Survival Guide for Internship

1. The basics we need to know about Internship

It takes place in the 8th semester (April - September), lasts 2 months full-time (or 4 months part-time) and corresponds to 2 elective courses (10 ECTS).
Final year students or those currently enrolled in a degree program can participate. The basic requirement is that they must take a limited number of courses. The number is determined at the beginning of the academic year.
The remuneration of interns during the Internship is mandatory.

Harokopio University covers this expense through the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF).

Detailed information on the process of conducting Internship at Harokopio University are available on the website of the Internship Office.
The Internship in the Department of Informatics and Telematics is carried out in accordance with the Internship Regulation of the Department.
Information about the Department's Internship is available on the corresponding website, while the Department's Academic Affairs Secretariat is responsible for coordinating actions, informing and supporting students.

2. We recommend internship providers

The Department's internship is carried out in institutions in the private sector, mainly but also in the public sector, whose main subject is Informatics. These institutions include established companies and Informatics institutions, emerging companies in the same field and research institutions. The list of institutions is updated at the beginning of each academic year and approved by the Department Assembly. For each institution, a supervising Professor is appointed to supervise and advise the interns during the internship.
Students are invited around October via e-mail from the Department's Academic Affairs Secretariat to complete the form with their proposals for the inclusion of Academic Affairs bodies as specified in the Academic Affairs Regulation of the Department. This specific form contains contact details and the name of the institution.

3. We are informed about Internship opportunities at the beginning of each academic year

In the second fortnight of November, Internship days are organized in our Department. They last three days and take place electronically in the afternoon. They aim to:
- Inform interested parties about the selection process, the interview process and the selection by the institution from the Department and the framework for managing recruitment and remuneration applications from the Internship Office (first day).
- Bring interested parties into contact with the organizations, which present their profile and the positions they provide (second and third day).
Students are informed via email from the Department's Academic Affairs Secretariat and by the announcement on the Department's website about the conduct of the Academic Affairs days.

Participation is open, however, students are requested to complete a relevant participation form.

With the start of the A.A. days, the call for applications is also published by the University's Academic Affairs Office. For this purpose, a relevant announcement is published on the Academic Affairs Office's website.

4. We are submitting an application for participation in the Internship

In the invitation, which is posted on the website of the Internship Office, the application process for participation in the A.P. is described, as well as any conditions that apply in the current academic year.
To complete their application, interested parties are invited to:

STEP 1 – Application via the online application of the Internship Office (there is a template attached to the invitation). They fill in their personal information and attach their CV to the application.
Upon submission of the application, a unique code number [ID] is assigned, which will be used from now on in all communication between students and University services regarding the Internship.
STEP 2 – Application via the electronic form of the Department's Internship Secretariat (the link is mentioned in the invitation).
At this step, interested parties have the opportunity to select the job roles they are interested in and the organizations they are interested in working for. They have the opportunity to select up to 3 organizations in order of priority.

ATTENTION: In the application form they complete in STEP 2, they must record the unique code number [ID] assigned to them in STEP 1.

The list of available places per institution for the specific academic year is announced on the website of the Office of the Public Relations Office concerning our Department.

Interested candidates have approximately 15 days to submit their application. The final submission date is stated in the invitation.

ATTENTION: If an interested person does not submit an application by the deadline, he/she cannot participate in the Internship. We encourage you to apply, even if you are not sure that all the criteria are met.

It is recommended that before completing the application, interested parties familiarize themselves with the Department's Internship regulations, the list of positions available to them, and participate in Internship information days to form a personal opinion on the positions offered by the institutions.

5. We participate in internal interviews with the Department's Internship Committee

Students who have completed their application on time are ranked in order of points according to the academic criteria mentioned in the invitation. Subsequently, those who meet the academic criteria are invited to an electronic interview by the Internship Committee during the December period before Christmas. The exact interview period is announced during the presentation on the Internship days.
Students are informed of the exact date and time of the interview by the Department's Internship Secretariat. During the interviews, a discussion is held with the Internship Committee, advice is provided regarding the Internship, students' CVs are reviewed, and their placement in an institution is examined based on their profile and performance. At this stage, students are given the opportunity to modify their preferences. In any case, students have the option of choosing a position based on the ranking order and current availability.
At this stage, students must have prepared their CV, know in which position they wish to carry out their Internship, and ask the Committee any questions that may facilitate their selection.
Within a reasonable period of time, the provisional results of the students' placement in institutions are announced by the Internship Office, and five calendar days are provided for submitting objections. Objections relate to the order of placement and the right to participate in the program.

After the objections process is complete, the interview process with the institutions begins.

6. Exchange documents with the University within the framework of the Internship

With the completion of the internal interviews and the announcement of the results, the list of participants in the Internship has been formed.
A personal communication folder for the Internship is created for each participant (on Google Drive with access via the institutional account) by the Department's Internship Secretariat. In this folder, students can upload all the necessary files required by the University services (Department's Internship Secretariat, University Internship Office, ELKE) throughout the Internship. The access details are sent by a personalized message from the Department's Internship Secretariat.
Students upload ALL documents requested by the University services to their personal folder. They may also contact the corresponding service via email for any questions or simply to inform them about the completion of a step (e.g. Start and End forms at the workplace, Contract, Entry and Exit slip, Responsible Declaration of Completion digitally signed through gov.gr, Report of Activities).
Every time students upload a document, they must also inform the corresponding service.

7. We participate in interviews with the institutions

Upon completion of the internal interviews, the personal Internship file has been created and shared with the participating students.
Participants may upload a revised CV to their personal folder before applications are sent to the institutions.
The applications and CVs of the internship candidates are sent to the institutions by the Department's Internship Secretariat via email, with simultaneous notification of the interested students.
The institutions are responsible for communicating directly with the interested student. They study the CV and, in many cases, conduct interviews, arranging them directly with the student.
The institutions inform both the students and the Department's Internship Secretariat about the acceptance or rejection of the intern and the planned start date.
Students who are not selected by their first-choice institution follow a second or third selection cycle according to their order of preferences and with the assistance of the Department's Internship Committee. Since the number of available positions is more than double the number of interested students, a suitable placement is found for all participants who meet the academic criteria.
If a student wishes to withdraw their application, they must submit a digitally signed solemn declaration to the Department's Internship Secretariat stating:
"I do not wish to carry out an Internship in the Department of Informatics and Telematics during the spring semester of the relevant academic year."
The interview phase lasts approximately one to two months (January–February).

8. We request the signing of an employment contract for the Internship

The placement process is completed following a decision of the Department Assembly, which specifies, for each participant in the Internship Programme, the host institution and the period during which the Internship will take place.
The institution or the Department's Internship Secretariat announces the Internship start date.
The signing of the employment contract must then be approved by ELKE.

It is NECESSARY at this stage for participants to provide additional information. For this purpose, the University's Internship Office invites participants to complete an electronic form containing their detailed information (AMKA, VAT number, AMA, bank account number, etc.) required for their payment. The relevant notification is sent by the University's Internship Office, and the process must be completed immediately.

This process takes place in early March.
The procedure is completed with the issuance of an ELKE decision approving the signing of the employment contract, which is communicated to the participants by the University's Internship Office.

9. We sign the employment contract for the Internship

After the decision of the Research Committee is issued, students are informed by the Department's Internship Secretariat via email about the signing of the contract. An electronic copy of the completed contract will be available in the student's personal folder within two (2) days after the decision of the Research Committee is received.
Students must check their details, sign the contract, and return five (5) signed hard copies to the University's Internship Office within a maximum of three (3) days of receiving them.
The contracts are then signed by the Institutional Internship Manager, the Vice-Rector, and the Rector, and are returned to the students before the Internship begins. Students must collect the signed contracts from the Internship Office BEFORE going to the host institution.

10. We are starting the Internship at the institution!

On the first day of the Internship, students present the employment contract (already signed by themselves and the University representatives) to the legal representative of the institution for signature (remember: five copies).
- The institution keeps one copy.
- The intern keeps one copy.
- The remaining three (3) copies must be submitted to the University's Internship Office within three (3) days.
On the day the Internship starts, the host institution must submit the recruitment announcement to the ERGANI system. If the contract is not yet available, the institution may use the Approval Decision of the Research Committee instead. The institution then provides the intern with the ERGANI "Start Announcement", which must be submitted to the Internship Office as described below.
At the beginning of the Internship, students should remind the host institution that it must register the Internship position in ATLAS, the Central Support System for Student Internships of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs (atlas.grnet.gr). Once the position has been registered, the institution provides the six-digit ATLAS position code, which the student must forward to the Internship Office.
After the Internship has started, students must upload the following documents to their personal folder:
1. Entry Ticket.
2. Responsible Declaration of Non-Completion, digitally signed through gov.gr.
3. ERGANI Start Announcement (provided by the host institution).
4. A .txt file containing the ATLAS position code (provided by the institution).

11. We inform you about the development of the Internship

The Internship lasts two (2) calendar months for full-time employment or four (4) calendar months for part-time employment.

At the end of each month, students are informed by the Internship Office to complete an electronic attendance calendar indicating the total number of days they were present at the host institution during that month.

12. We complete the Internship

Upon completion of the Internship, students must upload the following completion documents to their personal folder, as they are required for payment:
1. Termination form from ERGANI. ATTENTION: For full-time employment, the duration must be exactly two (2) months.
2. Exit Ticket completed by the intern.
3. Employer's Certificate confirming the successful completion of the Internship.

The Internship Office then prepares the payment order, which is checked and processed by ELKE. In case of errors or if additional information regarding these documents is required, the Internship Office and ELKE will contact you directly.

The payment of interns is completed by ELKE within approximately six (6) months after the end of the Internship. If any problem arises during the payment process or with the required documentation, the responsible services will contact you directly.

13. We are being graded for the Internship

After completing the Internship, students must prepare an Internship Report according to the prescribed template and upload it to their personal folder.
Students must also complete an Internship evaluation questionnaire (LimeSurvey), which is sent by the Department of Informatics and Telematics within five (5) days after the completion of the Internship. Completion of the evaluation questionnaire is mandatory. A questionnaire template is also available.
After the evaluation questionnaire has been completed, the Internship Report is forwarded to the supervising Professor, who contacts the host institution in order to evaluate and grade the intern.