Modern Languages students can choose to spend one or both semesters completing an internship, or internships (one per semester), in a French-, German-, Portuguese-, or Spanish-speaking environment during their compulsory year abroad. This includes students studying Modern Languages and Management and students on other Joint Honours programmes, including students studying more than one language. The language(s) of the internship(s) must correspond to the language(s) students are studying at King's.
Modern Languages students may complete one semester at a university or completing an English Language Assistantship (please check the ELA programme appropriate to you is an option for one semester only) and one semester completing an internship. Students who want to work for the full year can do one full-year internship or two semester-long internships.
Students undertaking full-time studies as part of an integrated year abroad are not advised to undertake full-time internships parallel to their studies.
Key information for internships during your year abroad
Internships must:
1. Be in an environment where the language of the workplace is the target language and in a country where the target language is the common/official language. For example, an English-speaking business in Spain would not be accepted (this excludes English language teaching roles). A country where more than two languages are officially spoken (e.g., Canada, Belgium, Switzerland) is acceptable only if theplacement is in a region where the target language is the majority language.
2. Be guaranteed a secure working environment, so that the employer has requisite local accreditations. Employers must also provide liability and public liability insurance of up to a limit of at least £5 million - if they do not they will need to provide a justifiable reason that will be considered by King's. It is your responsibility to confirm this with you employer in advance of accepting any offer.
3. Be completed on a full-time basis. Semester-long internships must last a minimum of three months and full-year internships must last a minimum of six months. Your working hours per week should not exceed 37.5 hours.
4. Coincide, as far as possible, with term dates at King's. For example, you would not be able to take up a full-year internship that begins in February or March.
5. Be approved by the relevant Study Abroad Tutor by submission of the Work Placement Approval Form as soon as the internship is confirmed (please see the Internship Approval Process below).
6. Be supported by a King's Host Agreement prior to the start of the internship (please see information below).
7. Be supported by a training agreement which should be completed at the start of the appropriate semester (you will be prompted to complete this by Global Mobility).
8. Not have such a high workload that you are unable to complete the departmental assessment.
Internship approval process
If students are considering completing an internship for all or part of their year abroad, they must:
1. Discuss their year abroad plans with their Study Abroad Tutor.
2. Complete their internal year abroad application by the stated deadline, selecting "work placement" as their first choice institution, then select three partner universities as second to fourth choice institutions. Please note: if you fail to find a work placement or it falls through for any reason, you are not guaranteed to be allocated to any of your selected universities.
Once students have found a relevant work placement, they must:
1. Seek approval from their Study Abroad Tutor for their proposed work placement. To do this students must complete the Work Placement Approval Form and submit it to Global Mobility via email by the deadlines below. Global Mobility will pass on the form to the relevant Study Abroad Tutor for approval.
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15th May 2023 for students completing a work placement abroad for the first semester or full academic year of 2023/2024 in order to receive approval by the 29th of May 2023
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1st October 2023 for students completing a work placement abroad for the second semester of 2023/2024 in order to receive approval by the 15th of October 2023
2. After students have received approval, they will need to complete a King's Host Agreement. The process for which is as follows:
- Initiate a King's Host Agreement for ML students during their year abroad here. Students must complete this specific form. If they complete another form it will not reach us and won't be accepted. If students are unsure, please email studyabroad@kcl.ac.uk
- When initiating the document, students must include the details of the host employer, please check these details are correct as the form will be automatically be sent to that email address
- Click 'begin signing' and complete all the required sections. These will be highlighted and students won't be able to submit the document until they have fully completed all the required sections. Once this has been done, submit the document and it will automatically be sent to the employer
- Once the employer has completed their sections and submitted the document, it will be sent back to Global Mobility for us to review and sign. If everything is okay, we will approve it and sign, and the student will receive a copy which can be sent to the employer if necessary. If there are any issues with the Agreement, students will be contacted via email.
- Please note: it is the student's responsibility to confirm that the employer is happy to complete the King's Host Agreement. If they cannot complete it, students will need to find an alternative internship. King's cannot sign any equivalent external document in place of the Host Agreement. Students must also confirm that the employer has liability and public liability insurance.
