Types of exchange workflows

Exchange Internship

Exchange internships - an internship offer that can be exchanged with any committee. The sending committee selects the student. Only one student is nominated for this internship, which increases the chances of students to be accepted for the internship. 

Why do we have Exchange Internships?

Exchange internships are the core of our Internship Programme. They are designed specifically for use during exchange sessions. With the concept of year-round exchange, we have scheduled three exchange sessions: the Autumn Exchange Session, the Winter Exchange Session, and the Spring Exchange Session. However, one of these sessions is simultaneous with the Annual Conference.

How can we describe the Exchange Internships?

An Exchange Internship can be described as follow:

• Based on the Bilateral Agreements between the committees. Very often the internship offer in return is required at the moment of exchanging internship offers

• The core of the IAESTE Exchange Programme, a whole-year-round exchange

• One offer e is  shared with one committee

• One student can apply only for one offer (can’t apply at the same time for a Global Internship)

• This offer can be on-site or remote

Exchange Internships workflow

The receiving committee shares the offer with the sending committee and sets the nomination deadline. The sending committee then has a certain period, until the nomination deadline, to find a suitable candidate among their student pool and submit the nomination. Only one nomination is allowed, therefore it is important to note that, in case there is more than one suitable candidate, it is the sending committee’s responsibility to make a decision on which one to nominate. Afterwards, the receiving committee should check if the submitted documents are complete and forward them to the employer.

Ideally, a first update should be provided within 2 weeks of the submission of the nomination, and a final decision should be made within 5 weeks, as per the Exchange Quality Standards. However, it should be pointed out that, since the offer is a part of the Exchange Internship Programme, the decision should be made as soon as possible, taking into account that there is a single nomination.

Global Internships

Global Internships - an offer which can be published during the whole year and more nominations can be received for this offer. As there can be multiple students nominated for this internship, the chances for students to be accepted are depending on the competition.

Why do we have Global Internships?

Every year a large portion of the offers brought to the exchange sessions are never exchanged. In addition, some of the exchanged offers never get a nomination (for various reasons). Some offers are required to be published earlier before the exchange sessions because of the employer's need. These offers make up a significant percentage of the total number of offers and members/volunteers have already done the difficult job of getting an agreement with an employer.

How can we describe the Global Internships?

A Global Internship can be described as follow:

• Unused offers or employers that want more than 1 applicant

• Offers raised during the exchange year which can’t wait for exchange sessions

• Offers raised during the exchange year when the employer insists on receiving more than one candidate

• Each country can nominate a maximum of 2 candidates for one offer at the same time

• Committees can expect an offer in return if a student is accepted (it’s up to the agreement between the committees)

• A student can apply for a maximum of 2 Global Internships at the same time (and to be decided by the committees if the registration/nominations fees (if applicable) for 2 applications will be charged))

• A student cannot apply for a Global Internship simultaneously with an Exchange Internship

• This offer can be on-site or remote

Global Internships workflow

The receiving committee sets the nomination deadline. Each interested committee can send a maximum of two nominations simultaneously. Then, the receiving country makes the selection and can forward the best-suited nominations to the employer, who makes the final decision. The receiving country must wait till the deadline and after that forward up to three best suited nominations.

So, each interested committee can submit a maximum of two nominations up to this date. Following this, the receiving country reviews all the nominations, makes the selection, and can forward the best-suited nominations to the employer, who ultimately makes the final decision.

Reserved Internships

Reserved Internships - an internship pre-arranged by or for a specific student with a specific employer (i.e. the sending Committee is not involved in selection of the student).

In order for an offer to be considered as a reserved offer, prior communication between the student and the internship host must have been established and the student must have already been accepted by the time they contact the sending or receiving IAESTE committee. For example, if a student from country A has been accepted for an internship in country B, but needs IAESTE for visa sponsorship, either the student or the company can contact the sending or the receiving committee, and the offer can be shared as a reserved offer. On the other hand, if the employer contacts the receiving committee, requiring a student from a certain country/university, which needs to be found through the IAESTE pool of candidates, this offer does not count as a reserved one.

Generally, the process for the reserved offers is much simpler than the one for the exchange and global internships. Namely, keeping in mind that the student has already been accepted by the employer, the whole document exchange process is a formality that must be completed on the IAESTE Exchange Platform.

Therefore, submitting all of the documents does not make sense - it creates additional costs of time and money, whereas it does not change the final outcome. This is why, when sending the nomination for a reserved offer, only two documents are crucial:

1. Student nomination form (explained in detail in the “Outgoing” section of this guide) and

2. A valid passport scan (the passport validity expiration date must be at least 3 months after the internship end date).

3. Any other documents defined by the receiving committee to ensure the smooth visa process.

The receiving committee, on the other hand, has the obligation to check the regulations which would allow the student to undertake the internship, and prepare all of the necessary documents for a visa/permit application. Those documents need to be sent via the Exchange Platform to the sending committee as a part of the acceptance package.

The reserved offers are not the core of IAESTE’s exchange programme, we treat them as an additional service. As the committees can’t expect an offer in return for the reserved offer, quite often the receiving committee charges the employer a suitable fee for the service.

Overview of the different exchange programme types: