The Career Center of the HSE Graduate School of Business automates the internship process for undergraduate students
For internship placements, the Career Center selected vacancies from partner companies that are leading players in the Russian market, including 1C, Sberbank, Sibur, NLMK, Rosatom, MTS, X5 Group, Segezha Group, Unilever, and Axenix. Representatives of these companies are also members of the academic councils of the GSB's educational programs. Expanding cooperation with companies is a top priority for the Career Center. Starting from the new academic year, academic council meetings will include a mandatory item on providing internship placements for GSB students as part of the curriculum. When selecting internship placements, it is essential to consider the students’ professional interests and career ambitions. To support this, the Career Center continuously expands its network of corporate partners. This year, GSB students interned for the first time at companies such as Russian Railways (RZD), Rosgosstrakh Life, BioFoodLab, Softline, and Gazprom Neft.
Active use of the Potok recruitment system enables the Career Center to automate the selection process for internship positions offered by partner companies: students receive timely feedback directly from employers, while companies gain fast access to a database of interested student résumés and can conduct the selection process online. In addition, the Career Center introduced an online application form for students to request an internship agreement with the employer. Thanks to this approach, the paperwork process has become fully the responsibility of the Career Center, eliminating errors and accelerating the signing of agreements. At the start of the internship period, agreements had been signed for 95% of students across all three undergraduate programs.
A Telegram channel was created for efficient communication with students, where organizational information and vacancies were regularly updated, and a feedback chat with student group leaders was available. Most students showed proactive attitudes, many started searching for internship placements well in advance, improved their job search skills during the preparation phase, and ultimately received several offers from different companies. To support such cases, the Career Center prepared email templates for polite and professional refusals. Successful internships are in the interest of the university, employers, and Career Center staff—but most of all, the students themselves.
The best outcome of an internship is receiving a job offer. Even if a student is not yet ready for full-time employment, getting such feedback is very valuable.
Given the high level of internationalization at the GSB, working with international students is always handled on an individual basis. Sometimes, the Career Center faces challenges with employers refusing to hire or offer internships to foreign nationals. However, the internship process always includes a pool of vacancies available to international students. One such case was Vadim Braun, a citizen of Kazakhstan. The Career Center was contacted by the Center for Support and Career Services for International Students and Alumni with a request for assistance. The student received all necessary support for securing an internship (career consultation, résumé audit, and a tailored list of relevant vacancies). As a result of the current campaign, it is clear that international students can secure internships in Russia: Vadim Braun received two offers — from Segezha Group and Haier.
Vadim Braun
3rd-year student of the “Supply Chain Management and Business Analytics” undergraduate program
“I chose Haier because it is a well-known international company with a good reputation. I’ve always wanted to try myself as a business analyst, since today such specialists play a key role in all areas of activity. I hope to apply my theoretical knowledge of SQL and Python in practice and learn something new. I’m confident this internship will strengthen my résumé and give me a good start in business analytics.”