Interact and Univates launch new modality for exchange students

Interact and the University of Vale do Taquari (Univates) promoted yesterday morning (18) a meeting with the new exchange students. The event took place in the auditorium of the Scientific and Technological Park of the Taquari Valley (Tecnovates).

The objective of the meeting was to present the Interact Group, the opportunities for internship in the company and the new modality of mentoring. Interact’s International Business area and Univates’ Board of International Relations (DRI) organized the event, which was also attended by Interact directors João Alex Fritsch and Kurt Molz.

The supervisor of interact’s international business area, Fernando Estrada, presented the interact group’s structure, the markets and the company’s international presence. He highlighted the opportunity to tie the exchange of studies with experience in the labor market.

“Multiculturalism is one of our brands. Today our area has four people, each with a different origin. We seek to make our team grow and this event is an opportunity for you to get to know us better and, who knows, work with us in the future”, he explains.

Exchange students from Argentina, Colombia and Portugal were present. After the presentation, the students learned about the structure of Interact Bridges, the Interact Group’s Research, Innovation and Internationalization Unit, which occupies the entire fifth floor of Tecnovates. At the time, a cocktail was offered to the students.

Mentoring program

Interact and Univates presented a novelty to exchange students, which will come into force from next semester. In addition to the internship opportunity, the partnership now includes a mentoring program, organized by Tecnovates. Throughout the exchange, the idea is that the student can develop a business plan for when returning to their country of origin.

“Interact is a pioneer in this partnership model. Thus the exchange student can attend the disciplines at Univates, intern at Interact and receive the mentoring program of Tecnovates. At the end of the exchange, the student will return with the foundations to develop their own venture”, explains the director of DRI, Viviane Bischoff.

In Fernando’s opinion, it is a win-win relationship. “The student gains with the opportunity for professional growth, Univates gains with the development of exchange students and Interact wins with the opportunity to have future prospecting and change agents in their country of origin”, he says.

More than a decade of partnership

According to DRI Director Viviane Bischoff, Interact is one of the most active organizations in Univates’ exchange program. That year, the partnership between the company and the university turns 13. Since then, 21 exchange students have interned at Interact from both Europe and Latin American countries.

“At first, it was a sporadic relationship. A little over three years ago, we began to build a more structured relationship, both because of Interact’s interest in internationalization and Univates in offering a differential for foreign students,” he says.

For the exchange student Jaime Usme, a student of Public Accounting from Medellín, Colombia, the opportunity was very interesting. “I liked having this vision of the company, of how it is located in the Latin American market and, at the same time, how each country of operation has different markets. In particular, I would like to understand more about it,” he says.

For Adriana Carreira, a social education student from Leiria, Portugal, this contact of Interact with other countries is very important. “This interaction is what we need. Countries need this exchange and it is very important to instigate these partnerships. I thought Interact was a very big company, I hope they can expand across Europe,” she says.