View Annual Review - IAESTE

In 2004 a total of 6505 training places were
reported to be available as follows: Research
and Development (D) 2906, 44.7%, Professional
(P) 3066, 47.1%, Working Environment (W)
297, 4.5 % and Non-specific (X) 236, 3.6%. The
percentage of offers used as reported by the
Members and Co-operating Institutions by
category of the available offers were (D) 77.5%,
(P) 65.2%, (W) 65.6% and (X) 52.1%.
Figure 12
Work experience positions on offer in
2004.
The duration of the available positions can be
seen in Figures 2a and 2b
Most of the training takes place in the period
June to September and coincides with the
Northern Hemisphere vacation period. In the
Southern Hemisphere, opportunities are
available between October and April. More
than 47 countries are now in a position to offer
long term training opportunities and 18
Members and Co-operating Institutions offer
training throughout the year.
The majority of the work placements are
exchanged during the Annual Conference in
January on a bilateral basis but thanks to the
development of the IAESTE IntraWeb the
exchange can continue after this meeting. New
and unused offers can be put on the IntraWeb
at any time by Members and Co-operating
Institutions and this ensures that IAESTE can
accommodate student placements and
employer offers as they arise.
Categories of Offers: IAESTE classify
placements as Research and Development (D)
indicating work of a laboratory nature;
Professional (P) is used for professional
activities, practical design work and similar;
Working environment offers (W) indicate work
in the industrial area relevant for the student’s
background and category (X) covers nonspecific
offers.
The non-specific (X) offers can be general office
jobs, language offers and similar. In all cases it
is the responsibility of the receiving national
office making the (X) category offers to ensure
that the working conditions are acceptable,
beneficial to the student and in line with the
standards expected of all IAESTE offers.
The bulk of the offers are in the Research and
Development and Professional areas and students
favour these training places that are more in line
with academic requirements. In many instances
such training is a required part of the curriculum.
The Working Environment (W) offers are valued
for higher pay and the opportunities they
provide to experience working conditions in
industry in other countries.
Returned offers and cancellations
This continues to be one of our major problems
areas. Despite the efforts made to date to
minimise losses the number of training places
lost or unused remains unacceptably high.
Based on the figures reported, the number of
lost and unused training offers in 2004
amounted to 1833, 27.7% of the offers
received. Employer withdrawals accounted for
12.7% and student withdrawals were 5.6%.
In 2004 individual figures show that 16
Members and Co-operating Institutions
managed to maintain their total losses below
20% which is an improvement on 2003.
IAESTE Members and Co-operating Institutions
must continue to make every effort to
minimise these losses, particularly the offers
that remain unused. Improvements here would
result in the release of additional available
places. This should encourage all countries to
seek improvements to their existing practices
and to examine their communication
arrangements. Accurate and timely
communications should help reduce student
and employer withdrawals and accurate
matching of the student skills with those
required by the employer would further
contribute to minimising the withdrawal of
offers by employers.
The year round exchange facilitated by the
IAESTE IntraWeb now provides the platform for
the quick and accurate exchange of jobs
between Members and Co-operating
Institutions for new and unused offers and also
nominations for these places. This must
contribute to the effective use of all offers both
new and unused, as they become available
throughout the year.
I A E S T E A N N U A L R E V I E W 2 0 0 5 9