Pre-professional work experience

Internships and grants

The Foundation manages pre-professional internships for the students of the Universidade de Vigo, regulated by the Educational Cooperation agreement, R.D. 1497/81 and R.D. 1845/94.

The internship procedure consists of the following steps:

  1. Advice and information to businesses and institutions.
  2. Signing of an educational cooperation agreement for supplying internship opportunities.
  3. Public announcement of placement, following advice to the business or institutional employer on appropriate candidate profiles.
  4. Pre-selection of candidates meeting minimum criteria established in public announcement.
  5. Selection of the student by the business or institution.
  6. Follow-up of the internship and evaluation thereof.

Advantages for the business/institutions

  • The possibility of performing studies of interest but that cannot be carried out due to lack of qualified personnel
  • A view of the business from a qualified outside observer, free of the prejudices of an employee regarding the organisation he/she works for.
  • The business/institution broadens its scope of action, collaborating with society by providing and improving practical experience of the students, which in turn leads to an improvement in the professional skills-base of the future employees.
  • Discovery and identification of university qualifications and profiles which may be of current or future use to the business or institution.
  • The internship serves as an optimum selection process of future employees, based on continuous and real evidence of suitability.

Advantages for the students

  • A first-hand experience of the professional world and of learning how to deal with different situations that the student may face in his/her future professional career.
  • Practical training in real employment settings to complement theoretical qualifications.
  • Identification of strengths and weaknesses that one might face in the business world which can be addressed if necessary.
  • To gain the knowledge and maturity required to make decisions regarding the achievement of professional objectives.
  • To broaden the student’s CV with professional experience, highly valued by businesses with regard to future employment opportunities.
  • To complete the academic requirements with practical experience in those degrees which require this.

What to do if you cannot find internships on the web that match your objectives?

A student may, on his/her own behalf, contact a business/institution that has not yet entered into an agreement with the Universidade de Vigo in order to gain work experience or work on a final year project. In this case the student must inform the Fundación Universidade de Vigo of this situation and provide data on the company in question. The Fundación Universidade de Vigo will then contact the business organisation in order to enter into an agreement to allow the student to become an intern therein.