Managers’ Training Programme MTP IV

Traineeships in EU-companies for Managers from Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan

This booklet is designed to answer the most frequently asked questions concerning the participation in MTP. All interested managers should read it carefully. This booklet exists in Russian and English.
Download the Candidate Information Brochure (PDF)

Table of Content

PART I - GENERAL INFORMATION

PART II – APPLICATION

Part I - General Information

The European Union and general framework of the Tacis MTP

The European Union is established in accordance with the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht). There are currently 27 Member States of the Union. It is based on the European Communities and the member states co-operation in the fields of Common Foreign and Security Policy and Justice and Home Affairs. The five main institutions of the European Union are the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers, the European Commission, the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors. The European Union is a major player in international co-operation and development aid. It is also the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor. Today, the European Community has political and financial responsibility for over 10% of the world’s public aid (ODA), compared with 5% in 1985. The primary aim of the EC’s own development policy, agreed in November 2000, is the eradication of poverty. To enhance its impact, the EC is targeting its assistance on six priority areas: trade and development; regional integration and co-operation; support to macroeconomic policies and equitable access to social services; transport; food security and sustainable rural development; institutional capacity building, good governance and the rule of law. In addition to these core areas, important crosscutting issues are being mainstreamed into development activities namely: human rights, gender equality, environment and conflict prevention.

About Tacis

The EU's relations with the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) were underpinned in 1991 through a programme of technical assistance called Tacis. The Programme supports the process of transition to market economies and democratic societies in the EECA countries, and in the first eight years of its operating, committed a total of Euro 4,226 million of funding to projects. A New Council Regulation (No 99 /2000) adopted in January 2000, opened a new phase of co-operation between the European Union and the partner countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, aiming to provide assistance totalling Euro 3,138 million until the end of 2006 and to focus on certain key areas of activity in the region.

The programme of assistance managed by the EuropeAid Co-operation Office takes several forms. Recognising that one size doesn't fit all, special programmes and sub programmes have been developed to address specific needs in specific sectors that are regional in nature. Thus, as the EU assistance to Eastern Europe and Central Asia has developed, so too have a number of individual sub programmes. (For further information please refer to

http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/projects/tacis/foreword_en.htm).

1. MTP in brief

The Managers’ Training Programme (MTP) is one of the sub-programmes funded by the European Union within the framework of EuropeAid. In total the European Union is spending 12 Million Euro on the fourth phase of MTP.

MTP’s overall aim is to support the development of the economy of Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan by assisting in the training of managers. Activities are designed to have an immediate impact on improving the performance of their companies.

MTP works in close co-operation with the Presidential Programme on Training Managers for National Economy of the Russian Federation run by the Federal Commission (FC) and with the National Initiative for Retraining Managers in the Sphere of Entrepreneurship (the so-called Ukrainian Initiative) run by the Interdepartmental Centre for Managers’ Retraining (IC).

In Russia, the EU Managers´ Training Programme is the successor of the Tacis Productivity Initiative Programme (PIP). It is similar but larger in scale and much more far reaching by covering all branches and industries.

During the last six years – starting in September 1999 – the MTP provided more than 3000 traineeships across the EU for managers from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldavia, Mongolia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Therefore, we are happy to announce that in consideration of the success of MTP, the European Commission took the decision to continue the programme until mid of 2008.

In the fourth phase of MTP managers from Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan will be able to participate. All participating countries will be active in the programme from the beginning, from January 2006 (for details please refer to chapter 12 of this brochure).

MTP offers as before 4-, 8- and 12-week sponsored traineeships in the EU (i.e. 8- and 12-week internship programmes and 4-week study tours). All trainees participate in seminars on general business practice and economic issues of the EU.

Overall the fourth phase of MTP will provide more than 800 traineeships, starting in April 2006 until the middle of 2008.

2. What is new in the fourth phase of MTP?

Building upon the experience of the previous phases of MTP, the programme approach has been further developed and some new features and elements have been introduced in the fourth phase of MTP.

We have further elaborated the approach of MTP and the Integrated Management Training Cycle (IMTC). The IMTC is linking the individual managers’ learning with company learning and involving training institutions and regional structures into the management. The IMTC opens the possibility for your home companies to benefit from MTP by using your MTP traineeship for a unique inter-company comparison / bench marking and for obtaining know-how about future trends and opportunities in EU based companies. This can become the initial start of a new process of organisational development or re-engineering for your home company. As a consequence, MTP puts a stronger focus on the involvement of your home company already during your application for MTP, as you can see from the revised application forms and application requirements for MTP.

In February 2003 MTP has started a new kind of activity – the “Local MTP“ which offers internships in the affiliates of Western European companies, based in Russia and Ukraine. More detailed information can be found in chapter 7 of this brochure or on our web site www.tacis-mtp.org.

Furthermore MTP will provide in its fourth project phase substantial support to local sustainability and capacity building in Russia and Ukraine. Up to 40 selected Russian and Ukrainian companies will receive special support based on an company training needs assessment carried out by Western and local experts. More detailed information can be found on our web site www.tacis-mtp.org.

