Traineeship and career

The mission of the ISMA Career Center is to support and enhance the personal development of ISMA students and to stimulate their employment by using the career development support system measures.

The target audience of the ISMA Career Centre consists of students, graduates, employers and high school students.

The main aims of the Career Centre are:

  • to improve the competitiveness and integration skills of students and graduates on the job market
  • to plan, organise, and control the realisation of study practice;
  • to consult and inform high school students about the kinds of education available, about study programmes and job opportunities after obtaining a certain education; to encourage and facilitate co-operation with employers, for example, regarding study practice places, projects, research, and current job opportunities;
  • to create and maintain information resources databases – graduates’ databases and employers’ databases, as well as to collect, batch and submit electronically the information related to career and career opportunities.

ISMA has many long-term agreements with enterprises in Latvia and abroad concerning study practice places.

In addition to working on these questions, the Career Centre offers consultations regarding professional orientation, organises seminars and conferences, etc. The Career Centre is also involved in various educational projects.

Every autumn, ISMA organises the annual „Study Practice and Business” conference where students and employers – some of them ISMA graduates – share their experiences.

Students have the right to choose the place of internship, according to the study program and with the aim of career development.

Choosing the place of internship, students demonstrate initiative, commitment, communicative skills, and courage to make decisions and be self-responsible.

Students who cannot choose the place of internship themselves must contact Career Centre at least one month prior to the start of internship.

During the internship, students fulfil their work duties and collect information according to the Internship tasks.

To register the internship and correctly prepare the Internship Report students must have all necessary documents that prove the completion of internship. The documents are certain forms/blanks that must be filled-in by the student, the company, in which the internship took place, and the school.

Students must fill-in and apply at the Career Centre:

  • Application – one copy;
  • Contract – three copies.

Three copies of the contract are necessary because it is signed by three parties (ISMA, place of internship and the student), and each party keeps the original contract. First, the contract is signed by ISMA and the student, then by the place of internship. ISMA copy must be attached to the internship report.

To complete the Application and the Contract students must know:

  • the name of the place of internship;
  • the address of the place of internship (street, number of the building and the office, city);
  • contact phone number of the place of internship;
  • desirable: the name of the person authorised to sign the contract on behalf of the place of internship.

If you have doubts about the correct preparation of the documents, please visit the Career Centre and bring the blanks with you – we will help you!

  • Characteristics;
  • Student Internship Questionnaire;
  • The Review of the Internship Report;
  • Pre-diploma Internship Task Blank – used only by 4th year bachelor students, master students and 2nd year short-cycle students.

The Characteristics is filled-in and signed by the responsible person at the place of internship in the end of internship period. Students must make sure that the internship is rated using the 10-point system (item 6 in Characteristics).

If the place of internship is abroad, students can use blanks in English or Russian.

Student Internship Questionnaire is filled-in by the student. Here students can express their thoughts and recommendations about the organisation of internship and propose ways of improving the documentation.

In the Review – of the Internship Report, students only fill-in personal information (study year, group, name/surname). The blank is later filled-in by the director of internship at ISMA, according to the assessment of the contents of the Internship Report.

Having read the review, students can learn the details of the assessment process.

Pre-diploma Internship Task Blank – scientific director/director of qualification work formulates tasks prior to the start of internship. If the tasks correspond to the standard tasks (from ISMA home page), the appropriate record is made. The filled-in blank is signed by the director.

During the internship students not only fulfil their work duties, but also collect information according to the internship tasks in order to prepare the Report.

Prior to the start of internship students must study the Internship Tasks, to know what information is necessary. The Internship Tasks can be found on ISMA homepage.

Structure of the Internship Report:

  1. Cover sheet – standard blank found on (ISMA homepage);
  2. Atskaite/referāts;
  3. Obligatory annexes.

The Report must include the following items:

  1. Table of Contents – sections of the report with page numbers indicated;
  2. Introduction;
  3. Analysis of the Internship Tasks;

3.1. …

3.2. …

… . …

3.n. according to the number of Internship Tasks;

  1. Self-assessment of the Internship (should be carried out by 1st and 2nd year students, excluding master students);
  2. Conclusion;
  3. List of Literature.

In the second section (Introduction) students provide general description of internship according to the following items:

  • short description of aims and tasks of internship;
  • place of internship: information about the company and its activities;
  • internship management at the company: position and name of the manager;
  • work duties during the internship.

In the third section – Analysis of the Internship Tasks students analyse and summarize each internship task using the collected information and materials about the place of internship.

To divide one task analysis from the other students should use subsection numbering – 3.1., 3.2., etc. – until the last task.

In the fourth section – Self-assessment of the Internship students assess their performance during their internship according to the following criteria:

  • level of preparation (theoretical knowledge and practical skills) – did the student have enough skills and knowledge to collect and analyse information;
  • attitude towards the work (interest, discipline, accuracy, initiative, self-esteem, responsibility, etc.);
  • communicative features (visual image, adaptability, team integration, communicative skills, etc.).

In the fifth section – students make Conclusion about the activities of the companies and offers ways of improvement (according to the internship tasks).

The sixth section – contains the list of informational sources used: books, journals, electronic sources, etc.

The Report can be extended with the information about the company shown in booklets, informative leaflets, photographs, newspaper articles, etc. In this case it is necessary to add the seventh item in the Table of Contents – Annexes.

The contents of the Report may be changed only upon written approval of ISMA director of internship.

Students must consult ISMA director of internship about the contents of the Report.

Concerning the preparation of the documents students must consult ISMA Career Centre.

The text of the Report is prepared in electronical and printed form on the standard one-sided white sheet (A4 – 210 x 297 mm). Margins: left – 30 mm, right, top and bottom – 20 mm. General font size (letters, numbers) – 12 pt, (Font Size), section names – 16 pt (Bold), subsection names – 14 pt (Bold). Line spacing – 1,5 lines, font – Times New Roman, alignment – Justify. Page numbering – centre at the bottom of the page. Cover Sheet and Table of Contents are not numbered.

The Internship Report with the Annexes must be put into a folder with transparent front side. First, the Report is put into the folder, then four or five Annexes.

Obligatory Annexes:

  • Contract;
  • Characteristics;
  • Student Internship Questionnaire;
  • Pre-diploma Internship Tasks (only for pre-diploma or qualifying internship);
  • The Review of the Internship Report.

The Internship Report along with the Annexes (further – FOLDER) must be submitted to the Career Centre before the deadline. The Career Centre assesses the documents according to the requirements. If the mistakes are found the FOLDER is returned to the student for correction.

If there are no mistakes the Internship Report is passed to ISMA director of internship, who assesses its contents and prepares the Review.

Students defend internship according to the Internship Exam Schedule. The process of the exam is defined by the director of internship.

If a student has professional experience relevant to the study programme he/she can apply for recognition of this experience and allocation of certain number of credit points for internship in frames of the particular study programme. The number of recognized credit points depends on summarized indicators of professional experience, e.g., source of professional experience, place, period, achievements, etc.

A person who wants the achieved results to be recognized should submit Application to the Career Centre. The documents proving the professional experience must be attached to the application e.g.: a reference from the work place, a copy of employment contract, description of duties, etc.

ISMA Commission for Recognition of Study Results is in charge of discussing and making decisions on recognition of results of professional experience.

The recognition procedure is a payable service; its price is stated in Rector’s order „On Payable Services”.

Prior to the submission of documents students must consult the Head of the Career Centre: marina.celika@isma.lv