By Laila M. Lange
Brussels… the destination for many Euroculture students. Every year, a considerable number of Euroculture students follow their dreams and start an internship in the “European capital”. Are you considering an internship in Brussels? Are you curious to know where Euroculture students found an internship during their third semester? If so, then you’re in luck! This piece collects the experiences of students who opted for the professional track and spent their third semester in Brussels. Let’s dive right in!
Where did you do an internship and for how long?
Cate: European Parliament, Secretariat of the Committee on Petitions
Laura: Neth-ER, 5 months
Raphael: European External Programme with Africa for 4 months
Arianna: European Parliament, DG ITEC
Eva: European Movement International, Brussels, for 5 months
How did you find your internship position?
Cate: Through the Schuman Trainee application portal (https://ep-stages.gestmax.eu/website/homepage)
Laura: Jelmer send the application to all Dutch students way back in the first semester
Raphael: I reviewed the list of lobbies of the commission to find interesting groups
Arianna: Through the Schuman Trainee application portal
Eva: LinkedIn and Euroculture email
Could you tell some basic facts about your internship? How many hours did you usually work? Were you paid? What was your main task during the internship?
Cate: I was mainly working on incoming petitions. The work was mostly summarising them and doing research about the topic to see if it fell under EU law or not and, based on that, propose a way forward. I worked full time approx 40 hours a week and I was paid 1400 euros per month.
Laura: I did 8 hours a day, (9-6) was paid 600 euros. I mostly wrote articles for their website and went over official eu websites to stay up to date with news and events
Raphael: full time, 8 euros a day, weekly newsletter compiling news around events in the Horn of Africa region, European foreign policy, European migration policy and Libya; daily news update on the political situation of the Horn of Africa region (mainly Ethiopian civil war and Sudanese political transition); occasional longer policy analysis papers on EU migration policy and EU relations with the Horn of Africa region; participation in lobbying campaigns to the EU parliament (against EUROAC reform, information provision around central med migration).
Arianna: I was working from 8:45 until 17:45. I was working in an European institution that luckily doesnt recognise my work as an internship, but as a traineeship, so I received a grant, not a salary. But yes, basically no unpaid internship is allowed. Main tasks changed during the traineeship, because I started working for the Internal communication Unit and then I moved to Customer Experience Unit. Tasks at the beginning were participating in the main event, drafting and publishing articles for the monthly newsletter and the weekly Monday briefing and communication related activities. Main activities after my shift to CRM service were preparing events, set up meetings for mediation activities, drafting monthly overviews and other activities related to EP clients, customer, staff.
Eva: I was a EU affairs trainee, and I assisted the policy and advocacy team in all their activities. I took care of newsletters, promoted our policy positions, and contributed to the organization of policy-related events. I worked 38h/week. It was an unpaid internship.
How did you experience Brussels as a city, and your internship as a whole? To which type of student would you recommend an internship in Brussels? What is your advice for future students?
Cate: Overall nice and challenging experience. I would recommend the experience to all Euroculture students, especially the ones that want a closer look on institutions and their functioning.
Laura: Brussels is chaos, which can both be a good thing or a bad thing. It’s for those students who want to work in or around the EU in the future.
Raphael: It is what it is.
Eva: Brussels is a city that grows on you, after several months. Its greatest appeal is the myriad of free conferences and events involving high-level stakeholders; it is a great place to hone your professional aspirations and build your network. The internships at the European Movement International are of high quality, as interns are fully integrated into the team and are given meaningful tasks. Moreover, the supervisors are really supportive in your learning process. My advice is to showcase your interest in EU democracy, your intercultural skills, and be yourself.
If you consider an internship in Brussels, there are many, many possible positions which fit the interests of Euroculture students and graduates. Every year, this city attracts multiple Euroculture students to spend their third semester there. On top, a handful of graduates return after the end of the studies. Hopefully, this short piece could inspire you on what type of internship in Brussels you might be interested in or whether an internship in Brussels might not be an option for you.
Photo Credit: Guillaume Périgois
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