The VIE French international internship scheme and GRADUATE PROGRAMMES: Two career boosters

The VIE French international internship scheme and graduate programmes are highly-prized opportunities for young graduates to maximize their skills and build on their experience.                                                                                                                                                                

Graduate Programmes: Secrets for producing tomorrow’s senior managers.

In the International Recruitment Guide for Young, High-Potential Graduates, Manuelle Malot cites over 500 companies offering  graduate programmes, including ADIDAS, APPLE, BOSCH, IBM and NESTLÉ. The choice is broad.

This said, candidates have to negotiate a tough selection process that starts with a detailed online application, followed by a telephone interview, tests and finally an assessment center event that usually takes place in Brussels or London. The best European students compete for places, especially those from British institutions for which graduate programmes have been a key component of university culture for many years. Graduate programmes represent an ideal first job for students graduating from top business schools. They are highly-selective, run according to graduation years and enable new graduates to start their careers all over Europe under the guidance of a coach. 

The graduate programmes run by the likes of AkzoNobel, SONY and EADS (Manuelle Malot describes 500 programmes in her book) offer successful applicants the benefit of technical and managerial training designed to turn them into tomorrow’s high-potential executives, while also paying them as for a normal job. The objective for candidates admitted to these is  “to develop their skills on a fast-track basis and ultimately gain earlier access to managerial posts”.

The VIE French international internship scheme

The VIE French international internship scheme offers mutually beneficial contracts for recent graduates and employers, so much so that 10% of EDHEC graduates opt for this formula each year. VIE internships enable businesses to recruit talent in France or elsewhere in Europe for assignments abroad that usually last 18-24 months. For new graduates, the VIE scheme represents a fine first job that is often followed up with a permanent employment contract. The scheme provides an administrative framework that enable students to set off with confidence in the knowledge that their practical daily needs will be taken care of.  

How can I find them? Major French corporations and SMEs offer VIE internships, but they are usually secured through spontaneous applications or through the contacts you have made during previous internships.  

When should I apply? At the end of your studies. An increasing number of companies are using VIE contracts to hire their young graduates and will ask you to provide a document certifying that you are liable to collect your degree in the year that follows. It is vital to validate your academic obligations, including your dissertation, to give yourself the best chance of being accepted for a VIE internship.

Where can I work? You can work anywhere in the world, but 45% of VIE internships concern Europe, 20% Asia and Oceania, 12% North America, 14% Africa, 4% Latin America and 4% the Middle East. You receive a level of compensation that is pre-determined according to the particular country, but not related to your level of qualification. Companies then add their own housing and transport benefits that often make the compensation package highly comfortable relative to the cost of living in the country concerned.

VIE internship opportunities cover virtually the whole spectrum of business functions and activities.