Start searching for companies yourself using your personal network, the internet or with help from your Internship Coordinator. The most important thing is to start up early, do a nice application and apply for as many relevant companies as possible. In many cases you will have to wait a long time for answer or in worst case you will never get a response. But in order to have a better chance of success you can follow these advises.
Relevant companies
A company is being relevant for internship if it can provide you with engineering tasks and projects within you academic study field. The company must also be able of offering supervision from a person with engineering experience within your specific academic field. If you are in doubt of a company being relevant please get in contact with your.
When to apply
Typically a company can decide about 3-6 month before if they will need an intern. So start identifying companies in the end of your 4th. semester and apply in the very beginning of your 5th. semester. Take care as you should apply about a year before if you consider USA as your internship destination because of the time consuming visa process.
How to find companies and contacts
If you happen to have somebody in your personal network of friends or family with contacts in companies or certain areas of the world, this is often the most convenient way to get in contact with a company for internship.
Looking for companies abroad it could be a good idea to go for a Danish subsidiary. A Danish company is very often more open towards a Danish engineering intern than a foreign owned company. Using the webpages of the Danish Foreign Ministry will guide you to lists with all Danish companies in a certain country. If you use a search engine with the search term “Datterselskabsliste” it should bring up most of the lists available.
In many parts of the world you will see the Danish or Scandinavian companies join a common chamber of commerce and by searching for these associations you can also find companies and maybe the right contacts. Try searching for “Danish chamber of commerce Thailand”. By substituting Danish with Scandinavian you can also bring up more options.
Application
When applying a company you will have to send them an application together with a CV. The application will tell the company why you apply and what you will be capable of offering. The CV is an overview of your professional record. The better the application the better chances for an interview. Always try to personalize the application towards the company and try to avoid standard applications that look like they are sent out in copies to many companies. Remember to state the period of you internship and in particularly which kind of tasks you can do for the company or are primarily interested in.
Before sending the application you could call the company to ask who normally would receive applications from interns.
Internship conditions
The formal conditions of your internship will be regulated through the internship contract but very often more conditions will have to be settled. Many companies offer the students some kind of practical or financial help. Here are some examples of what was offered to previous students:
- Free accommodation
- Transportation costs
- Free meals part of the day
- COLA compensation (cost of living abroad)
- Salary or bonus
- Free insurance
Advisably students should wait to bring up expectations for these kinds of conditions until the company has expressed serious interest in taking an intern.