In order to fasten the application and selection procedures and to make them more effective, an updated online-application facility is in use in the fourth phase of MTP. This facility is available on the MTP web site and replaces the former procedure of e-mail and fax-application.

3. How is MTP being managed?

The programme is set into action by a consortium from nine European countries:

Germany	Carl Duisberg Centren gemeinnützige GmbH The leading partner of consortium
Austria	Bit Schulungscenter
France	Bernard Krief Consultants
France	Integration Ikesol SA
Italy	Consorzio Progetto Lazio ’92
Denmark	Copenhagen Development Consulting A/S
Poland	Doradztwo Gospodarcze DGA SA
Hungary	International Business School
Greece	LDK Consultants, Engineers and Planners
United Kingdom	NI-CO Northern Ireland Public Sector Enterprises

Please note that Carl Duisberg Centren as the contractor of the European Union and the MTP consortium implements MTP. However, neither the MTP offices in Moscow and Kiev nor any office of the consortium is a representation of the European Union.

4. What are the main characteristics of MTP?

MTP offers two different types of training:

For senior and top managers with at least eight years of management experience:

• 4-week programme – seminars and company visits in two EU Countries

For middle and junior managers with at least 3 years of management experience:

• 8- or 12-week programmes – seminars and internship in a EU company

Each programme will be concluded by a three-days Europa Seminar in a major European city. The seminar will focus on economic and political issues of the EU and opportunities of co-operation between EU and the NIS countries.

5. What are the characteristics of the 4-week programmes?

The 4-week programme consists of an introductory seminar and a series of company visits in two EU countries. Candidates from corresponding sectors of economy will be selected to ensure similar fields of interest within a group whenever possible. During MTP, for example, training programmes on the following topics have been organised: “Textile”, “Construction”, “Wood processing”, “Tourism”, “Management of small & medium enterprises”, the latter comprising managers from small and medium-sized enterprises from various sectors.

Each programme spans two EU countries; in each country the programme starts with an introductory seminar, which provides the participants with information about the economic situation and cultural attitudes of the country they are going to visit.

In the fourth phase of MTP the 4-week traineeships will continue to set a stronger focus on training and seminars on actual management topics, like Strategic Management, Marketing and Customer Relationship Management, Knowledge Management etc. Company visits will be arranged in accordance with the seminar topics in order to give an overview on the sector relevant for the training programme.

Interpreters will accompany the participating manager during the company visits. The programme ends with participation in the Europa seminar.

6. What are the characteristics of 8- or 12-week programmes?

The 8- and 12-week traineeship programmes are open to managers from all branches. As a rule, each group will comprise managers of very different profile and specialisation. The training, which consists of seminars and an internship in one EU company, is focusing on the practical experience of managerial work in EU.

The aim of the Introductory seminar is threefold:

• to adapt the participants to the host country by giving them an overview of the economy, culture and traditions
• give the participants an insight into management themes actual for EU companies, like change management, modern marketing concepts and customer relationship management etc. to discuss the learning objectives and projects of the participants
• to discuss the participants’ learning projects and objectives

The seminar sessions are not lectures, they have more a workshop character, building on active contribution of the participants. They are aimed at raising the participants’ ability to analyse and to put into practice the experiences they will gain in the internship and to strengthen their analytical and general management competence.

The internship lasts six or ten weeks in the host company. During the internship each participant will work on his/her change project, which he/she set up before. It is supposed, that each participant comes into the programme with learning objectives based on the actual challenges and tasks his/her home company is facing. Managers applying for MTP are required to describe the objectives for their internship already in the application form. With the start of MTP 4 all applying managers are requested to draft a change project. It is necessary to do this in sufficiently detailed way – further information on how to do this, you will find in chapter 8.

Please keep in mind that no matter on what kind of project or objectives you will be working during your internship, the MTP internship always is a training-on-the-job. This implies that you will always be required to work on tasks the EU host company is setting for you. This is an integral part of an MTP internship and if you are open-minded and ready to learn from the unexpected, this experience can give you a lot.

7. What is the ‘Local MTP’ ?

The ‘Local MTP’ offers to managers from Russia and Ukraine the opportunity to have internships in affiliates of EU companies based in Russia and Ukraine. The possibility to be trained in a NIS-based Western European company offers a great advantage: to learn in a company which works in the same economical environment but has a Western European management style and structure. This offers the participating managers to experience the practice of Western management style in the NIS environment and gives a living experience of the special challenges one has to overcome when implementing Western management approaches in one’s own company.

The traineeship programmes follow the same structure and principles as the 8- and 12-week programmes (see above). Accordingly, applicants for the ‘Local MTP’ have to fulfil basically the same requirements as managers applying for 8- or 12- week programmes. The ‘Local MTP’ is open to managers from Russia and Ukraine only.

8. What is a change project?

The change project is an important component of the IMTC (see chapter 2). It is like a plan or road map for your traineeship. The purpose of this project is to support you to tailor the traineeship on acquiring knowledge and skills that you can immediately use afterwards to improve your performance as well as the performance of your home company.

