10 Reasons to Hire Erasmus Interns in Tampere
Author: Tampere Talent Ambassadors
The Erasmus internship program is an underused resource in Tampere. In this article, we hope to convince you that there are many reasons why your company should be considering hiring international Erasmus+ interns to your company.
1. Internationalization
In ‘The Benefits of Young International Talent for Your Company’ article, we discussed that young international talent could bring valuable international insights to your company. It can be an expensive risk to hire experienced international talent. The package you offer needs to be enticing enough to convince a person (and often their family) to relocate. By hiring an international intern your company can take advantage of the cultural and language benefits of an international employee without having to commit to longer-term contracts. While young professionals might not have as many valuable contacts as more seasoned professionals, they will still have knowledge of their home markets and networks that can prove useful.
2. Cost efficiency
Currently, the Erasmus+ grant available to interns coming to Finland is 620€ per month. The funding Erasmus interns receive is intended to be a contribution towards their travel and living expenses, and thus can be considered as part of their salary. This makes hiring Erasmus interns more cost-effective than hiring a similarly qualified local student.
3. Innovation
Multicultural teams are more innovative. Click here to read more from our article The Benefits of Young International Talent for Your Company.
4. The Best Talent
It takes a lot of guts to decide to move abroad. By hiring young international talents, your company can be sure of hiring someone with the famous Finnish sisu! Students who consider moving abroad are often more enthusiastic, and willing to work hard.
5. The Greatest Choice
There are currently 33 countries participating in the Erasmus program. In 2019 there were some 1.8 million registered students in Finland. In the EU in 2018, there were 17.8 million tertiary education students. This is a huge pool of talent to draw from. However, it is also underutilized, with only around 60 000 international internships being offered each year. By tapping into this resource, your company can have the pick of all the best students from the best universities in Europe.
6. Flexibility in Duration
Temporary and short-term contracts can often be hard to fill. The Erasmus internship program is available to students and graduates for periods of between 2 and 12 months. This means you can take on an Erasmus intern for a specific project or period. Also, the period can be extended with minimal paperwork. So if you find you need that indispensable intern for a few months more, you can always extend the contract (up to the 12month maximum).
7. Easy Administration
Some companies may be put off by the perceived paperwork in hiring international talents. With the Erasmus+ internship program, the paperwork is minimal. Often a simple learning agreement and certificate of completion are all that is needed. The sending institute can also take care of the insurance if the host organization does not already have this in place.
8. Networking
Many interns stay in touch with their former Erasmus internship employers. Over time, this can provide a company with a wealth of useful contacts in other countries and organizations across Europe.
9. Branding
Investing in emerging talent is a hot topic. Awards such as the NCSR Emerging Professional Friendly Firm Award and the Investors in People programs make it vital to look after and invest in nurturing and growing new talents. Erasmus interns can lend credibility to your business’ corporate and social responsibility goals.
10. Fresh Challenging Behavior
Many Finns are non-confrontational. Conflict resolution in Finland is often subtle, controlled and amicable. Other cultures do things differently with lots of shouting, verbalizing disagreements, and getting upset quickly only to return to pre-confrontation levels of stress very quickly. This not only challenges managers and gives them new skills in conflict resolution and negotiation. But also may expose better, more efficient ways of working.
Beyond cheap labour.
While it is true that hiring Erasmus interns can be more cost-effective than local students, it is worth noting that good work should always be rewarded. It may be possible to make a remuneration package that includes things other than a pay package, such as experiences of Finland while the intern is here. Another option is providing accommodation to take the worry of having to find something. There are many benefits to hiring interns, such as internationalizing, cost efficiency, innovation, attracting the best, strongest talent from the widest pool of talent, great flexibility and easy administration allow the company to focus on core competencies, while networking, branding and managing challenging behaviour all result in upskilling the management. You could be taking your first new Erasmus intern as soon as an advert goes live. Why not head on over to erasmusintern.org and place an advert to hire an intern today?
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland has participated in the financing of the project. The project contributes to the goals of the national Talent Boost programme.
