When to apply

Every January, IAESTE Switzerland receives over 100 internship offers abroad in exchange of offers for international students in Switzerland. The advantage of this is that these positions are reserved for students enrolled at Swiss universities. The main application period for these positions is the month of February. From March and during the rest of the year, however, you can always benefit from a wide range of internships and apply for them.

Interested?

Apply here for our paid internships abroad!

Internships

Conditions for participation

Enrolled

As the main requirement to participate in the IAESTE Switzerland program, students need to be enrolled at a Swiss university (including the Federal Institutes of Technology and Institutes of Applied Sciences) when registering with IAESTE.

Completion of 4th semester

At the beginning of the internship, normally four completed semesters are necessary, however some offers are also open for students in an earlier stage of their studies.

19-30 years of age

For an IAESTE internship you must be between 19 and 30 years old.

Internship details

Duration

The duration of IAESTE traineeships is very variable: the internships range from 6 weeks to 12 months, with most internships proposed for the summer.

The employer gives a time slot when the internship should take place and fixes a minimum duration. Please compare these specifications with your own availability and include your preferred period for the internship in your application.

Salary

As an intern you will be paid a salary by your employer. The salary should cover the basic costs of living during the traineeship. However, you will have to have enough financial resources to cover all travel expenses and the cost of any activities in the host country.

Costs

Registration Fee

To register with IAESTE Switzerland costs 50.- CHF (including VAT). This registration is valid for one year.

Participation Fee

As soon as you send us your complete application, the participation fee of CHF 500.– (incl. VAT) is due. A receipt needs to be sent together with the application. Please see below for our refund policies.

For your information: The 500.- CHF participation fee does not cover our costs. IAESTE Switzerland is financed mainly by contributions from universities, partners, sponsors, etc.

Reserved Internship

If you have found your employer in a foreign country by yourself, it’s a so called reserved internship. In this case, IAESTE can assist you with the visa process. The fee for this service is CHF 250.-.

Increased fees

Please note that our partner universities only support one internship per student, which means that if you want to do a second IAESTE traineeship, you will have to pay a participation fee of 1500.- CHF.

Also, in case your university does not support our exchange program, we are obliged to charge you this higher participation fee as well.

Here you can find a list of all participating universities.

For Erasmus students and students who are no longer enrolled, an increased fee of CHF 1500 also applies, as the financial support from the universities no longer applies.

Refund

The registration fee (50.- CHF) will not be refunded in any case.

The participation fee (500.- CHF) will be refunded if the internship has been cancelled by the employer / if the employer rejected your application.

In the case of cancellations by the student, reimbursement is only possible in justified exceptional cases (e.g. illness with medical certificate, accident, death in the family).

The reserved internship fee will not be refunded.

Postal Account

Please transfer the fees on the following account:

Postal Giro Account No. 87-64373-6, IBAN CH91 0900 0000 8706 4373 6,

BIC PO FI CH BE

Beneficiary: IAESTE Switzerland, Weinbergstrasse 41, 8006 Zürich.

– Unfortunately, we cannot accept any transfers from foreign bank accounts (exception LI)

– In case transfers are made at a post or bank counter, the additional fees have to be paid by you.