Montse Ros: "European Mobility is an opportunity to improve the job placement of young people"

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The purpose of the program is to improve the labor insertion of young people.

The president of Probens, an entity that is 35 years old, stresses the importance of promoting the mobility of young people in European countries to improve their employability.

How is the program born and why?

From our association, Probens, we already had experience in hosting young people from other countries and our partners asked us to receive, also, the young catalans. When the first call was issued from the Generalitat, we presented ourselves and we approved three Mobility groups. We understand that it is a good opportunity for young people who, sometimes, have not been able to move from their environment. Thus they have the possibility of acquiring a work experience in another country. In addition, being able to do both papers of the project (to receive young people and to send young people) is very enriching professionally.

With what objective did you implement this program?

The purpose of the program is to improve the labor insertion of young people between the ages of 18 and 29 years enrolled in the Youth Guarantee and encourage their reintegration into the educational system through their vital and professional life experience in a European country for 3 months.

What requirements do you look for?

We make the selection of young people through an individual interview and then participate in three phases. First they begin the course of the language of the country where they will travel and they do group activities to know the culture of the country and pedagogical preparation for the labor world. They also take individual tutorials to define their professional project and close the sectors where they want to do the practices. They then make a stay of three months in the chosen country and 50 hours more of language and practices in companies of different sectors according to their interests. They also participate once a week in cultural activities to get to know the country. When they return to Catalonia we keep track of for 2 months to incorporate their experience into the curriculum and their professional project.

How many volunteers do you manage throughout the year or have you managed since the start of the program?

During the first edition, a total of 19 young people participated in the Mobility program. The second one was 6 and, in this third edition that we are developing now, we have a total of 25. As for the mobility programs for hosting in Barcelona and in Mallorca (where we also have a delegation), we started the year 2010 and up to now we have hosted more than 250 young people and adults.

Which countries do you mainly collaborate with?

We work basically with Germany and Italy. In 2018 we began to also collaborate with Poland.

And how many exchange entities do you work?

At this time we have agreements signed with 5 different entities, two in Germany, two in Italy and one in Poland.

Why would you recommend this program?

We think that this is a very good opportunity for a group of young people who do not have as many occasions to travel to a foreign country to develop the competencies that can be used to improve their employability. Being three months away from their comfort environment means that they can prove to themselves that they are capable of solving situations and overcoming obstacles.