The effects of international internship applications on the careers of university students: Case of Di̇cle University erasmus students

Internship applications have an important place in career steps and in terms of individuals' professional development. The internships carried out by the individuals help them to start their career at a later step and put forward the individual relatively ahead among his rivals. Internship programmes may also provide significant contribution to the individual in terms of improving their professional development. Individuals are able to take part in different internship programmes both in the country and abroad during their ongoing education life. Among the internship programmes carried out internationally, Erasmus Placement Programme is one of the most important one. Within the scope of Erasmus Placement Programme, thousands of students get the chance to take part in an internship programme which is directly related with their field of study all over the Europe every year. European Union Commission funds students via National Agencies which are located in each of the country. The programme aims more and more students to benefit from the Erasmus Placement Programme which allocates millions of Euros and funds thousands of students every year. In this study, it is aimed to study how the Erasmus Placement Programme has affected the 'careers' of the students who carried out their internships abroad by means of this programme. 20 students who have taken part in Erasmus Placement Programme from Dicle University were interviewed and the findings have been evaluated. As a result of this study it is cleared out that the students who benefited from Erasmus Placement Programme and had an overseas experience had a positive effect in getting jobs in private sector. Another finding is that the overseas experience of the students has a considerable effect in their professional lives. Keywords: Internship, University Students, Erasmus, Lifelong Learning, Career