Frequently Asked Questions

AIESEC does not define itself as provider of internships only. Rather, AIESEC offers you many different opportunities to discover and develop your potential. Although an internship abroad is an essential part of the experience you can gain in AIESEC, it is closely linked to other experiences rather than separated from them. Those who only want to do an internship to develop professionally will most probably find a more suitable offer elsewhere.

The AIESEC Exchange Program offers you the possibility to have an intense cultural experience in one of its 100 member-countries. Concretely, AIESEC in your home country prepares you for the internship, while the section in the host country helps you apply for visa and work permit and organizes your accommodation. In addition, they take care of you as soon as you are there, make you familiar with their culture and organize events where you get to know other interns.

AIESEC does not provide internships like a factory sells its products. We cannot and do not want to grant you an internship in Sydney at Procter & Gamble from February 9 to August 9, if that is what you are looking for. Although there are internships at Procter & Gamble in our internship pool, this is not what AIESEC is all about. Rather, we demand applicants to be flexible concerning place, time and job description of their future internship. AIESEC internships do help you gain professional skills but more importantly, they are an opportunity to have an intense intercultural experience.

Key Requirements:

• Be a student and have completed 2 semesters at university for development and educational traineeships and 4 semesters for management and technical traineeships, respectively
• English
• Open-mindedness and interest toward other cultures
• Passed the individual interview SRB
• Should there be a lot of applicants, AIESEC will not be able to consider every application.

University marks are not considered.

In the AIESEC section of this website you find more information about the organization. Otherwise, we would be happy to answer your questions via e-mail. Alternatively, you can come by our office and talk to us - but please let us know when you want to meet. Please find our contact data Here.

In general, the longer you are member, the better as you get to know the organization, its opportunities and tools better with every day you are a member. However, it is possible to do an internship in your next semester break for instance or quite soon after having become a member. In such a case, we try to adapt your tasks and functions within your AIESEC local committee so you are not involved in long-term projects.

There are 4 types of interships

• Management Traineeship
• Technical Traineeship
• Development Traineeship
• Educational Traineeship

More information on these categories can be found here.

Generally, Swiss students are quite welcome in most of the countries and readily employed. Of course, you will be competing with students from all over the world but Swiss students have at least the advantage of speaking several languages at a high level. The German-speaking world for instance is very active and Germany and Austria offer many interesting high-quality internships for which they would gladly employ a Swiss AIESECer.

However, most of the internships take place in India, Turkey and Eastern Europe. In these countries, finding an internship even of a short duration is very likely if you are somewhat flexible and have the necessary qualifications for the respective job. Unfortunately, there are hardly any internships available in the USA. Internships usually goes from 6 to 12 month; Development Traineeship are often shorter.

It is usual for management or technical traineeships to be paid in a manner that allows you to buy everything you need to live in the respective country. Salaries differ very much for development or education traineeships. Most of the time, accommodation and food are provided while you receive only small, if any, salary.

According to the type of internship you choose, the Exchange Participation fees will range from 450 CHF to 650 CHF. The fee includes:

• Costs for the SRB (30 CHF)
• Participation, food and accommodation for the XPS
  back

If you are a bit flexible concerning place, time and job description, there should not be a problem in finding an interesting internship. However, if you cannot find any, we will refund 50% of the original fee (excluding the costs for the SRB and XPS).

Those who accept an internship and cancel without giving strong reasons are excluded from our program without any refund. Such a regulation is necessary if we want to be fair towards everyone and because the organization or company concerned was prepared to receive the intern.

You can find the contract here. For more information please contact us.

The SRB is an interview during which we want to find out whether you are suitable for our program, how you perceive foreign countries, and whether your English skills are sufficient. This is important because we guarantee a certain qualities and competencies when we send students to work in our partner companies.

The XPS is an 1 day AIESEC seminar, which is run by experienced trainers. You will be prepared for your internship and receive useful tips and information. Furthermore, you will be able to talk to AIESECers who have already come back from their internship or share your thoughts with other people going on exchange soon.

As an organization, AIESEC aims at increasing mutual understanding and tolerance globally and just not at exchanging students. During an AIESEC internship you shall live in a foreign culture and get to know it and its people intensely and also represent your home country accordingly. The past has shown that a lot of interns have negative experiences abroad because they do not get to know people from the host country or because they cannot cope with its culture (culture shock). Most of the time, these people quit their internship early and feel like never returning to this country again. The XPS will help you to prepare for the internship, to make friends abroad and create a feeling of never wanting to return home again. Another advantage of the XPS is that you set your mind according to your future adventure and get to know people in the same situation as you, with whom you can share information and experiences.

We assure you that the XPS will be a lot of fun. Many past interns have reported that they became aware of the sense of this seminar only when they have arrived in their host country.

All the internships are based on a local committee nearby, which is there to help you during your internship. More concretely, the members of this local committee organize your accommodation, pick you up from the airport / station, show you around in the city and accompany you to work on your first day. In addition, they will integrate you into their activities, organize events for you and the other interns and help you get to know the people and culture of your host country. If there should be any problems, there will always be someone to help you. We will keep in contact with you and support you in every possible way.