NHH launching international summer internships
NHH is offering three international summer internships for Norwegian NHH students: banking and consultancy in London, and multinational aid in Rome.
11.03.2015 - Ed.
"Assisting in equipping our students for an international career is part of NHH's strategic internationalisation efforts", states Ann-Mari Haram, Project Manager at the International Career Center at NHH.
Partners
DNB is offering an internship at its London office, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN is offering an internship in Rome, and the UK based consultancy OC&C will also welcome a NHH student in London this summer. The internships are exclusively for NHH students.
The OC&C and DNB internships are paid, and the UN internship is supported financially by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This is the first time NHH is organising international internships.
Applicants
The information campaign targeted Norwegian-speaking students finishing their bachelor's degree in Spring 2015 and master's students. 77 applications from around 60 individual students were received.
Ann-Mari Haram comments: "The three fields of work presented - banking, consultancy and multinational aid - normally attract NHH students. In addition, our internships partners have a prestigious reputation and are located in attractive cities abroad. So I must admit that I found the number of applicants disappointedly low. However, the competition proved harsh".
She continues: "The applicants were highly qualified and motivated, and all three employers had problems identifying who to interview. They said that they could have talked to almost all of their applicants", says Haram. DNB got the highest number of applicants: 35 students would like to work for them in London.
Interviews on campus: José Estors Carballo from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations interviewed NHH students for an internship in Rome.
Interview process
In total 21 students were interviewed face-to-face or by phone during the first week in March. The partners chose different recruitment processes: DNB received its applications through its own system and conducted two rounds of skype/telephone interviews. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN in Rome and the UK based consultancy OC&C sourced their applications through the Career Center at NHH.
OC&C tested 17 students on line and thereafter interviewed six candidates on the NHH campus using a case based interview style. The final round will consist of a telephone interview with senior partners. The Food and Agricultural Organisation conducted face-to-face interviews of seven candidates on campus.
DNB has already selected its intern, OC&C will be ready by mid-March and the UN will announce its decision by the beginning of April.
Great potential
Based on this pilot project, NHH is convinced there is a potential for concluding international internship agreements with a number of companies and organisations. Some companies, such as DNB, have voiced their interest in supporting NHH regarding career services and internationalisation. Others increasingly demand Nordic speaking employees and are, at least in some cases, aware of the good reputation of NHH candidates.
"A relatively small segment of NHH students are ready to apply for jobs abroad. This group is however highly qualified and motivated. I expect the number of interested students to increase as the possibilities become better known on campus", says Ann-Mari Haram. "We will arrange for international internship opportunities exclusively for NHH students also in the years to come", she concludes.
Case based interviews
In the world of consultancy it is essential to master the case based interview techniques, and NHH aims at providing a course in this in English in connection with NHH Career Week in autumn 2015.
Internships in Norway for international students
Since its establishment, the Career Center has organised an event, "Meet and Greet", where international NHH students are speed interviewed by international companies located in Bergen. This event, and its spin off effects, result in about five internships annually. The event takes place in October.
The International Career Center
NHH focuses strongly on providing an excellent international graduate profile both in terms of education and work experience. The International Career Center serves as a focal point for NHH students with international ambitions and the international business sector.
Read the International Career Center's magasine (issuu)
Read more about internationalisation at NHH (Paraplyen januar 2015).
Interviews on campus: Ben Galloway (consultant), Phil Hunt (manager, consumer) and Danielle Lestrade (HR) from OC&C interviewed NHH students for an internship in London.
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