(7) is it true that european firms generally want interns for a whole 6 months? what if i only have time to work for 2 or 3 months?

(8) will the bureaucratic hassle of work permits and visas make euro firms not want to hire me?

xD
ryan

im in the exact boat as you except im undergrad. i have a couple answers though

7: yes. unfortunately. but... maybe they'll allow us to work 3? :x i hope

visa stuff, i wouldnt fuck with it. either work for like 6 months and get a visa, or work for 3 months and dont get one

here's to both of our chances. i'll be watching this thread

answers
2) now is a good time. interns ARE cheap, and because of that alot of firms atm will increase there intern staffing levels.

3) yes

6) for nl see www.archined.nl

7) yes, 6 is better but 3 is sometimes possible

8) not always a big problem.

thanks for the response. i guess i could consider taking a semester off from school and working for 6 months...

is there any tactful way to phrase in a cover letter,
"well, i'd prefer to work for 2 months, but i could do 3 if that's your bare minimum, and i'd consider 6 if you make me a good offer..."

I suggest you say you are available for up to 3 months, but you may be able to extend it to six months if required.

You can always leave after two months anyway, unless your employer ties to to the chair and locks the doors. People have made careers on the basis they worked for 1 month in a high profile architecture practice!

The popular firms will be flooded with applicants from eager students from all over the world so I think you should put yourself forward as someone, flexible and eager to consider any type of work, you are not in much of a position to bargain with your prospective employer.

The usual guidelines should apply, make sure you tailor your letters to suit the practice you are applying to. Say why you want to work for *them*, rather than any other architecture firm.

1) NO... the cover letter and resumes are structured differently. make sure you apply in the local language (not in english, unless it is a huge international company like OMA) - you can find examples of different cover letters through google.
portfolio is the same... usually up to 2mb as pdf document.

(2) it´s not really... while there have been layoffs in some countries, the situation in others (including germany) is still quite stable.

(3) depending on what kind of company you are looking at, interns earn from NOTHING (very rare nowadays) to like 800 euros a month. try to find a job as a student worker, which classifies for an hourly wage (9 euros at my company).

(4) i wouldn´t fuck with the visa... so make sure you check it out with the embassies - there are loads of organisations which can get you a cheap student/intern visa too, so you might want to try to find out about american organisations which get you a student/intern visa and spare you the hassle (usually, these aren´t expensive as long as you find your own internship spot).

(5) recommendations are not common. if you have never done an internship before and cannot offer to include references from recent jobs, you might want to consider asking your professor though. suggest writing the reference and just getting him to sign it. quite common practice.

(6) it DOES help to call beforehand to find out about the most important questions you have, and if people are hiring. e-mail applications are common practice for overseas interns, so you should apply to more places. my company is always looking for talented interns - if you speak german, that is ;-)

good luck!

thanks!

i do speak german....
;)

try some german companies... they all seem to be doing okay right now. (if you want to work in germany, that is)... you can e-mail me if you want help with a german application.

;-) e-mail should be through my profile...

actually most companies in berlin pay nothing (especially the bigger ones) and smaller ones about 400 euros a month (and thats about the general amount for companies in germany).