THE CEMS INTERNATIONAL INTERNSHIP

Internships provide students with the real-life professional learning experience. The CEMS internship must therefore be at the level of a graduate recruit in order to provide valuable business experience. Internships can take place at a CEMS Corporate Partner, although not compulsory. They can also take place at CEMS Social Partners or other non-profit organisation such as in a humanitarian mission, provided responsibility levels correspond.

Students are responsible for finding their own internship and for all official documents required for the employment. If students wish to receive internship and job offers by e-mail, they can use the JobMarket service here. There have been further developments made on the JobMarket tool in order to allow CEMS students to get access to career opportunities. When on the website, by clicking on Job Offers you can find all jobs posted on JobTeaser. By clicking on CEMS Partners you are able to see jobs posted by CEMS Corporate Partners.

However, before applying for your dream Internship it is important to create a great CV. For a tool to help you build a CV, the CEMS website provides you with some tips and tricks here.

Official Requirements for the CEMS Internship

Internships must cover a period of at least 8 consecutive weeks full-time in the same company (the first 8 weeks of a full-time employment position are also accepted), a longer period of internship is subject to local decision based on home degree requirements. Students either spend the internship abroad, or, when spending both academic terms abroad, they may pursue the internship at home, but within a company operating in an international environment.

For the purposes of the CEMS MIM Graduation requirements, "abroad" is defined as outside the country of the home school. Students may apply to their Academic Director to be allowed to do their internship in the home school country when their personal background justifies this interpretation. This request may be considered if the student originates from another country or has acquired secondary education or a bachelor’s degree in different countries.

Students who are more oriented towards work in the entrepreneurial sector may fulfil the internship requirements through work with their own start-up, if all conditions of a “regular“ internship are met and it is approved by the home CEMS home school Academic Director. Supervision is provided by the home school.

Internships can take place at any time (also prior to CEMS selection), except parallel to the two academic MIM terms.

Internships must be during the graduate level of studies, starting with the date when the student fulfilled all official Bachelor’s degree study requirements.

The internship can overlap with the Block Seminar only when a contractually agreed vacation is declared. The student is responsible for providing official documentation to the home Programme Manager.

Internships must be a full-time activity at a professional level (first job level, although salaries may not be commensurate) where the student is given one or more challenging projects with a certain degree of autonomy.

The student's work must be supervised within the company.

Students may work in different departments but must work on a given project. Note that internships at start-ups, CEMS Social Partners and other NGOs are also recognised as a CEMS Internship (provided that it respects other principles).

The company supervisor has to complete an evaluation form at the end of the internship or at the end of the CEMS mandated minimum 8-week period.

Internships must be approved by the home institution before the start (see below).

Final dates to start & end the internship for those students who begin the internship in the year of the expected graduation year: Latest Starting Date: 2nd Monday of September *September 13th, 2021 Latest Ending Date: 1st Sunday of November *November 7th, 2021

Registration and Validation

 Students must register their internship before its’ start in their private zone on cems.org for validation, providing the necessary information. This information will be shared with managers and supervisors. Make sure that you enter correct information.  Managers will verify the registered information. Once it is approved, students can start the internship.  Online evaluation form will be automatically sent to a supervisor (see below for the mailing rules).  The submission of the evaluation form is essential for the graduation. Therefore, students are expected to ensure that company supervisors fill it in.

[Automatic Mailing Rules] - If the internship is less than 12 weeks: 1 week before the end of the internship - If the internship is more than 12 weeks: 1 month before the end of the internship - Last reminder to fill the evaluation form will be send at the end of the internship

 When the supervisor submits the evaluation form, the internship will be validated. The evaluation result is accessible for managers and students via the student private zone.

Refer to Steps to Register Internship Information to the CEMS Database (For Students) for more details.

Please note that many countries can only offer internships to individuals having a student status at a university. CEMS as an organisation cannot legally offer student status.

COVID-19 Measures

The CEMS Graduation Committee has put in place exceptional measures regarding the internship requirements for CEMS classes 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22. The below conditions are valid until the Graduation Committee recalls them, and are always subject to a case by case evaluation and the decision of the home school academic director.

Students may be exempted from having to carry out an internship abroad when there is justified evidence for that based on traveling, hiring VISA etc restrictions imposed by countries or companies, and students may not otherwise find an internship that meets the CEMS Graduation requirements.

Students may be exempted from having to carry out an internship physically present at a company when there is justified evidence as mentioned above.