Roma, 15 February 2021

The Coronavirus pandemic has taught us that with patience, willpower and technology, we can keep carrying out our work and education. We’ve talked with several trainees over the past months that explained how carrying their EU4EU traineeship was during the delicate sanitary situation, and we learned that despite the pandemic, they took advantage of the experience to learn, improve their english and add new skills to their professional profile.

What about the organizations that hosted these trainees? How did they manage the situation? How did they adapt to the pandemic? We’ve contacted several Host Organizations to ask them about the experience of hosting trainees during these times. The first one on the list is Ivan Tinev, Director of ICDET – International Center for Development of Education & Training, in Sofia, Bulgaria.

ICDET is an NGO, working in the field of education and training development. “We work with young people on an international level and the interns that collaborate with us are usually from the department of Human Resources and Project Management” explains Tinev.

“When the lockdown began, we postponed most of  the internships with our interns to 2021. Many trainees asked for a remote internship, but “unfortunately we did not accept them, because in our field of work, there is a very important part that must be done in presence”, says Tinev.  Later on, when the situation was normalized in the summer, we started hosting interns again. From the beginning we started using online tools such as google drive, and when the situation allowed, we had office meetings. We organized different shifts in the office so that every intern can come every once in a while to have more support”, explains Tinev.“We also developed in-arrival training. So each intern has three days of training, in which we explain the projects they will be developing and the methodology”, he says.

Overall and despite the Covid, Tinev said to be “very satisfied” with the EU4EU program because it allows a “perfect cooperation” with the trainees. “The interns we hosted were prepared, ready to learn, flexible and really involved in the work they were doing”, says the director of ICDET, who also believed the EU4EU Portal to be very useful: “it’s easy to use and allows a fast communication with the trainees”, he says.

The experience of ICDET confirms the usefulness of participating in the Program even at the time of the Covid not only for the trainees but also for the companies. In a time of great crisis and difficulty like the one we have been experiencing for a year now, it is essential for partner organizations to be able to count on the Program for seeking and finding attentive and qualified trainees for their teams.