AZ Barcelona: Internship Program

Within the broad range of educational opportunities at home and abroad, work internships provide one of the best ways to learn about the job you hope to have. An internshipin Barcelona will acquaint you, in a practical way, with the career options in your field of study and offer first-hand opportunities to test your knowledge and examine your career plans.

The traditional view of business education for both students and professionals is under the microscope as business schools and companies world-wide look for the most effective ways to train people to work in today's global markets. The traditional BBA or business major or MBA program alone cannot fully prepare you for what you will face on-the-job. International business skills and second language competency are now a necessity.

The internship in Barcelona offers you the opportunity to gain real-life experience abroad. You will experience for yourself the very different Spanish business protocols, learn to do business in a completely different culture, and gain fluency in both formal Spanish/Castellano as well as local and profession-specific jargon. These are factors which may well mean the difference between business success and failure.

Objectives of the Internship Program:

The principle objective of the combined language and internship program are two-fold.

1. To promote acquisition of high-level Spanish language skills and
2. to provide candidates with professional working experience in a full immersion Spanish-speaking environment.

Another feature of our program is highly important: to provide students the most realistic experience possible. All aspects of the program are real-life. Entrance requirements are high and each step is competitive with high levels of performance expected.

Structure of the Program:

The Internship Program consists of 3 phases:

• 1st: minimum of 6 weeks of Intensive Spanish Language.
• 2nd: the professional Orientation course.
• 3rd: the internship placement, lasting 3 months.

I Part - The Language Study/Refresher Course:

The length of the Spanish-language portion will depend on your starting point and how quickly you can acquire the needed fluency. Written skills test and additional ones will be used to monitor your progress administered to judge readiness for the work period. In order to qualify for the internship placement, you must have a high intermediate level of fluency. The minimum length for the Spanish Course is 6 weeks: it is available in all schools: Salamanca, Madrid, Granada, Sevilla, Barcelona, Tenerife and Valencia.

II Part - Professional Orientation Course:

The professional orientation portion of the internship in Spain takes place in Madrid or Barcelona to facilitate placement interviews. It is a 2 week course aimed at learning about the Spanish business world. Having a working knowledge of business argot is an important step towards success in the interview and work phases: this is why both the language study and the professional orientation courses are required before work placement. You can choose among the following dates in Madrid and Barcelona:

Starting dates for 2 weeks Professional Orientation course (2 hours/day, 2 weeks)
dQ Madrid: 6/1, 24/2, 24/3, 5/5, 16/6, 21/7, 18/8, 29/9, 3/11
dQ Barcelona: 6/1, 3/2, 3/3, 7/4, 5/5, 2/6, 7/7, 4/8, 1/9, 29/9, 27/10, 24/11

III Part - The Internship Period:

The Spanish school offers professional practice internships in private sector companies, governmental organizations, NGO's, schools, colleges and universities. The work period will be of 3 months. It may be possible to extend the placement if both the employer/sponsor and the intern are in agreement and if there are no legal considerations that would discourage the extension. Placement is made and progress monitored through our program office in Madrid. The internship portion of the program may not combine different companies or different cities.

Company Assignment:

The most important factor is language skills: the more limited the student's language abilities, the flexible he/she will have to be in terms of placements. We try very hard to match the student's educational background, professional experience and professional plans, to the internship placement. We contact the student (by e-mail or in person in Madrid) with one or more possibilities in order of preference. This helps us ensure appropriate placement. The interviews can take place during the time the student is studying (usually during the Professional Orientation course).

Minimum required Spanish level: Intermediary - high.

For accommodation and prices, please check with us.

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