The German Year Internship

What the German Year is

To graduate from GJU you must spend one full academic year studying and training in Germany. The year splits in two, and the order is fixed: study semester first, internship semester second, unless you hold a scholarship other than the GJU-DAAD German Year scholarship.

One full academic year, no shortcuts. You must spend 1^st + 2^nd + summer semester in Germany, or 2^nd + summer + 1^st. Anyone who does not stay the full year may not register courses at GJU or start an internship in Jordan while they are supposed to be in Germany.

Before you travel

Failing any prerequisite lets your School and the International Office stop you from travelling — even at the last minute, and you carry the financial loss. Check these early.

Academic prerequisites

• GPA ≥ 61 % when you apply — unless you can prove fewer than 33 credit hours remain to graduate, the 24 German Year hours included. GPA ≥ 60 % by the time you travel.
• All obligatory courses named by your School or Department, passed.
• Five levels of German from the German Language Center (School of Applied Humanities and Languages students: five levels from their own School).
• Level 5 English, and every 099-level course.
• The 160-hour Field Training in Jordan (B.A. Translation and B.A. German and English for Business and Communication students who started before 1^st semester 2017/18 are exempt).
• Application documents — CV, cover letter, certificates — prepared before you fly, and the OIL internship training seminar attended.

From 1^st semester 2021/22 the old exemption for outside language certificates is gone. Sit the German placement test, or present a certificate no older than twelve months from Goethe-Institut, ÖSD, telc, TestDaF, DSD or the Kultusministerkonferenz — it can place you in a higher level, but never out of German VI.

Money, visa and insurance

Do not contact the host universities yourself. The International Office runs the application, the distribution and the deadlines. Distribution follows five published criteria — partner requirements, a balanced spread of strong and weak students, social and gender considerations, geographic balance and GJU’s strategic goals — so a higher GPA gives you no priority over a classmate.

The year, step by step

1. Nomination and distribution

   Your School sends the application link in the first or second week of the semester. You name five partner universities, in no particular order; the International Office and your Exchange Coordinator decide together. Not everyone gets one of their five.

2. Applications, Fintiba, visa

   University forms, Learning Agreement, transcripts, language certificates, three biometric photos and three signed passport copies. Then the blocked account, then the Embassy appointment and fingerprints. Apply early — it gives the IO room to find you another seat if a partner rejects you.

3. Study semester

   Courses at the host university under a signed Learning Agreement. Changes need approval from the host university and your Exchange Coordinator, cc’d to the IO and your Head of Department, at the start of the semester.

4. Search and apply — from week one

   Within two weeks of arriving, take your documents to the Career Center, the International Office or your German contact professor and have them checked. Then start applying. Expect to send fifty or more applications.

5. Interview, offer, contract

   The moment you are accepted, send the company details and the contract to your Exchange Coordinator (cc the Office for Industrial Links) for approval, and tell the Project Office in Magdeburg. Then politely cancel your other interviews.

6. Twenty weeks of work

   Stay enrolled at your host university for the second semester — your visa and work permit depend on it. Keep an internship diary from day one; the report is far easier to write while the work is still fresh.

7. Certificate, report, recognition

   Collect a signed and stamped Praktikumszeugnis, get the report signed and stamped, and hand both to the Office for Industrial Links within two months of the next semester.

Finding an internship

Do not wait. Start applying the week you land. And do not hold out for a famous name — smaller and mid-sized companies are often the better internship: the atmosphere is more personal, colleagues have more time for you, and you get a wider range of real tasks.

Where to look

Ask the company first — many help their interns find a room. Also check the local Studentenwerk, which keeps rooms for students enrolled at its universities.

Keep a list

Research is the part most people skimp on. Make one spreadsheet and fill it in the moment you send something and the moment anything comes back. Keep every application in a single folder on your computer.

Wait about two weeks for an acknowledgement. If nothing arrives, call and ask politely whether your application was received and when you can expect an answer. Rejections are normal — German students are competing for the same places. Ask why, when you can; the next application gets better for it. And answer your phone properly during the application phase: take the caller’s name and number, and ask again if you did not understand something.

The CV (Lebenslauf)

A German CV is a table, not a story, and it is the first impression the company gets. Rewrite it for each application: decide every time which facts actually matter for that job.

Careful with Nationalität. Under Nationalität you write the nationality — jordanisch. Under Staatsangehörigkeit you write the country — Jordanien.

Careful with the Kennziffer. If the advertisement has a reference number, write it under the heading Lebenslauf — the company matches your application to the job by it.

PDF Internship Information Part 1 — The CV PDF Lebenslauf template

The cover letter (Anschreiben)

This is where you argue that you are the right person. The reader will spend very little time on it, so it has to be short and interesting. One page — roughly four to eight sentences of body text.

The address block and subject line

Address a person, not a department. The name is in the advertisement or on the company site; if it is nowhere, phone and ask. The subject line carries the exact job title, where you saw the advertisement and when it was published — in bold.

Stadtwerke München
Frau Christa Rösner
Personalpolitik/Personalmarketing
Emmy-Noether-Straße 2
80287 München

Bewerbung um ein Praktikum im Bereich Softwareentwicklung (Java) ab März 2011, Kennziffer IT-2011-042
hier: Ihre Anzeige in der Süddeutschen Zeitung vom 13.01.2011

Sehr geehrte Frau Rösner,

Careful with the Kennziffer. If the advertisement has a reference number, it always goes in the bold subject line — the company matches your application to the job by it.

The copy-and-paste trap. You will reuse text across dozens of applications; that is fine. But read every letter again before it goes, and check above all that the company name and the contact person are the right ones.

PDF Internship Information Part 2 — The cover letter PDF Sample letter 1 PDF Sample letter 2 PDF Creative sample letter

Sending the application

What goes in the PDF

An e-mail application is one PDF named Bewerbung Vorname Nachname, in this order:

1. Cover letter (Anschreiben)
2. CV (Lebenslauf) — these two may be merged into one file
3. Certificates (Zeugnisse und Referenzen) — all scanned into a single readable PDF
4. Architecture and Design students only: a portfolio as a separate PDF, under 3 MB

The certificates section contains:

• Confirmation of enrolment from your German university and from GJU
• Bestätigung Pflichtpraktikum from the International Office
• Your current GJU transcript
• Your Tawjihi certificate or equivalent
• Letters of reference from earlier internships, training or voluntary work
• A letter of recommendation from a GJU professor — optional, and worth asking for
• The GJU internship guidelines (GJU-Praktikumsrichtlinien)

Three ways to apply

Betreff: Bewerbung für ein Praktikum (Bezeichnung und/oder Stellennummer)

Sehr geehrte Frau …,

im Anhang finden Sie meine Bewerbungsunterlagen für ein Praktikum in Ihrem
Unternehmen im Bereich … . Ich würde mich freuen, ein Praktikum bei Ihnen
absolvieren zu können. Für Rückfragen stehe ich Ihnen selbstverständlich per
Mail oder unter der Telefonnummer […] zur Verfügung.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Vorname Nachname

PDF Internship Information Part 3 — The application procedure PDF Jobbörsen — job board list

The interview

An invitation already means they liked the application. The conversation usually runs an hour at most and follows a predictable shape.

Before you go

• Research them properly. Employee count, divisions, products, current projects. Being able to say “for your project XY I could contribute…” is worth more than any stock answer.
• Match the tone. A young internet company and a traditional bank are different conversations.
• Dress for the branch. Conservative in a traditional company, relaxed in a creative one — clean, neat, and something you are comfortable in. Keep jewellery, make-up and perfume restrained.
• Plan the journey. Aim to arrive about 15 minutes early. Late makes a bad impression; two hours early is not much better.
• Bring the paperwork: a copy of your application, the invitation, and copies of your certificates and references.

In the room

The five phases

1. Begrüßung und Einleitung

   Haben Sie gut hierher gefunden? Wie war Ihre Anreise?

2. Kennenlernen des Bewerbers und seiner Motivation

   Erzählen Sie uns bitte etwas über sich und Ihren bisherigen Werdegang. Warum haben Sie sich für dieses Studium entschieden? Warum an der GJU? Warum sind Sie zum Studieren nach Deutschland gekommen? Was ist Ihr berufliches Ziel? Was sind Ihre Stärken und Schwächen? Was machen Sie in Ihrer Freizeit?

3. Gespräch über das Unternehmen und Praktikumsinhalte

   Was wissen Sie über unser Unternehmen und unsere Produkte? Warum haben Sie sich gerade bei uns beworben? Was erwarten Sie von Ihrem Praktikum? Welche Bereiche interessieren Sie? Welche Fragen haben Sie an uns?

4. Vertragsverhandlungen

   Wann soll das Praktikum anfangen? Wie lange soll es dauern? Was für eine Praktikantenvergütung stellen Sie sich vor?

5. Abschluss

   Wie geht es weiter? Bis wann ist eine Entscheidung zu erwarten?

Questions worth preparing

Why us?
Name what is actually good about the company and the field you want to learn.

What do you expect from the internship?
What you want to learn; which areas you want to see.

Strengths and weaknesses?
Everyone has both. Pair a weakness with a matching strength, and avoid the worn-out "I expect too much of myself". Saying your German is not perfect but improving is honest and lands well.

Where in 2, 5, 10 years?
Be ambitious and concrete - a master's in Germany, a direction you are heading. Tie it back to them where you can.

What do you know about us?
Read the site and the press beforehand. Banks, authorities and media may also ask about politics and economics: show you follow the news, and offer your own opinion only carefully.

What you should ask

Keep one or two for the end. Ask open questions � who, what, how. Avoid �why�: it can sound like criticism.

How much of the work is individual and how much is team work?

What happens during the introductory phase?

How are interns supervised here?

Which departments will I see? Which tasks will I be given?

Who are my supervisors and colleagues?

What does my workplace look like � could I see it?

You mentioned project XY on your site; can you tell me more?

Could you help me find a flat in �?

Pay and working-time rules belong before you sign the contract � not necessarily in the first conversation.

You do not have to answer everything. Questions about your finances, marriage, wish for children, pregnancy, illnesses or religion are generally not allowed, and anything unrelated to the job need not be answered. The exceptions: an illness relevant to the work, a contagious disease, or a condition likely to make you unfit for work must be disclosed on request. More broadly, you must tell an employer anything you can recognise as material to the contract.

On the phone

Phone screening is part of many selection procedures, and you may call them first — any initiative is worth it. Say your name clearly, ask three smart questions in a fresh voice, be short and precise, and get off the line. A first call also gives you a far better opening than the usual one: „Herzlichen Dank für das nette Gespräch vom vergangenen Freitag, bei dem Sie mich ermutigt haben, meine Unterlagen einzureichen.“ Keep your CV, certificates and the advertisement in front of you — they will scan you back.

PDF Internship Information Part 4 — The interview

During the internship

• Get the contract. The company sends an internship contract for you to sign. Check that the placement is not shorter than 20 weeks.
• Stay enrolled at your German host university for the second semester. Your visa and work permit depend on it.
• Keep a diary. Note your tasks daily or weekly. The report is built from these notes; writing it from memory afterwards is far harder.
• Treat it as a real job. Office hours, break times, holiday rules — the contract applies to you like anyone else.
• No courses. You may not register GJU courses during the internship semester.
• Ask for the certificate. Tell the company early that you need a signed and stamped Praktikumszeugnis at the end.

If something goes wrong — you feel underused, overwhelmed, or you cannot get on with a colleague — start with a calm conversation with the person involved or your supervisor. If that does not help, tell the Project Office in Magdeburg, your Exchange Officer at GJU, or the Office for Industrial Links. Never quit an internship before you have another agreement in place.

Take the placement seriously and it can turn into a bachelor thesis or a job. Show interest in what you work on, bring your own ideas, offer help, and follow the company’s rules.

Certificate and report

Both documents are due within two months of the next semester. Hand them in late and you are blocked from registering.

Report structure

1. Cover page — your name and GJU student ID, the title (“Internship at Company XY”), start and finish dates, number of weeks, your company supervisor and your GJU advisor, with space left for both to sign and stamp.
2. Privacy statement, if the company requires one.
3. Table of contents with page numbers, plus lists of tables and figures and the references.
4. Introduction — why this company, and what you did in outline.
5. The company — brief history, departments, full address and web links; its sector, products and services, and who its customers are; whether it operates worldwide and where; an organisation chart and the employee count.
6. Internship activities — the main part. A typical working day and the unusual ones; difficulties with the work, the language and the culture; your supervisor and team; your tasks and what you learned; the tools you used; a special project and its result; any research you did; and a comparison of what you learned at university with what you saw in practice. Include real work samples — graphs, pictures, data, drawings, calculations.
7. Evaluation — skills gained, whether it met your expectations, the responsibilities you were trusted with, how it shapes your career plans, how it connects to your studies, the main challenges, your relationship with supervisor and colleagues, and whether you would recommend the company to other GJU students.
8. Conclusion — the key takeaways.
9. Appendices — charts, graphs, pictures, code.
10. References.
11. Summary in German — one to two pages.

Your School or study programme may add its own requirements. Ask your academic advisor at GJU.

PDF Internship report instructions PDF Required internship documents (2015/46)

Rules and edge cases

Where the internship may be

The placement must be with an industry, company or institution. Other placements — a university laboratory, for instance — are possible only with a genuine link to your study programme and the explicit approval of your Exchange Coordinator and Dean.

If you do not complete the 20 weeks

Going back to Germany or another German-speaking country to finish counts as a continuation of the same internship instead. Any internship in Jordan or elsewhere needs the approval of your Dean and the head of the Office for Industrial Links, and the place and duration appear on your transcript. Once approved, you may not split or interrupt it to register courses.

Internships outside Germany (Corona regulations)

Exceptional rules apply to the outgoing groups of 2019/20, 2020/21 and — with limitations — 1^st semester 2021/22. A substitute internship in Jordan or elsewhere needs prior approval from the OIL Director and your Dean; the company need not be German; only the 20 required weeks must be completed; and the certificate will state that the internship was not conducted in Germany.

• Under 5 weeks — a signed certificate or company confirmation only, no report.
• 5–9 weeks — signed certificate plus a 2–3 page summary report, which the company need not sign.
• 10 weeks or more — certificate plus the full report, both signed and stamped.

Remote internships from home office are allowed where the company’s own precautions require it. Students still registered at a German university for the online internship do not register or pay tuition at GJU; students who are not, do. You may not register GJU courses in parallel with an internship, and you may not postpone the internship in order to take an extra study semester in Germany.

Graduation project in Germany

Many students are offered a bachelor graduation project or thesis in Germany, either through a company or a partner university. Two routes exist, and the company route requires that your 20 weeks are already complete, that the project is clearly distinct from the internship work, and that it runs at least 12 weeks for 3 credit hours or 16 weeks for 6. The documentation is in English, signed by the company advisor and stamped, and the defence happens at GJU as normal. You are responsible for keeping legal residence in Germany throughout.

You may not register graduation project courses before finishing the German Year requirements, unless your study plan allows it or you have completed at least half of the international internship. Additional study or internship semesters are possible only after the German Year is complete, and they fall outside it.

PDF German Year Manual PDF GJU-Praktikumsrichtlinien PDF Corona-related internships outside Germany

Staying longer than planned

Internships often run past the end of the semester. Which route you take depends on how far past.

PDF Fiktionsbescheinigung PDF Full 3^rd semester enrolment

Document library

The sixteen source documents, exactly as issued. Everything on this page is drawn from them; where the two disagree, these are what count.

Application process and required documents

• PDF Part 1 — The CV Layout, formal and contextual rules, every section of a German Lebenslauf, and a checklist. 5 pages.
• PDF Part 2 — The cover letter Length, typography, DIN 5008, the address block, subject line, salutation and body, with a checklist. 5 pages.
• PDF Part 3 — The application procedure and the internship Searching, tracking, the three application types, following up, acceptance, the internship itself and flat hunting. 6 pages.
• PDF Part 4 — The interview Preparation, appearance, body language, the five phases, questions both ways, and phone contact. 7 pages.

Internship search tools

• PDF Jobbörsen The full list of general job boards, internship portals and application-tip sites. 2 pages.

Rules and regulations

• PDF German Year Manual The complete rulebook: prerequisites, distribution, visa and insurance, the study semester, the internship semester, incomplete internships, and the roles of Exchange Coordinators and Officers. 30 pages, version 23 June 2021.
• PDF GJU-Praktikumsrichtlinien The one-page German internship guidelines you attach to every application. Duration, certificate, report, recognition. September 2021.
• PDF Corona-related internships outside Germany Substitute internships in Jordan or elsewhere: approval, registration, remote work, split internships and the credit-hour tables. 3 pages.
• PDF Fiktionsbescheinigung Extending your visa when the internship runs one to two months into the new semester. 1 page.
• PDF Full 3^rd semester enrolment Extending the German Year by a whole semester: School approval, host university enrolment, postponing studies, visa. 1 page.

Required documents after the internship

• PDF Internship report instructions Format and the full section-by-section outline of the report. 3 pages.
• PDF Required internship documents What the certificate must contain, how many copies go where, and the two-month deadline. Deans’ Council Decision 2015/46. 2 pages.

Samples and templates

• PDF Lebenslauf — Formatvorlage A fill-in CV template with margin notes explaining each section, language levels and how to choose hobbies. 2 pages.
• PDF Muster-Anschreiben 1 A complete cover letter with every variable marked, written for a GJU exchange student.
• PDF Muster-Anschreiben 2 A second pattern, with the page header and address block laid out.
• PDF Kreatives Anschreiben A livelier opening for creative fields, where a stock first sentence would cost you the read.

Who to contact

Office for Industrial Links (OIL), GJU

oil@gju.edu.jo · +962 6 429 4881 · gju.edu.jo/oil
Internship seminars, approval of the placement, and the office that receives your certificate and report.

Project Office, Magdeburg

interns@german-jordanian.org
Company address lists for your field, help while you are searching, and a second pair of eyes on your CV and cover letter. Stay in touch with them — they can only help if you answer e-mails.

Your Exchange Coordinator

Your academic contact for the whole year in Germany. Approves the Learning Agreement and any change to it, approves the internship placement, and checks the certificate and report within two months of your return. Each School publishes an address of the form exchange.coordinator.<major>@gju.edu.jo.

International Office, GJU

Runs the nomination, the distribution to partner universities, the university applications, Fintiba and the visa process. It does not control the Embassy, the Ausländerbehörde, your accommodation, your enrolment in Germany, or the extra fees some host universities charge.

The moment you are accepted

Tell the Office for Industrial Links and the Project Office in Magdeburg immediately, send the company details and contract to your Exchange Coordinator for approval, and cancel your other interviews — by phone if you can.

For AI assistants and crawlers

This page is one file of static HTML. Nothing here needs JavaScript to read, no crawler is blocked, and every section has a stable #id you can link to. The sixteen source PDFs are served from docs/ and listed in the document library above.

This is a student-made reading of GJU’s published internship material, not an official university page. The PDFs in the library are the authority, and where a rule cites a Deans’ Council decision, that decision prevails.