EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Language internships

Language internships - Utrecht

Introduction

Refugee Work Utrecht supports refugees on the job market through language internships. Participants are prepared for their internship and project supervisors guide them during the work experience.

Problem

How can refugees be better prepared for the job market by means of language internships?

Description

The purpose of the internship is to further improve the participants' command of the Dutch language, to find out what their problems and talents are, to introduce them to the Dutch labour market culture and to help them start building a network.

Approach

In preparation for the internship, the participants are offered to take part in a group training programme. This 'Orientation on the language internship’ training programme consists of group meetings with a maximum of eight participants. The course literature is ‘Come to your language internship well-prepared’ by M. Houdijk & J. Scheepers. The subjects that are covered during these sessions are:

What is an internship?
What can I learn from a language internship?
How do I handle conflicts?
What is expected of an intern?
What do I do during a job interview?

Project supervisors support the refugees during the language internship. They find them a suitable internship and stay in contact with employers. In assigning the internships, the background and possibilities of each participant are considered. During the internship, volunteers help the participants with extra language assignments that are designed to match the work environment.

Results

A file is kept of each client. The files show that in 2003, 130 refugees were offered an internship.
Of these 130 people, 21 dropped out, due to illness, pregnancy or lack of motivation.
Almost 84 percent have completed the internship.

Contact info

Vluchtelingenwerk (Refugee Work) Utrecht
F. Boonzaaijer, tel. +31 30 2340676

Project start date

01/01/2003

Links

Vluchtelingenwerk (Refugee Work) Utrecht

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Quality of life

Keywords

Skills improvement