is practical training on financial support from the university. All basic degree students of the University of Vaasa can apply for funding for practical training. The applicant is the student, and the employer is the receiver of the grant.
- Also, practical training positions are available in various units of the university. The vacancies become available around the year. You are eligible for these positions if you have not received financial support for practical training from the university.
- The fourth option is practical training outside Finland. You can find a position yourself or through various training programmes.
- Unpaid internship. A student finds an internship independently and contacts the teacher in charge of the internship in order to agree on it to be included in one’s degree. Once the student has been in contact with the teacher they can contact Career Services in order to receive an insurance certificate. If the internship is included in one’s studies (and is in accordance with the curriculum) the student will be insured by the University of Vaasa during their unpaid internship. The internship voucher is not available for unpaid internship.
During and after the internship
During an internship, you gain work experience in your field and contacts to working life. Additionally, you strengthen your know-how, motivation to study, and increase employment opportunities after graduation. An internship is a part of the curriculum, and usually you can complete an internship only in your own major.
You should agree on the internship and its suitability for your degree in advance with the teacher in charge of internships. As a rule, the internship should last at least three months and you need to write a report on it before it can be included in your degree.
You can find internship advertisements for example on vacancies and internships pages (Valojobs). Instructions on how to write a job application and CV can be found for example at www.suomi.fi.
Teachers in charge of internships
It may be possible to include the internship in your degree and receive credits in your records based on the work you do. The number of credits and the assessment methods vary, though. Therefore you need to contact the person responsible for the internship well before the planned start of your internship period. It will be easier for you to prepare your internship report when you have a clear topic and aim for the report, and you have agreed on the practical matters with the contact person.
For internships occuring outside of Finland the student and the responsible person need to fill out the agreement document before the internship starts:
Languages and Communication
Contact persons:
- Master's Degree Programme in Intercultural Studies in Communication and Administration (ICS) and Master's Programme in Intercultural Management and Communication (IMCo): Marjukka Isaksen
Business Studies
Contact persons:
- Master's Degree Programme in International Business: Minnie Kontkanen
- Master's Degree Programme in Finance: Niranjan Sapkota and Juha Tarkkanen
- Master's Programme in Strategic Business Development: Lauri Korkeamäki
For more information, see the Internship course description of your own study programme.
Technology
Contact persons:
- Master's Programme in Industrial Management: Daniel Sahebi
- Master's Programme in Industrial Systems Analytics: Daniel Sahebi
- Master´s Programme in Smart Energy: Hannu Laaksonen
More information
For more information about internship contact harjoittelu(at)uwasa.fi.