Internships are an integral part of the full time EPSCI program and the ESSEC Student/Corporate Relations Office provides a comprehensive support service to help students in their search for work experience opportunities.

More than 8000 offers of internships or first-time posts are received every year and the 3-day ‘Employment Fair’ is held annually in March. Over 110 companies attend this event to present their employment and internship opportunities to all ESSEC Business School students.

 The regulations concerning internships

 No part-time internships

 The internship contract or ‘convention de stage’

 Who can obtain a ‘convention de stage ’signed by EPSCI?

In certain circumstances, international students can also take advantage of internship offers, but you must be aware that French legislation governing internships (stages) is very complex. This means that obtaining an internship is probably not as easy as it is in your home country.

It is not possible to do a part time internship at the same time as your studies. EPSCI can not provide any of the legal documentation required for internships carried out during the semester. You may be employed on a fixed term contract called a CDD (contrat de durée determinée), but this is not an internship contract and is not generally preferred by companies employing students.

In order to employ a student intern, the company requires a legal contract called a ‘convention de stage’. This has to be signed by the company and the student’s institution who both agree to share the costs of the student’s social security coverage, particularly in the case of an accident at work. Without a ‘convention de stage’, the student is much more expensive to employ and inevitably companies are unlikely to offer you a post in this case.

 Download the Internship Contract

Double degree students are enrolled at EPSCI under the same conditions as our full time students. Furthermore, a six month internship in France is a compulsory component of the Double Degree program. Therefore, Double Degree students may benefit from all the internship offers received by our ‘Student/Corporate Relations Office’ and qualify for a ‘convention de stage’ signed by EPSCI and the company concerned.

Full year and Semester exchange students may also use our internship service, but EPSCI is unable to accept financial responsibility for the social security coverage of non Double Degree international students. Unfortunately, this means that we can not sign the ‘convention de stage’ required by companies and this will make your task of finding an internship very difficult.

Full year and semester students who wish to do an internship after their studies at EPSCI should enquire whether their home university is willing to sign a ‘convention de stage’ on their behalf.