Bird & Bird’s team and interns in Poland
We all know it is close to impossible to accomplish the perfect ideas that come to us every now and then. People try to establish a business in thousands of ways, but usually get stuck on the step whether this idea will bring them profit. Trying to monetize your idea in the very early stage is something they would teach you at business school, right? ECCE not only challenged the model of the regular entrepreneurship but built its success on delivering to students the know-how for them to challenge it too. We engage the intensive experience from successful leaders with practice at top-tier companies – model that proves to be exceptional.
Our success story is not only another profitable business, we are proud with finding a long-term solution to 3 of the most disputed problems for the millennials generation: lack of experience combined with a vague understanding of their field, youth unemployment rate, inequality and gender employment gap. To contribute, even more, this year we invested about 80.000 euro in scholarships for students all around the world. Our rapid growing makes us open other branches than the European one. This autumn we are proud to announce the opening of our US branch in California. The school programs will have the same unique concept of combining the practical skills, real-life experience and will be available for the students across the ocean. The ECCE’s branches in Dubai and Poland will follow by the end of this year.
European Centre for Career Education’s summer school is a result-oriented experience ready to solve many problems that come to students when they start their career pursuit.
With about 650 applicants from more than 50 countries and 200 enrolled students from 20 countries in 2018 – ECCE successfully proves the need for practical skills on the market.
Why are we so unique?
- ECCE programs include 3 weeks of intensive practical courses and 4 weeks of internships in top-tier companies and law firms. We count on 200 international partners all around the Schengen area to give our students the insight. Companies like Siemens, Unicredit, ExxonMobil, T-Mobile, Lego or law firms as DLA Piper, Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Bird & Bird and many more, gladly administrate places for our students to prepare the young potential leaders with a detailed and relevant know-how.
- In 15 days we bring 30 hot practical topics by experts in their fields.
- Last year the ECCE summer program in law has become the biggest educational project in between Europe and China.
ECCE was created to grant a long-term solution for the inadequate practices of obsolete education systems and the career consulting with no practical ground.
We bridge the academic knowledge with the real-life experience along with the appreciation to the theoretical foothold universities provide.
Where is the problem in education?
We found that the practical skills required in the work and the theory from the university are two different things, which the students do not have the capacity or the opportunity to learn in the regular schools. Once they graduate and enter the work market, they struggle with finding the first job. The youth unemployment rate in EU-28 is 23% (Eurostat). This result is not encouraging.
ECCE didn’t just respond to statistics but to real-life needs.
Many of the current educational practices are outdated, do not respond to the needs of the students as well as to the needs of their future employers. When graduates go to job interviews they feel unprepared. Millenials have no idea why they are asked specific questions about the job positions. Suddenly, all the knowledge from the University disappears. Another case is the problem of some students to focus in their field of study and realise their ideas.
How to find a solution?
The real-life practice is essential. Students need to see how the companies work, try to understand what skills do they need to develop.
It is not only what you want to do, but what is the future.
ECCE started building an educational transformation from scratch. At this moment, ECCE is in the post-seed investment round gathering VC capital support. The substantial interest is linked to ECCE’s further expansion into the USA, Dubai and other countries in upcoming years. We suspect this is happening due to our globally unique educational model, innovation and market penetration when it comes to our partners. Where else the students could directly have workshops and lectures by people working for companies as Google, Siemens, Unilever, Unicredit, CITIC Capital or WeWork?
We carefully research what skills are currently required on the market before preparing every summer program’s schedule. The lectures in ECCE are not presented by professors from universities but from real life successful practitioners who share with students the challenges of the work and teach them what is “Society 4.0”. We develop our programs in those 4 fields which are the most demanding when it comes to the practical experience. Architecture, Law, Business, and Medicine are highly practical degrees, for which students always need internships to excel in their career. Furthermore, those areas of study are some of the most affected by the growing industrial development. All those certain issues for the millennials generation are not relevant only for the European market. There is a hunger for innovation in education all around the world. The proof is the success of our centre on the Chinese market. For the second year, ECCE received around 300 applications from Chinese universities.
We help each participant to focus in their field of study. We train our students the most useful practical knowledge – how to get through a dream-job interview by engaging them with potential employers and professionals of similar profile. The tailor-made experience for every student is guaranteed. Our team observes the transformation of our graduates. We see the jobs they get, the universities they enter, the leadership they express. Most of them come shy and leave as one of the future leaders in their field.
ECCE breaks through yet another colossal issue of the past years – the gender equality dispute and women leadership support. Around 90% of our students are female and we have been dedicated to embracing their education, practical skills and future career development in order to close the gender unemployment gap.
We encourage the young generation to change what they don’t like and find a solution for it. Who if not you and when if not now?
What will come aside study this summer?
Grand reception – 9 July in Prague, where we gather app. 300 senior guests from various sectors and all of our students on a dinner with entertainment. Last year, this special event was prepared with the support of Tesla Motors and Johnnie Walker.
Field trips around the Czech Republic and neighbouring countries. Students will visit the most prominent companies and other institutions to experience and see how work is done.
Graduation ceremony, where all the students receive feedback on their performance.
One-month internship in some of the best companies in the world. All the successful students receive recommendation letters from their internship placements.
This is a big jump not only in experiencing the different life and education in Europe but also advantages for the future career from one wonderful summer in Prague.