The Role of Internship in Transversal Competence Development of Industrial Engineering Graduates

In the context of implementation of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) in Higher Education Area, building and assessment of skills in general and of transversal competences in particular is a key issue, which has not been entirely resolved yet. This paper presents a methodology developed by the authors, which refers to the contribution of the practice to building the transversal competences in graduates of higher education technical institutes, applied during a three-year program involving a relatively large number of students. Identifying the contribution of practical internship schemes to the acquisition of transversal competencies is an essential component of the overall evaluation of such skills. The development of the competences during internship programs can leads to a higher rate of insertion in the labor market and the practical experience gained during bachelor study programs represented an important premise for the development of EQF level 7 transversal competences of the graduates enrolled in different Master programs.