NIK-LAS.com | Internships

ITALY 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 internship 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 professional is under the microscope as Universities and companies world-wide look for the most effective ways to train people to work in today's global markets. The rational Higher Education program alone cannot fully prepare you fro what you will face on-the-job. International business skills and second language competency are now a necessity.

Whatever your area of study might be, through the NIK|LAS organization you may have the opportunity to gain real-life experience abroad. You will experience for yourself the very different Italian business protocols, learn to do business in a completely different culture, and gain fluency in both formal Italian as well as local and profession-specific jargon. These factors which may well mean the difference between business success and failure.

Objectives of the Internship Program

The principle objectives of the combined language and internship program are twofold. (1) To promote acquisition of high-level Italian language skills and (2) to provide candidates with professional working experience in a full immersion Italian-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 4 weeks of Italian language (Florence, Milan, Rome, Siena, Lecce).
2nd: the Professional Orientation course (in all cities).
3rd: the internship placement, lasting a minimum of 4 weeks (Florence, Milan, Rome, Siena, Lecce).

I Part - Course

The length of the Italian-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 Italian course is 4 week.

Location: Florence, Milan, Rome, Siena, Lecce

II Part: Professional Orientation Course

The professional orientation portion takes places in all cities to facilitate placement interviews. It is a 2-week course aimed at learning about the Italian 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.

Location: Florence, Milan, Rome, Siena

III Part: The Internship Period

Professional practice internships are offered in private sector companies, governmental organizations, NGO's, schools, colleges, and universities. The work period will be a minimum of 4 weeks. It may be possible to extend placement if both the employer/sponsor and the intern are in agreement and if there are no legal considerations that would discourage the extension. The internship portion of the program may not be combined among different companies or different cities. Internships are offered in the following fields: Hotel / Restaurant / Travel Agency / Tourism / Web design / Web marketing.

Internship Placement Fees: $1080 [8 wks] / $1380 [12 wks] / $1690 [16 wks]

On-site Language Skill exam fee: $140 USD (For non-beginners, who skip the language course phase)

Location: Florence, Milan, Rome, Siena, Lecce

Company Assignment

The most important factor is language skills. The more limited the student's language abilities, the flexible s/he will have to be in terms of placements.
We try very hard to match the students' educational background, professional experience, and professional plans, to the internship placement. We contact the student (by e-mail, telephone or in person) with one or more possibilities, and descriptions of those internships, and ask the student for comments and to rank the 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 Italian level: intermediary - high

Services Include

Italian Course (minimum 4 weeks): Standard Italian language
2 Weeks Professional Orientation
Minimum 4 weeks Internship
Requesting and receiving background information on all internship candidates providing guidelines for the preparation of the professional résumé in Italian, interviewing each candidate, and drawing up a list of possible internship placements;
Conferring with the candidates via e-mail or telephone to confirm area of interest and counsel on professional experience options;
Approaching the sponsoring institutions and achieving placements;
Maintaining contact with both the candidates and the sponsoring organizations to ensure that the internships run smoothly;
Intervening to resolve any difficulties or misunderstandings between the clients and the corporate sponsors, to assure mutual satisfaction.

APPLICATION: required documents

Résumé either in Italian or English, depending on the student's stronger language. (Example Provided)
Short essay (1-2 pages): the student has to focus on the kind of experience he/she wants to have, what he/she wants to learn, what kind of internship the student prefers, and why.
The student has to send the documents by e-mail to: intern@nik-las.com
Deposit of $250 USD
Send documents at least 2-3 months before arrival date

Please, make sure your medical insurance covers you during your stay in Italy.