The internship is an important moment in the student training because it’s an hands-on experience in the field. In particular, the student can pursue:

• a compulsory curricular internship, if this is included in the student study plan, the duration and type are predetermined by the individual Study Course; the activation of each compulsory curricular internship is subject to the prior approval of the “Responsible for Internships” (see contacts) and of the Academic Tutor identified by the student, who also evaluates the final report about the internship experience before proceeding to the ECTS assignment ;
• an optional internship, i.e., not included in the student study plan and therefore not aimed at obtaining additional ECTS, but only at performing a practical experience and at enriching the curriculum in view to the entrance in the  job market. Often this optional type of internship is associated to a Master Thesis.

In the case of an internship in a company, whether optional or compulsory, the student will have a specific tutor identified by the company and an academic tutor, who may be chosen or suggested by the student.

Whether you are looking for an internship or simply want to evaluate the possibility to undertake an internship, you have a variety of online and offline support tools at your disposal. For example, the student can take advantage of:

• meetings organised for students; the Career Service organizes, with the contact person of the study programme, meetings to train and give information, to explain students the deadlines and how to search for the internship;
• the student can contact the Interniship Center by phone or by e-mail or visit it personally (at the Career Service, Leonardo Campus, Rectorate, ground floor) every day, without appointment, to receive advice on research, activation and preparation for carrying out internships;
• students can also rely on the guidance and information support of the Professor responsible for the internships of their Course of Study (see contacts)

As for the online support, the student has various tools:

• the Career Service offers the opportunity to prepare an effective application through a preliminary online course that teaches how to write a CV;
• notice board with internships in Italy and abroad, daily updated with new internship offers received directly from Italian and foreign companies;
• to consult a database with the profiles of companies affiliated with the Politecnico di Milano that offer internships, divided by sectors of activity or area of interest; the student can send his application to the chosen companies through the websites or through the Career Service;
• Once a year, there is a call to apply for the “Erasmus+ for traineeship programme”. Students can apply for an internship supported by the European Commission in a company or organization based in one of the participating European countries.

Finally, students can take advantage form the following tools made available by the Career Service or by individual teaching:

• informative meetings: a calendar with more than 150 meetings at the Politecnico di Milano, with the active participation of Italian and international companies; the proposed meetings are focused on specific courses of study or crossectional areas and consist of round tables with managers in class, workshops or corporate case studies, mentoring meetings with Alumni, trade fairs, aperitif networking, etc..
• real interviews for available internship positions, carried out at the Politecnico di Milano directly with employers (every month, during the Recruiting week) and organized in some teachings of the Master Degree Course.
• three major job fairs every year, the “International Job Fair” for work/internship abroad (every year in October), the “PMI Day” to find work/internship in small and medium Italian companies (every year in November) and the “Career Day”, the largest fair with over 150 companies all on the same day at the Politecnico di Milano.

During their internships, the student can refer to the Academic tutor, chosen by student or assigned by the SAT manager, in order to set up the activities of the internship, in case of doubt about how to implement the project or to have technical and scientific advice. The student can also count on the support of the Career Service, to report any problems with the company or the tutor, or doubts about the achievement of training objectives or about the quality of support provided by the company

Career Service http://www.careerservice.polimi.it/