When you spend a summer abroad with Absolute Internship, you’re guaranteed an internship placement that’s relevant to your career goals. Choose from over 20 fields, and live in Madrid, London, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, or Singapore. More than 88% of students are invited to return to their internship or offered a full-time job after graduation. NSCS members receive a discounted enrollment fee.
Did you know that there are over 400 new Madrid startups and over 1700 new startups in Spain? But, what does this mean for university students? That means lots of opportunities. The intern and startup relationship is one of the most mutually beneficial partnerships in the business world. On the one hand, interns get an insight into every dimension of a company’s growth period, while on the other hand, startups benefit from the fresh ideas and high ambition of interns required to make a new business soar.
There are several reasons why the Madrid startup community recently has gained so much momentum. After the financial crisis of 2007, Spain was one of the most effected European nations and as a consequence, unemployment rates have not dipped below 20% in several years. More specifically, young Spaniards (18 to 25) are unemployed; expert Carlos Espinal, from Seedcamp, speculates “many Spanish entrepreneurs have created startups out of necessity.” This is an interesting theory and falls perfectly into the values of Spanish work-life balance. Spaniards typically value family and friendships above all else and choose to focus not only on work, but on quality of life, as well. The life of an entrepreneur is surely grueling and all-consuming, however it does allow for a certain degree of freedom not found in your typical 9-5. With Spain also being home to the highest smartphone penetration rate in Europe, there couldn’t be a better landscape for testing new ideas and products before going global. All in all, many view the Spanish market as a good pathway for entering other European, as well as Latin American markets.
From our experience with university students the biggest requests we hear is to work for big Fortune 500s. University students want to work for big corporations, with many departments, hundreds of employees and a well-known brand image without considering the quality of the experience. Madrid startups are completely aware of this and that’s why there is such a big demand for recruits in Madrid and a gap to be filled. Since the Spanish market is a common pathway to enter the European market, most companies don’t require Spanish language skills.
Among other things, the economy in Spain is growing at an annual rate of roughly 3%, meaning now more than ever is the time to get in the job market while the opportunities are plentiful.
Want to read another Spain related blog post? – Check out our guide about how to make the most out of the Madrid nightlife. In this post we discuss how the locals are enjoying a night out and where the best tapas bars and night clubs are in the city.