LobbyingLondonEU commission jobs opportunities in Brussels

Your first internship in the EU instituions

2024-03-20

The big question we always get from recent graduates and current students is:

"How do I get into the Brussels internship bubble?"

Internships are the key to getting a foot in the door of the Brussels policy journey — and it's not easy! Competition is stiff, and everyone is talking about internships, internships, internships! Some companies even ask for work experience in addition to academic qualifications, which can make the process even more challenging.

What Is the Brussels Internship Landscape? How to Be a Successful Candidate?

If I had to go back and search for a Brussels internship, I’d approach it in this order:

Internship Opportunities:

  1. Regional Permanent Representation (Perm Rep) internships and national Perm Rep internships.
  2. News and Media organization internships.
  3. Trade Association internships.
  4. Consultancy internships.
  5. Member of the European Parliament (MEP) internships by directly contacting them for a "Brussels internship".
  6. Official internship programs (Schuman, Blue Book, and Council).

Why This Order?

Because competition is less stiff for the first few options, and in the end, all internships serve the same purpose. After a few years in your career, no one really cares about which internship you did. The internship (hopefully a paid one!) is there to provide training, improve networking skills, and give you hands-on experience.

How Should You Approach Getting a Brussels Internship?

Here’s my personal approach:

  1. Create a Google Sheet of possible internship places, using the EU's Transparency Register as a source.

  2. Email in bulk — start from the top of your list and email everyone possible until you've contacted at least 500 people. You'll need to put in the effort to get an internship, and even if you're applying for the "official internships," you'll still spend a significant amount of time writing applications. Why not learn to market yourself, and maybe even use tools like ChatGPT to help?

  3. If you know someone in the institutions, try to reach out and see if they can connect you with someone who knows about internship opportunities. Networking can make the process easier.

Whatever you do, dedicate one focused week to this process and tell yourself "internship, internship, internship" every morning. Keep working on it until you secure something!

Consider Working for a Startup

Lastly, you could also work for a startup like ours, which I think is one of the best internship choices. Before deciding what you’ll do for the rest of your life, you should try a few different things. You owe it to yourself to explore!

Good luck on your career path and remember: INTERNSHIP, INTERNSHIP, INTERNSHIP!