Abstract:

The current troubles of business practice in the Czech Republic, as in many other countries, include the lack of skilled staff. This is mainly due to economic growth, where businesses thrive, increase production, devote themselves to research and innovation and therefore they need more employees. Employers' attention is focused on university graduates who could fill this gap. The companies are trying to establish cooperation with students in the higher years of their university studies. They invest resources (financial and personnel) into a variety of programs and expect graduates to stay in the company for as long as possible. Some students, however, already during the study consider that they leave to work abroad. If they leave the country permanently, there are great economic and social losses. This phenomenon is known as the so called “Brain Drain”. If a student gets a job that meets his/her expectations immediately after graduation, he/she is unlikely to consider looking for a job abroad which would often result in a permanent abandonment of his/her home country. Thus, internships and trainee programs have a positive effect both on companies that can attract young and talented employees and on students who find their employer already during their studies. The aim of this article is to find out how much and why are students interested in internships, trainee programs or other forms of cooperation in a major international automotive industry company. It is interesting not only to find out differences in preferences among students (n = 722) of different types of universities (IT, economic and technical), but also to compare gender preferences. Equally important is the comparison of the preferences of Czech and foreign students. The degree of students' interest in the programs offered can also be an indicator of the attractiveness of a company as the potential employer.

Keywords:

Internships, Trainee programs, Gender preferences, IT, technology and economic students, Career development.