Traineeships

The Estonian Employers’ Confederation has recognised the most outstanding trainees and the companies offering the best traineeship opportunities in Estonia in the “Best Traineeship 2024” competition.

Among the companies, Telia Eesti, a telecoms company, Kuressaare Haigla, a health care company, and MyDello, a logistics company, received the award.

In the higher education category, Liis Rossner was awarded the title of best trainee. Marten Kuiv took home the title of best trainee in vocational education. Yuliia Siur was voted the best foreign student trainee and Lilian Ärmann was voted the audience favourite this year.

Read more about the winners of the Best Practice 2024 competition here.

During the traineeship the learner will the Health and Safety at Work Act. It is therefore the responsibility of the company to provide safety training at the workplace and to ensure that the apprentice uses the safety equipment as expected.

The organisation of apprenticeships in vocational education and training is governed by the following legislation: the Vocational Education and Training Institutions Act, the Vocational Education and Training Standard, the conditions and procedures for organising and carrying out apprenticeships.

Vocational Education and Training Act

• The traineeship is part of the curriculum during which the student carries out work and learning tasks in a working environment under the supervision of a supervisor with specific learning objectives.
• The conditions and procedure for organising and carrying out the traineeship shall be established by the Minister responsible for the field by regulation.

Conditions and procedures for organising and carrying out traineeships

• The relationship between the school, the student or his/her legal representative and the placement in the organisation of the placement is governed by a contract concluded before the start of the placement, which sets out the detailed arrangements for the placement and the rights and obligations of the parties to the placement contract.
• The traineeship is supervised in cooperation with appropriately qualified traineeship supervisors from both the school and the traineeship site. The role of the traineeship supervisors is to guide and advise the student in the preparation and completion of the traineeship, to support the student in self-assessment and to provide feedback on the achievement of learning outcomes during the traineeship.
• The school will ensure that the traineeship supervisors are informed, trained and advised. The school-based traineeship supervisor draws up the student’s individual traineeship plan, which, together with the pupil and the supervisor, sets the pupil an individualised placement task based on the curriculum, describing the pupil’s studies at school and the expected learning outcomes of the placement.
• The school-based traineeship supervisor guides and advises the student throughout the traineeship period, andwhere necessary, informs and advises the traineeship supervisor on matters relating to the preparation and implementation of the traineeship, including the preparation of documentation.

Vocational education and training standard

The VET standard provides a common set of requirements and tasks for vocational and specialised education. Under the VET Standard, learning can take the form of contact learning, apprenticeships and independent work.

More information on the SA Innove website

The organisation of apprenticeships in higher education is governed by the Higher Education Standards and the regulations set by higher education institutions themselves.

Higher education standard

Practical training is a targeted activity aimed at achieving learning outcomes, the purpose of which is to apply the knowledge and skills learned in a work environment, in a form determined by the institution and under the supervision of a supervisor.
At undergraduate and postgraduate level, practical training is required if it is necessary to achieve the learning outcomes. The extent of the placement is determined by the curriculum.
In applied higher education, placements account for at least 15% of the study programme.

The regulations and required documentation for the organisation of traineeships are described in the higher education institutions’ rules of study organisation, traineeship guidelines and other documents regulating the activities of the higher education institution. In most cases, higher education institutions have designated staff to organise placements and to ensure that the substantive requirements of the process are met. In the case of long-term cooperation between the company and the higher education institution, a framework agreement is usually concluded. . A traineeship contract is concluded at the request of the traineeship placement company or institution.

Further information

“Internships in Higher Education” (Archimedes, SA, Primus Office 2011)

Higher education institutions also use project-based learning and project-based practice, where learning (project implementation) takes place in a group of learners working as a team and learners carry out a specific holistic task or solve a real-life problem involving different disciplines (the focus of the project should be interdisciplinary).

Project-based practice is particularly common in applied curricula and in technical disciplines, but it is also applicable in humanities and social sciences curricula (e.g..

organising events, making learning projects for people of different ages, developing scenarios to solve societal problems).

Entrepreneurs can participate as contractors and mentors in project-based internships.

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Stella Soomlais: practice must be of high quality

Why do we need trainees?

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Best traineeship in 2017 is North-Estonian Regional Hospital (Nord-Eesti Regionaalhaigla)

The best small business traineeship in Estonia in 2017 is Mr. Jakob restaurant.

Gurmeeklubi: young people need experience to enter the world of work

Employers’ survey 2017: young people value apprenticeships and traineeships

Tallinn Water: Traineeships bring young people to the company

The first cohort of Swedbank’s Kick Start apprenticeship programme has graduated

Seve Ehitus: training alone is not enough to get the job done

Fortaco Estonia, the best regional company, prioritises succession planning

Katrina Laurson: The benefits of thoughtful practice outweigh the hassle

Jüri Saarma: If a trainee comes to work for us later, we can be sure of him or her.

Survey of employers: Young people want to increase the share of apprenticeships in their studies

Survey of employers: More and more companies interested in offering apprenticeships

How to find trainees?

Companies can turn to vocational schools or universities to train the next generation of workers. They can also inform the Unemployment Fund.

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How long does the traineeship last?

For example, a traineeship mediated by the Unemployment Insurance Fund lasts as long as you need to acquire the practical skills to get a job, but no longer than four months.

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Do you have to pay the trainee?

Under the current legislation, there is no obligation to pay a trainee a salary.

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What is the difference between a trainee from the Unemployment Fund and a trainee from school?

For the trainee coming from school, the in-company placement is part of the curriculum, consolidating the knowledge, skills and attitudes acquired during the previous theoretical learning.

For the duration of the traineeship, a traineeship contract is usually signed between the school, the company and the trainee. There is no obligation to pay the trainee a salary. In the case of work-based learning, the school will pay tutors up to 50% of the main salary. See also grants for apprenticeship supervisors from the PRIA and Tallinn Enterprise Estonia.

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (Unemployment Fund) will refer the jobseeker to a company for a traineeship to gain the necessary practical work experience and to improve the professional skills and knowledge needed to find a job.

An administrative contract is concluded between the Unemployment Fund and the company to organise the work placement. During the traineeship, the Unemployment Insurance Fund will pay the employer a training allowance of €20.32 per day in the first month, €15.24 per day in the second month and €10.16 per day in the third and fourth months. During the traineeship, the trainee may not be employed or paid. Otherwise, the trainee is considered to be in an employment relationship and the unemployment insurance fund must terminate both his/her unemployment registration and the traineeship.

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What to consider when taking on foreign students?

We have written a guide to help employers recruit foreign students for traineeships. You can read the material here.