An internship in another European country holds benefits for all involved parties: the sending organisation, the receiving organisation and the intern. Besides organising a learning opportunity directly between two companies, there is the option to apply for funding via a mobility project funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.
Everyone knows that university students use Erasmus to study abroad for a semester - but your apprentices can do this too!
Not all companies are big enough and employ a large number of apprentices that would justify applying for a mobility project themselves. If your company has the necessary capacity, have a look here and see how you can apply! If not - no worries, there are other ways. You can get in touch with an intermediary organisation that is specialised on managing Erasmus+ mobilities.
Let's say you are the head of a small company in France and your apprentice Simon desperately wishes to do an internship abroad. You agree that this would be beneficial and interesting, but you have no partner company in another country. You tell Simon if he finds a way, you would look into this.
A few days later, Simon comes to your office and shows you a flyer of an organisation that seems to offer exactly what you are looking for! The two of you call the number provided and learn that Simon is eligible to do an internship abroad and it would be funded by the EU - the Erasmus+ programme to be exact. However, you have concerns. Your company is small and Simon is a valuable employee, and it is not feasible to pay his salary without him being there, especially for a long time. And you can not imagine that all costs are covered... The person on the phone explains that Simon can go abroad for maybe only two to three weeks, meaning he would not be absent for long, and the shorter the stay the higher the chance of having all costs covered. You ask for more information about the process and receive the following overview and checklist.
You decide that it is worth the effort to send your apprentice abroad. He will not only grow as a person and become even more independent, he will also bring back valuable insights on how your field of work is approached in another country. Maybe even a professional collaboration can be established! The costs of sending Simon abroad are feasible and together you decide to tackle the adventure!