The internship has become an essential part of the full-time Initial Training and Higher Studies of the CEPV. Included in the teaching plans, it is compulsory and one of the conditions for obtaining a diploma. For those who wish, it can be done abroad; this international dimension is particularly favored in the Higher Studies.
The goal of the internship is primarily professional: it allows students to confront the realities of their profession, to develop their skills and abilities, to broaden their professional network, and to gain independence.
At the level of Initial Training, students carry out long-term internships in order to consolidate their approach to their profession through proven professional experience, and to be followed in the development of this experience by a practicing professional or a team.
In the framework of the Higher Studies, particularly during the completion of the diploma work, students are asked to confront themselves with professional experiences in immersion, and to integrate companies with a strong and demanding positioning in the field of visual communication, chosen according to the professional specialization stakes of the student. The goal is to allow students to sharpen their acquired skills, to put them into practice and to initiate complex projects independently.
Since 2016, interested parties can also benefit from financial aid to complete their internship in the best conditions. This assistance is provided on the basis of a dossier thanks to the “Mobility programs for apprentices and students in Higher Studies” of the Canton of Vaud with the support of Movetia, the National Agency in charge of the promotion of exchanges and mobility. This support is also available to apprentices in Dual Training (training with employer and part-time at school) and to young graduates of the Initial Training, having obtained a Federal Certificate of Competence (CFC).
In a world where mobility and multilingualism have become important factors of success, the experience of an internship abroad, which promotes the practice of a foreign language and the discovery of a different culture, is a significant asset for the future of CEPV’s pupils, students and apprentices.
“Changing environments makes the experience more intense. Alone, with no reference points, I was pushed beyond my limits. But I was also 100% into the internship, and probably more involved than if I had stayed in Switzerland.”
(Estelle, ceramist who went to Faenza and Venice, Italy)
“The opportunity to do an internship like this was very valuable. I learned to manage on my own and to look for solutions to problems that might arise. I discovered and appreciated a living environment that was unknown to me in a cosmopolitan city, where it is easy to meet people. Brussels is a very beautiful city, with a multitude of cultural activities to discover, monuments, museums and frescos.
Being able to join a team in the museum field allowed me to learn more about this not always easy job. Working in a field such as museography requires various skills that were not always covered in our training at school.
The funding from Movetia was a great help, I was able to meet all my needs and had the possibility to find a very well placed flat, which would have been impossible without Movetia.
(Léa, 3D polydesigner who went to Brussels, Belgium)
“I went, thanks to the Movetia mobility programme, to Greece. Once I had signed the contract, I got on my bike and rode off.
The beauty of this opportunity to leave under good financial conditions is that you have time to develop a professional practice, and just as much time to get to know yourself, your limits and your joys.
And then there is also the network that grows, which makes us feel a bit at home everywhere, as if we had another home, and other opportunities.
It is an experience that, even if it turns out to be negative, will be positive, because it will teach us something anyway!
Go for it, go for it! A taste of adventure and roll on youth! It’s wind and fire!
(Selma, photographer who went to Athens, Greece)