Finding an Internship Chance
I was lucky that I got an Erasmus grant to fund my Internship in Tenerife, Spain.
One of the obstacles for students to start an internship abroad is the financial limitations. As usual, when you work as an intern you work full time. So, you don’t really have time for any part-time job. Moreover, the extra costs that you will face by default as a new residence in a new country.
I applied to many portals, companies’ websites to find a good opportunity. But I can strongly recommend this website. As it is mainly for Erasmus students. So, most the companies are familiar with Erasmus process, documents etc. which saves a lot of time and efforts. Furthermore, the qualifications that are required for interns are achievable. In other meaning, most of companies don’t require high skills. Of course, you will find special requests (fluency of the host country, managing special programs, or previous skills). But what I mean that you can find a chance there and be accepted. As some companies focus mainly on native speakers of specific languages more than the field skills.
About Tenerife
Tenerife is one of the most important and inhabited islands of the seven Canary Islands. It is officially part of Spain, so it is a part of the European Union. But it is near to Africa, precisely near Morocco. That gave the island the advantage to enjoy eternal spring almost the whole year.
The capital of the island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife which has a big harbor for import and export.
Tenerife is considered as a typical touristic destination. Thanks to good weather and the huge number of tourists, it hosts many festivals the whole years. Moreover, the charming nature that you are surrounded by. It combines ocean, mountains, and hills. Therefore, there are many agencies for all water sports activities. As well as, the camping and hiking trips.
Preparation for the internship
The most common for an internship will be the visa or resident permit and accommodation.
1 – Visa and Resident Permit
If you’re from European Union countries, you are not required for any. If you are from non-EU countries, you need to apply for student visa for the duration of your internship. Even though you are living in one of EU countries and you have a valid resident permit there and your intern is non-paid one.
Otherwise, you have to apply once you arrive within the first month for a long resident permit. I faced that scenario and I had a very hard time to achieve that resident permit requirements. The most difficult part that in all governmental offices and hospitals even they speak only Spanish. So, you always need a translator to issue any document!
It is worth to apply for NIE or the foreign residency number in Spain. As this number allows you many discounts in the city, airlines and it is necessary for opening a bank account.
For EU members, you can apply for NIE in the nearest police station. You only need your passport and the cost doesn’t exceed 10 euro. The processing time is two days.
For non-EU members, you can’t get that number unless you are staying for more than six months. But first, you need to apply for a residency permit. The processing time for that is overwhelming as a minimum it takes two months. When your residence permit is declared, you can apply for NIE with the same procedures.
2 – Accommodation
Take a deep breath and be patient in your accommodation search. As it is a very touristic city, the prices are very high. The average for a furnished studio for short stay is 500 Euro in Puerto de La Cruz , without an Internet connection.
It was weird for me that all the rented flats or rooms are offered without internet.
Usually, you can find many studio offers, as they turned most of the old hotels to a rented studio. It has a good aspect that the building was prepared as a hotel. So you can find a pool, common areas, and a lobby. If you are lucky, you will have internet in the lobby.
Starting The Internship
1 – Digital Marketing Internship
Although, all the difficulties that I’ve faced there. I’m glad that I had that internship. I had a hand of experience with current field updates, and I learned a lot.
My field is digital marketing, and I was working mainly in SEO (Search Engine Optimization). The internship was very beneficial but also was very tough. Because the company that I was working for was very small one. So they couldn’t dedicate sufficient time for teaching the interns. They are barely guiding you, giving you the headlines, you need to discover how can you perform that task that you heard about its title for the first time. They used the known approach of “learning by doing”, So I had to spend a long time on self-studying and tons of readings.
2 – Living in Tenerife
The city is really interesting, I recommend it to you as next vacation destination. The Spanish people are very friendly and helpful. You will find people smiling most of the time and trying to help you even though you can’t speak the same language.
3 – Language
The main language is Spanish, you will find a nice label in most of the offices. “we speak only Spanish if you don’t speak Spanish please come again with your translator”. You will find that announcement in four languages: Arabic, English, German and Russian. I consider that super inconvenient for a touristic city, even if you go to the Airport police office you will find the same!
The good part is most of the touristic agencies are speaking English and sometimes Russian or German. Also, in restaurants, you can find the menu in German, English, and Spanish.
In Puerto de La Cruz, where I lived in, it is a small German city. So, if you speak German it is a perfect destination for you. You will hear German all the time, you can find German stores, restaurants ,and even hospitals.
4 – Transportation
The public transportation (Titsa company) on the island is mainly buses and you can find a tram in some areas. It is also considered cheap, the one-way ticket in any place in Puerto de La Cruz is 1.15 Euro. But if you’re going to another city you pay more. For example, if you are going to Santa Cruz, the ticket price is 3.50 Euro.
The negative part for public buses is that usually, the average waiting time between buses is 20 minutes. So, if you miss the bus you have to wait at least 2o minutes for the next one.
The positive part is, that buses are driving to most of the touristic destinations in the city. So, you don’t need to rent a car or pay for a taxi have if you want to see sightseeing.
I recommend you to pay a transportation card from any Titsa information office. The card costs 2 euros and it allows you cheaper rides comparing paying in cash.
If you are less than 30 years old, you are lucky!
You can apply online from Titsa website for youth card to get unlimited rides by paying only 30 euro for a whole month.
Renting cars is affordable. If you are renting a car for short-term (up to 3 days), you can pay around 20-25 Euro per day.
Food and Excursions
1 – Food
As a typical island, the typical food is fish. It is very delicious, you can always see different types of fish in stores that you see them only in Television shows. Moreover, it is really common to have different types of octopus, they even sell it canned as tuna fish. Also, they serve fish plates with baked potatoes and special canary sauces.
2 – Excursions
Tenerife has a lot of hiking destinations, on the top of the list is Teide Mountain. It is considered the highest mountain in Spain ( 3,718 m)
Tenerife also famous by natural pools, a.k.a. natural swimming ponds. It is an area of water near to ocean, surrounded by natural stones which shape curves and looks like a pool.
You can also Visit Loro Park, which is considered a special zoo. According to Trip Advisor, it is considered the best zoo in Europe
Also, I recommend you Siam park which is a famous aqua park. According to Trip Advisor, it has become the best water park in the world
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