Offering work placement
For every company offering work placements to Dutch students a set of criteria has been set up which gives them an indication of support they should offer to a trainee:
- A qualified practical trainer/supervisor must be appointed for supervising the student on a daily basis.
- A suitable workplace is made available to the student.
- The company must be willing to sign a work placement agreement, drawn up by the VET college and in which the rights and obligations of the parties (college, company and student) are laid down.
- During the work placement the Dutch trainee must be able to work on the development or improvement of certain competences related to the course of the student and laid down in the agreement.
- The student will not be placed in circumstances whereby his or her personal interests could be harmed. The student will be protected against any form of intimidation or discrimination at the workplace.
- As a work placement company you invest in time for coaching the trainee. This time investment refers especially to the persons involved: management, human resources officer, supervisor of the trainee. The better you prepare yourself on the introduction, supervision and coaching the less time you will have to invest in the trainee(s). However, it is important to understand that a young student doing a work placement abroad does need some extra support and guidance to make him feel at home. This is an important task but also a great challenge for the supervisor.
For further information we refer to the documents below:
Checklist (Checklist for preparing an international work placement)
Step by step guide (A step by step guide for employers looking for a Dutch placement student)
WBL-TOIL manual (A manual for planning of work-based learning, developed by a Life Long Learning Programme(2010))
Search for candidates
Once your company is accredited, it will be included in the Dutch work placement register for the relevant economic sector. Dutch educational institutions can consult these registers, when looking for work placements abroad. You are of course not obliged to accept the candidate put forward for the position. The Dutch Centres of Expertise will be willing to assist you in approaching suitable educational institutions, yourself.
Together with the educational institution, you will select the right student, determine the content and duration of the traineeship, on a case by case basis. All stipulations will then be laid down in a written agreement. In this way, foundations are laid for a work placement which offers advantages to both parties.
It is very important that a trainee fits into your organisation and matches the needs for skills, competences and attitude. As supervisor you can fine-tune this match by describing the activities that the trainee can carry out during the work placement and by explaining the company's profile.
Role and task supervisor
The appointed supervisor is very important to the trainee and his role consists mainly of guidance, observation and assessment. This is not always easy, especially when the trainee's working and learning style is different to your own.
The tasks of the supervisor will generally be the following:
- Prepare a placement program, indicating the department offering the placement, the type of activities, vocational and language skills required, workplace;
- Prepare an induction program;
- Guide the trainee's learning process;
- Assess and evaluate the student's learning process;
- Documentation of the placement Europass or another certificate;
- Report to the VET college.
It is very important that the supervisor takes into account the language barrier and the trainee's wish and ability to learn the language.
Further information: