Internships are highlights in TALM students’ educational programme. They allow students to put their training and experience to the test and discover a professional environment. Such experience helps to guide their career choices and to prepare them for the work force.

Internships take place from the second year (generally several days of observation and introduction) to the fifth year, in France or abroad. An internship agreement must be signed by the institution, the host organisation and the student.

Undergraduate Internships

Since educational reforms in 2013 (Decree of 20 February and Order of 16 July 2013), internships are compulsory and earn credits (two credits in semester six, i.e. at the end of year three). They must last between two and four weeks to be validated and recognised by the institution. This compulsory period may be split in two, allowing students to gain different experiences. They must take place outside school time, during the school holidays and may take place in France or abroad.

Graduate Internships

The second cycle internship is compulsory and credited in semester seven or eight of year four, opening access to the diploma.  It is part of the curriculum and covers an entire semester in year four during which the student can choose to do a professional internship in France or abroad or a study visit abroad. The semester dedicated to the internship or study visit takes place either in the first or second semester in year four depending on the site and options. The internship must be for at least three months (or sixty-six days) to be validated and recognised by the institution. This compulsory period may be split in two, allowing students to gain different experiences. In contrast to the undergraduate internship which may be observation only, the graduate internship allows students to apply their experience. It lasts longer and allows students to gain solid professional experience with one or more projects.

Internships for the Art Option

Undergraduate Internships: Art

Internships for undergraduate students taking the Art option are short: 73% are between one week and one month. Students may carry out several short internships in different organisations or in the same organisation which increases the short internship periods. The majority take place in cultural artistic and non-profit research organisations in the region, with a tendency for same city and region as their site: 40% are located in Tours, Angers, Le Mans, their urban communities or their regions.

Graduate Internships: Art

Internships for graduate students taking the Art option are generally longer than those carried out as undergraduates (40% between one and three months). As for undergraduates, internships most frequently (40%) take place in artistic, cultural or research organisations but in a lower proportion (49%) for the undergraduate cycle. The split is more diversified with wider representation of other types of organisation: 26% of students do their internship with an independent designer and 23% go to companies. This diversity in types of organisation reflects where students choose to go after they graduate. The proportion of internships carried out in the city or region of one of the TALM sites remains high at 36%. However, graduate students are more likely to go to the Paris region and leave their region of study more easily.

Internships for the Design Option

Undergraduate Internships: Design

Since the educational reforms in 2013 (Decree of 20 February and Order of 16 July 2013), undergraduate internships are compulsory and earn credits (two credits in semester six, i.e. at the end of year three). They must last between two and four weeks to be validated and recognised by the institution. This compulsory period may be split in two, allowing students to gain different experiences. They must take place outside school time, during the school holidays and may take place in France or abroad.

Internships for undergraduate students taking the Design option are numerous and short: 78% are between one week and one month over the 2015-2020 period. Nearly all students do several short internships in different organisations or in the same organisation. These internships are mainly (43%) in companies. Businesses and institutions hosting students are located in the city, urban community or region of their institution’s site.

Graduate Internships: Design

Internships for graduate students taking the Design option are significantly longer, with an average of 48% of internships over the period lasting between three and six months. Confirming the trend in undergraduate design internships, two-thirds of design graduates take place in companies (on average 65% of graduate design students in 2015-2020). The trend is particularly strong at TALM-Angers where 84% of internships took place in companies. The main destination for internships is the Paris region where there is a concentration of agencies (46% of internships were in Paris or Île-de-France region).

These characteristics are constant and demonstrate that TALM’s Design option has been planting strong roots in the Paris region’s design agencies for ten years.