With the aim of assisting in the preparation of undergraduates for entry into internships, a group of students founded the Unicamp Internship League (Liestag). The organization promotes training activities focused on soft skills (interpersonal skills).
Liestag was founded in June 2020. Its purpose is to collaborate in the development of personal skills that contribute to obtaining internship positions. “We saw that there was no student organization focused on the development of soft skills. That’s where the idea of an internship league came from,” explains Danilo Nogueira, a Telecommunications Engineering student at Unicamp and one of the founders of the organization.
“Intern of the Future”
Liestag's main project is the “Intern of the Future” course, focused on interpersonal skills such as emotional intelligence, communication, public speaking and CV building. In 2021, it was offered to 40 students. In addition to the study materials provided by the course, students were able to have contact with professionals from different areas.
“We developed a different methodology, the active methodology. We try to transform the content into practical activities. We developed handouts and materials so that students could study, but the focus is on joint dynamics, with professionals who work in different areas”, says João Pedro Bezerra, president of Liestag and student of the Environmental Engineering course at Unicamp.
The course was divided into four modules, with a workload of 50 hours. Professionals from companies such as Embraer, Ambev, Johnson & Johnson and Nike participated in the program. A new edition of the course is scheduled for April 2022. The “Intern of the Future” course received recognition from the independent organization ONOVOLAB, winning second place in its Innovation Fair.
The feedback from former students was very positive. “We were able to monitor the development and personal and professional growth of the students”, said João
Group is expanding
Liestag is expanding to other universities. Currently, students from the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES) are organizing the founding of a League. The idea is for there to be a network spread across the country.
For the president of the League, the internship is fundamental in training and it helps students to be prepared for the selection processes. “At this stage, you are trying to define what you want to do. We encourage students not to go after just anything, but to look for something that inspires them as a professional, and that gives them experience,” he says.
Short courses and mentoring are other areas of the group's activities. The short courses last three days and are aimed at skills required by the market, always with guest lectures.
Furthermore, the League produces a podcast, “Bora Estagiar”. In each episode, topics related to interpersonal skills and entrepreneurship are covered. Follow Liestag's actions on social media, where internship vacancies are also advertised.
