Enhance Your Professional Journey with the AETC Consortium:

The AETC Consortium (Atlantic Erasmus Training Consortium) was established in 2012. It is formed by three higher education institutions (HEIs): Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP), Universidade do Algarve (UAlg), and Escola Superior de Hotelaria e Turismo do Estoril (ESHTE).

The Consortium can also include companies and other employers as associated partners. Through their prestige and connections with foreign counterparts, these partners help in recruiting and placing interns in the international job market, contributing to improving the quality of competitiveness and employability in response to the demands of a constantly evolving job market. The list of participating companies and entities is continually updated. Currently, the associated entity of AETC is the company The Lean Insight.

The objectives of the AETC align with the internationalization plans of the partner HEIs, while also adhering to the principles of the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education. They are as follows:

• To provide students and recent graduates of partner HEIs with a broad and diverse range of curricular and extracurricular internships in a multicultural and multilingual professional context within the European Union, candidate countries, and other countries.
• To offer students and recent graduates of partner HEIs an internationally recognized experience that allows them to acknowledge their academic and professional journey, facilitating their adaptation and integration into diverse job markets.
• To enhance the national and international prestige of the academic degrees awarded by the partner HEIs and their image as entities promoting strong links between the academic environment and the labor market in a globalized world, dominated by the experience of mobility of people and knowledge.
• To provide faculty and staff with continuous training abroad that results in personal and professional development.

In internship mobilities, the internationalization of the academic and professional experiences of students and recent graduates is academically recognized through the awarding of credits, the Europass, the diploma supplement, or the internship certificate.

The Erasmus+ Program can truly make a difference in the professional preparation and development of students, recent graduates, teaching and non-teaching staff.

In a globalized world, a degree does not guarantee employment. The opportunity for a student or recent graduate to undertake a professional internship abroad with an Erasmus grant opens doors to the development of skills that are considered essential by any employer: the ability to adapt to diverse professional contexts, the ability to integrate into a multinational and multilingual team, the ability to develop skills in multiple languages, the ability to work under pressure, among many others. Studies from the European Union show that the employability rate of Erasmus students and recent graduates who participated in a mobility for studies or an internship abroad is higher in both national and international job markets.

For teaching staff, a teaching mission abroad represents the challenge of lecturing to unknown audiences, from diverse cultures, and in a foreign language. It is also a valuable opportunity to share best practices, learn new teaching and research methodologies, and discuss future cooperation projects.

For non-teaching staff, training abroad not only promotes the sharing of best practices but also the acquisition and development of linguistic and intercultural skills that can be applied back at the home institution after the mobility period.