Work placements abroad
Why do a placement abroad?
Doing a work placement abroad broadens your personal horizons, improves your language skills and enhances your professional expertise. It gives you the opportunity to get to know other cultures and make new personal contacts.
Experiencing a new world will help you develop sensitivity and tolerance towards foreign cultures. In addition to acquiring intercultural competencies, the program also offers the opportunity to gain job-specific skills for the global labour market.
It is important to bear in mind in advance that finding a work placement involves a great deal of initiative on your part.
Choosing a placement can be very time-consuming, so you should start planning as early as possible (about 1 year in advance).
Here are some aspects that you should consider:
- Timing, destination
- Foreign language skills
- Funding
- Duration of the placement
Paths to a placement abroad
You can request addresses at the Placement Office of your faculty, contact former interns or ask university professors with foreign experience. Searching the Internet should also prove very effective.
At the beginning you should find out about the cost of living in the destination country, in order to avoid expensive surprises. The website of the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutschen Akademischen Austauschdienstes (DAAD)) should serve as the first point of reference when looking for ways to fund a foreign work placement. You will also find literature to prepare you for a foreign placement in the university library.
Detailed information can be found here: