Extremadura achieves 45% employability with a programme based on EntreComp

The Regional Government of Extremadura (Spain) is preparing a new edition of the Internationalisation and Return of Talent Programme (PIRT), which has achieved in 2022 the employability of 45% of its participants, after completing a training process in entrepreneurial skills while doing internships in companies in the region.

This programme is aimed at graduates of the University of Extremadura who have participated in an International Mobility Programme of the institution. During the last year a total of 91 young people benefited from this initiative developing their first professional experience in 70 companies in the region.

What does the program offer?

The PIRT offers full-time training scholarships with stays in companies and organisations in the region. The scholarships are endowed with 1,125 euros per month, aimed at graduates of the University of Extremadura who have participated in an International Mobility Programme of the institution and who are under 30.

During the duration of the scholarship, participants receive entrepreneurship-based training developed by the University Entrepreneurship Education team attached to the Directorate General for University Policy of the regional government, simultaneously with the Internship Programme.

The phases of the program

The programme consists of two phases. The first of these corresponds to a Training Programme in the European Framework for Entrepreneurial Competence (EntreComp), which consists of different face-to-face and virtual training sessions that are given simultaneously with the Internship Programme.

The main objective of the Training Programme is to provide the beneficiaries of the Programme with new resources to improve their employability and access to the labour market, as well as to promote their return to Extremadura so that the talent enriched by the international training experiences is passed on to the regional productive fabric. In the face-to-face and/or virtual training sessions, content related to the detection of opportunities, leadership, teamwork, research, creativity, communication and self-efficacy is worked on. The result of this process is the design of projects to solve challenges posed following the Design Thinking methodology.

The second phase, known as the Internship Programme, is based on full-time internships in companies or organisations located in Extremadura, whose main objective is to promote the return of Extremaduran talent abroad and encourage their insertion in the regional productive fabric.

The PIRT allows during the phase in companies to put into practice the knowledge acquired during the training period, as well as the competences and skills acquired during the stays abroad. It provide the participants with knowledge of the labour market and acquisition of professional experience required nowadays.

This Training Scholarship Programme, subsidised by the Regional Government of Extremadura, developed and managed by the University of Extremadura (UEx), through the International Relations Secretariat (RRII), the Internship and Employment Service (SEPYE) and the UEx University-Society Foundation (FUEx), is part of the Extremadura is the Future Alliance of the UEx Social Council.