Applications for the "National Internship Program 2022" Have Started

Applications have started for the "National Internship Program," coordinated by the Presidential Human Resources Office (CBİKO) with the participation of volunteer employers from public institutions and the private sector.

Applications for this year's program, which prioritizes merit on the basis of equal opportunity, will remain open until 31 March. To apply, click here.

According to the statement by CBİKO, the Internship Mobilization Program, carried out since 2020 under the theme "United for You," was expanded in its third year in line with Türkiye's employment policies and renamed the "National Internship Program."

The program, piloted in 2020 and extended to all public institutions after being included in the Presidency's 2021 Annual Program, received more than 135,000 applications that year, and internship offers were sent to more than 90,000 young people. Nearly 45,000 young people matched with their internship institutions received their first payments from the state.

Aiming to support the employability of young people, who play a key role in Türkiye's regional and global leadership, and to ensure equal access to internship opportunities, the program was presented by the OECD as an example to member countries for two consecutive years.

With its transparent, objective and verifiable structure, its innovative assessment and evaluation models, its reliance on stakeholder interaction and the broad internship opportunities it offers, the program was featured as a best practice in the OECD's "Governance for Youth, Trust and Intergenerational Justice" report of 22 October 2020. It was also one of three projects highlighted in the OECD's 6 July 2021 policy document "What Have Countries Done to Support Young People in the COVID-19 Crisis?" under the category of support measures implemented to reduce the impact of the pandemic on labor markets and young people.

Demonstrating to the world the importance Türkiye attaches to talent management, the program supports young people's personal development by enabling them to experience working life before graduation, get to know the fields in which they can succeed, and apply their theoretical knowledge and skills in practice.

The program, which will continue under the name "National Internship Program" as its scope has been expanded in line with Türkiye's employment policies, continues to attract strong interest from young people, with growing participation from all public institutions and volunteer employers from the private sector.

Vocational and Technical Secondary Education Students Will Also Be Able to Apply

In addition to young people pursuing associate, undergraduate and graduate studies in Türkiye, Turkish citizens and Blue Card holders pursuing undergraduate or graduate studies abroad can also apply to the program.

Young people applying from abroad can receive internship offers from embassies, permanent missions, consulates general and overseas representative offices of public institutions, as well as from institutions and organizations in Türkiye.

The program, which aims to extend the same opportunities to young people at different levels of education in the coming years, will also accept applications this year from students of vocational and technical secondary education institutions located in organized industrial zones.

This will make it easier for SMEs, which account for a significant share of youth employment, to access the qualified human resources they need, while helping students of vocational and technical secondary education institutions access internship opportunities that are critical to their employability.

The legal rights of all students who begin internships will be safeguarded, and their insurance and internship payments will be covered under Article 25 of Vocational Education Law No. 3308.

Internship Opportunities Matched to Talent

Applications to the National Internship Program are submitted through "Kariyer Kapısı" (Career Gateway), the national digital platform integrated with e-Government. All young people studying in Türkiye and abroad will be able to apply with a single click.

For the first time in Türkiye, "academic/professional," "artistic/social" and "athletic" competency scores will be calculated in the student evaluation process using the information and documents shared by applicants during the application.

Since employers send internship offers based on these competency scores, the information, documents, skills and qualifications young people share during the application play an important role in their access to suitable internship opportunities.

Much information, such as grade point average, department and foreign language scores, can be transferred directly via e-Government. Activities not available on e-Government can be declared by uploading documents to the system. The verification of declared documents is carried out by university career centers and the relevant public institutions.

Young People Will Choose Their Internship Institutions

In the National Internship Program, evaluations are based not on exams measuring instant performance but on students' lifelong performance, their efforts to improve their skills and their achievements, and the competency scores calculated for each student are added to their profiles.

Candidates' profiles are transferred, with identity and contact information hidden, to an "intern pool" accessible to employers. The system also does not display the names of the universities students attend or their gender. Employers submit internship offers without seeing candidates' personal information, so young people, by accepting the offers they choose, become talents who "choose the institution where they will intern" rather than candidates "waiting to be selected."

Students wishing to apply to the program can follow announcements and details on the official Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook accounts of the Presidential Human Resources Office and the National Internship Program (@tccbiko - @ulusalstajprg) and on their official websites (cbiko.gov.tr - kariyerkapisi.cbiko.gov.tr).