For more information about the King's Host Agreement in general, please visit this SSO article but do not use the Host Agreement linked on that page. You must only use the Agreement link above. If you require a Host Agreement in French, you may initiate an additional French Host Agreement through Careers, but you must complete the English Modern Language version first.
After you have started your internship, you will be required to complete a Work Placement Learning Agreement which will need to be signed by your employer. We will prompt you about this.
Please contact studyabroad@kcl.ac.uk if you have any questions or concerns about anything relating to the Internships Abroad process.
Resources for finding and applying for internships during your year abroad
On top of your independent research you may find the following useful:
Careers & Employability for application support and their internship opportunities pages
German speaking resources - UK German Connection, Zeit Online and German work-placement search engines; Meinpraktikum, UNICUM and Stepstone
French speaking resources - L'Etudiant
Global Graduates - Internships Abroad pages
Past opportunities
Some of the organisations King's languages students have completed work placements at are listed below. It is the student's responsibility to independently research and apply to the work opportunities they are interested in.
German:
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Berlin Collective, Artist Network, Berlin
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BMW, Automotive Industry, Munich
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Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Higher Education, Germany (please email studyabroad@kcl.ac.uk for further information)
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Hugo Boss, Fashion Design, Tübingen
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Norbert Zaenker und Kollegen, Translation and Interpreting Agency, Berlin
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PV magazine Photovoltaik, Media, Germany
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Red Arrow International Broadcast (ProSiebenSat.1), Media Company, Munich
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Universitätsbibliothek, Librarianship, Ingolstadt
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White Clarke Group, Consultancy and software services, Vienna
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Mirabaud & Cie SA, Wealth & Asset Management, Switzerland
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Designers Guild, Textiles and Home Furnishings, Germany
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LKW Walter, Transport & Logistics, Austria
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Deloitte AG, Finance & Consultancy, Switzerland
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Heuking Kuehn Lueer Wojtek, Legal Sector, Germany
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Auticon, IT, Germany
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Systems, Applications, Products in Data Processing (SAP), Technology, Germany
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DevilDuck Records & Booking, Music Business, Germany
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KPMG, Professional Services, Germany
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Misr Bank - Europe GmbH, Finance, Germany
French:
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Credit Agricole Corporate Investment Bank, Finance, France
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Daoust Lestage, Architecture, France
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FleishmanHillard, Communications, France and Belgium
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Mediacom, Marketing, France
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Moonwalk Films, Media, France
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Estimation Média, France
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SA Eurogroup Madame Vacances, Tourism, France
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Vivendi Universal SA, Media, France
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Evo Montréal, Real Estate, Canada
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Morgan Philips Executive Search, HR & Recruitment, France
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Marrionnaud, France
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Mirabaud & Cie SA, Wealth & Asset Management, Switzerland
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LoungeUp SAS, Hospitality & Tourism, France
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Deloitte AG, Finance & Consultancy, Switzerland
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HSBC France, Financial Services, France
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Patriksson Group, France
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Centre Scolaire Saint-Pierre, Education, France
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IPSOS, Research, France
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Danone, Marketing, France
Spanish:
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Nest Hostel Granada, Tourism, Spain
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Savills Consultores Inmobiliarios, Real Estate, Spain
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Universitat Autòma de Barcelona, Higher Education, Spain
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Erasmus Life Valencia, Arts, Entertainment and Recreation, Spain
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Asociación Mujeres Unidas en Salud y Desarrollo (MUSADE), NGO, Costa Rica
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Amazon, Spain
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Confesión Juventud Con Una Misión "JUCUM," Charity, Colombia
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Intiwawa Niños Del Sol, Charity, Peru
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Supergroup PLC, Retail, Spain
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Consulado General de Hungría, Foreign Trade, Spain
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Asociación Pro Personas con Parálisis Cerebral, Health Services, Mexico
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Escuela Entrelenguas, Education & Tourism, Spain
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Erasmus Club Sevilla, Tourism, Spain
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H10 Hotels Andalucía Plaza, Tourism, Spain
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Promora, Real Estate, Spain
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Teach Argentina
Portuguese:
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Mais Caminhos, Charity, Brazil
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Associação Discover Lisbon, Tourism, Portugal