The Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance, through the Department of Labour and in collaboration with Higher Education Institutions of Cyprus created the program “Work Experience ARound Europe” (W.E.AR.E.) in order to give the opportunity to young graduates to gain work experience in their field of studies, in organizations of their choice in the European Union countries, and in order to promote youth mobility.The basic idea was to put young graduates to organizations of their choice in European countries in order to gain work experience that could facilitate their integration into the Labour Market, since work experience is very important for employers when selecting a candidate for a job and therefore young unemployed without any work experience have a much greater problem in finding a job.The Erasmus+ Consortium is consisted of the following Higher Education Institutions: University of Cyprus, University of Nicosia, European University, Frederick University, Neapolis University Pafos, UCLan Cyprus, Cyprus International Institute of Management and Open University Cyprus.The program was implemented in the period 01/06/2016 - 30/09/2017, giving the opportunity to thirty-six (36) new graduates to gain work experience in their area of interest and academic studies in an organization of their choice for a period of 2-6 months, in thirty-four (34) different organizations, in ten (10) countries (Greece, United Kingdom, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Austria). It also helped them develop new skills, expertise, intercultural and language skills and networking that would ease their access to the labour market.The fields of study in which the participants obtained professional experience include: Accounting, Education, Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Law, Chemistry, Sociology, Business Administration, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Modern Languages and European Studies, Byzantine and Modern Greek Languages and Literature, Mathematics and Statistics, Economics, School Counselling and Guidance.The participants had a first contact with the labour market, they became familiar with the working environment of an organisation that operates in their field of studies, had to work as a member of a group or individually, developed skills and expertise in handling complex machinery and the latest technology programs, things that in Cyprus would not have the opportunity to do. Moreover, their experience in European countries contributed to the personal development of the participants both in linguistic and intercultural level and has given them, apart from professional experience, general knowledge, confidence and other skills that will help them in the pursuit of work. Almost all participants found work immediately after the end of their training period, in Cyprus and other European countries.

At CIIM we see mobility as helping in the internationalization of our degrees and our Institute overall. The continuous exchange of knowledge and experiences from our Institute to others help improve the quality of learning and overall student experience. Our degrees already have an international character which we want to enhance through mobility of both students and faculty to add new experiences in the pursuit of degrees that will offer students tools and skills to solve problems. The International Relations Office (IRO) is responsible for implementing CIIM’s internationalization strategy through attracting overseas students, building worldwide partnerships and improving our global profile. The IRO coordinates and administers many of CIIM’s internationalization tasks. Its mission is to establish and develop institutional collaborations and strategic partnerships in target markets, foster mobility of students, academic and non-academic staff (“our people”), as well as, activate our people to become ambassadors of CIIM. The IRO gives assistance in developing EU-funded educational programmes under the umbrella of Erasmus+. During the past years it has successfully increased the number of international institutional collaborations, as well as, increase and improve CIIM student, faculty and staff mobility through the Erasmus programme. In summary the basic objective of our project is to provide our students with experience from other participating countries, thus enhancing their CV, potential, employ-ability and academic knowledge. As regards the staff it is to enhance their experiences and knowledge backgrounds with the view of enhancing the quality of our programmes through their experience/knowledge transfer. The above are also attained through incoming students/staff either through the Erasmus+ programme or bilateral agreements. Results and impacts for the participants:During the 2016-2017 Academic Year we have seen an increase in our mobility numbers of faculty and staff exchanges, as well as, from student who opted to go abroad for a two semester study exchange. The Erasmus programme offers an excellent opportunity for the unemployed and those without work experience to obtain additional skills which will enrich their CV and hopefully help in finding permanent employment. One of the 2016-2017 participants requested to extend his study exchange without requesting additional funds from the Erasmus grant, his main goal was to gain international experience and enrich his knowledge of the English Language, as well as, the European market. This has helped him improve his interview performance upon return, and will hopefully open doors for permanent employment. In regards to staff exchanges for the purpose of job shadowing, this has proven to be an excellent way to exchange experiences and knowledge with larger and more experienced schools which can be implemented in our field of education. During the 2016-2017 Academic Year the Head of the Administration Department went for training to one of our partner Universities in Spain, and returned with ideas and suggestions for the improvement of our own Admin department. This was presented to the Directors of the School and several of the suggestions have been implemented. During this year we have also had several successful faculty exchanges, both incoming and outgoing which has brought diversity to our classes, as well as, a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledges and practices. We aim to increase the number of our participants even more in the years to come.

The Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance, through the Department of Labour and in collaboration with Higher Education Institutions of Cyprus created the program “Work Experience ARound Europe” (W.E.AR.E.) in order to give the opportunity to young graduates to gain work experience in their field of studies, in organizations of their choice in the European Union countries, and in order to promote youth mobility.The basic idea was to put young graduates to organizations of their choice in European countries in order to gain work experience that could facilitate their integration into the Labour Market, since work experience is very important for employers when selecting a candidate for a job and therefore young unemployed without any work experience have a much greater problem in finding a job.The Erasmus+ Consortium is consisted of the following Higher Education Institutions: University of Cyprus, Cyprus University of Technology, University of Nicosia, European University, Frederick University, Neapolis University Pafos, UCLan Cyprus and Cyprus International Institute of Management.The program was implemented in the period 01/06/2015 - 31/05/2017, giving the opportunity to twenty-one (21) new graduates to gain work experience in their area of interest and academic studies in an organization of their choice for a period of 2-6 months, in nineteen (19) different organizations, in eleven (11) countries (Greece, United Kingdom, Spain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Ireland, Latvia). It also helped them develop new skills, expertise, intercultural and language skills and networking that would ease their access to the labour market.The fields of study in which the participants obtained professional experience include: Architecture / Civil Engineering, Social Work, Business Administration, Sports Management, Dance, Graphic Arts, Mechanical Engineering, Environmental Sciences and Technology, Music, Music Education, Psychology and Speech Therapy.The participants had a first contact with the labour market, they became familiar with the working environment of an organisation that operates in their field of studies, had to work as a member of a group or individually, developed skills and expertise in handling complex machinery and the latest technology programs, things that in Cyprus would not have the opportunity to do. Moreover, their experience in European countries contributed to the personal development of the participants both in linguistic and intercultural level and has given them, apart from professional experience, general knowledge, confidence and other skills that will help them in the pursuit of work. Almost all participants found work immediately after the end of their training period, in Cyprus and other European countries.

We see mobility as helping in the internationalization of our degrees and our Institute overall. The transfer of knowledge from our Institute to others and from others to us will help improve the quality of learning. Our degrees already have an international character which we want to enhance through mobility of both students and faculty to add new experiences in the pursuit of degrees that will offer students tools to solve problems. Our main objective is to offer an international education and the opportunity to gain invaluable benefits through the Erasmus experience. The CIIM participants of the Erasmus programme are not large in numbers and, this is due to the nature of our programme, which mainly applies to accommodate working individuals/professionals. Our main participants so far to the Erasmus programme have been unemployed students and those working in family businesses. In summary the basic objective of our project is to provide our students with experience from other participating countries, thus enhancing their CV, potential, employability and academic knowledge. As regards the staff it is to enhance their experiences and knowledge backgrounds with the view of enhancing the quality of our programmes through their experience/knowledge transfer. The above are also attained through incoming students/staff either through the Erasmus+ programme or bilateral agreements. Results and impacts for the participants:Regarding the unemployed the Erasmus programme offers an excellent opportunity to obtain additional skills which will enrich their CV and hopefully help in finding permanent employment. One of our participants has obtained new knowledge and skills through as part of the exchange programme, and has also made new acquaintances and friendships thus broadening her network. As for the working individuals, specifically those in family businesses the Erasmus programme offered an opportunity to exchange experiences with same/similar line of work in a different country and possibly implement these. The same goes for faculty exchanges, these are done with the goal to exchange experiences and knowledge which can be implemented in our field of education.

We see mobility as helping in the internationalization of our degrees and our Institute overall. The continuous exchange of knowledge and experiences from our Institute to others help improve the quality of learning and overall student experience. Our degrees already have an international character which we want to enhance through mobility of both students and faculty to add new experiences in the pursuit of degrees that will offer students tools and skills to solve problems.The CIIM participants of the Erasmus programme are not large in numbers and, this is due to the nature of our programme, which mainly applies to accommodate working individuals/professionals. Our main participants so far to the Erasmus programme have been unemployed students and those working in family businesses. In summary the basic objective of our project is to provide our students with experience from other participating countries, thus enhancing their CV, potential, employ-ability and academic knowledge. As regards the staff it is to enhance their experiences and knowledge backgrounds with the view of enhancing the quality of our programmes through their experience/knowledge transfer. The above are alsoattained through incoming students/staff either through the Erasmus+ programme or bilateral agreements.During the 2018-2019 Academic Year we have recorded a stability in regards to our mobility numbers. The majority of interested candidates came from our international student body, this was due to the fact that a high percentage of our local student body is employed. In regards to staff exchanges for the purpose of job shadowing, training and other we have seen an increase in interest and participation which have proved to be an excellent way to exchange experiences and knowledge with larger and more experienced schools which can be implemented in our field of education.We have been receiving numerous declarations of interest for the 2019-20 academic year, and we are hopeful that the numbers of our outgoing students will increase.