The development of your change project is based on two steps:

The first step is to individually analyse what exactly you need to learn to better perform in your position.

• Be specific about your needs. As an example, as a marketing manager you may say: „I want to learn more about setting up a distribution channel for a food processing company.“ or “I want to learn more about introducing a new product / brand to the market” instead of „I want to learn about marketing in food processing.“
• Distinct between things you want to know (knowledge) and things you want to be able to do (skills).

In a second step you will have to discuss with the top management of your company what the business development strategy is and what the company needs to achieve it. As an example, the business strategy is to move to interregional markets. The consequence may be that they need qualified people to build up new sales structures, and at this point you can make your contribution. You can suggest, e.g. to elaborate during the traineeship how to create an incentive system for sales representatives.

It is very important that your individual training needs fit as much as possible with the development needs of your company.

Once you have completed these two steps you can outline your change project. It will consist of these parts:

• What qualification (knowledge, skills, experience) needs your company according to its strategy? In which way can MTP help you to obtain this qualification?
• What do you need to learn to substantially contribute to the company strategy?
• What do you want to be able to do by the end of the traineeship? (which skills and what knowledge you want to acquire during your traineeship)
• What action you should undertake to achieve your learning objectives during the traineeship?
• What you could do to share your experience (knowledge, skills) from the traineeship with your company’s staff?

Please prepare the change project outline together with the application form (see chapter 13 – instructions for application). You do not need to describe anything in detail but it is important that you have an idea about the results you want to get out of the traineeship.

The Selection Commission will refer to your change project outline to decide whether you are accepted for the MTP.

Attention: The change project in this stage serves only as the basis for selection and the matching for a group. Once you are being invited for a group, in discussion with the EU MTP partners you will further elaborate this project according to the host countries conditions and the expectations of your host company. MTP can in no way guarantee that the tasks and objectives set by you during the application phase will be 100% fulfilled, because we are obliged to respect also the interests of EU host companies. However, MTP is doing its best to tailor the traineeships as far as possible to your needs.

Throughout the traineeship you will further elaborate the learning project at the introductory and intermediate seminars. The coaches who accompany you during the traineeship will also work with you on refining and implementing the learning project.

9. Which European Countries participate as host countries in MTP?

The following member states of the European Union participate in the MTP:

Through the partners in each of the mentioned countries placements will be organised in all regions of the European Union.

Alternatively, MTP provides up to 61 traineeships within the framework of the ‘Local MTP’ in

• Russia
• Ukraine

Despite possible personal preferences, you should be ready and willing to go to any of these countries.

10. Who is eligible for participation in MTP?

Sector of employment

MTP is open to applicants from all sectors of business and commercial administration. It is not open to employees of any form of local, regional or national administration. However, for managers from some sectors, e.g. finances, banking, it may be rather difficult to find an appropriate hosting company.

Participating countries

In total within the fourth phase MTP will provide 809 traineeships for the following groups of candidates

• from Russia: 460 traineeships (at least 303 – for graduates from the Presidential programme and up to 157 traineeships – for managers from the “free market”)
• from Ukraine: 197 traineeships (Graduates from the Ukrainian Initiative and managers from the free market)
• Uzbekistan: 117 traineeships
• Azerbaijan: 35 traineeships

Criteria for participation in 4-week programmes

• age between 35 and 55 years (in very exceptional cases also younger then 35 or older than 55 years)
• permanent residence and citizenship of the above mentioned participating countries
• employment in one of the above mentioned participating countries
• at least 8 years of relevant practical managerial experience
• knowledge of Russian language; as the groups are of mixed nationalities, interpreters are Russian-speaking
• basic knowledge of at least one EU language would be of advantage

Criteria for participation in 8- and 12-week programmes

• age between 25 and 40 years (in very exceptional cases also younger then 25 or older than 40 years)
• permanent residence and citizenship of the above mentioned participating countries
• employment in one of the above mentioned participating countries
• at least 3 years of practical managerial experience
• good active knowledge of at least one EU language in speaking and writing

Reasons for exclusion and restrictions for participation

If you are employed by a NIS-based EU company, its subsidiaries or joint ventures your internship cannot take place in its mother company or joint-venture partners. However, you can participate, if hosted by an independent or third company.

In case of pregnancy or chronic sickness, you cannot be accepted in the programme due to non-coverage by the insurance and you will be excluded of the programme immediately. In case of one of those situations occurring after application for MTP, we ask to inform our colleagues in the MTP offices in Moscow respectively Kiev.

Please be aware that if you should require medical care due to the above mentioned reasons while participating in MTP, MTP will not be able to support you in financial or any other ways. Participation despite the above mentioned reasons might result in immediate exclusion from the programme even after the beginning of a traineeship. You will have to cover all related costs.

you are unemployed: Due to the nature of the MTP Programme and as well to immigration regulations in EU, unemployed persons are not eligible for participation. However, if you have found a new job, you are invited to apply again. If you loose your job after passing the MTP selection, you become eligible again after having found a new job (of course, you should inform the MTP offices in Moscow or Kiev about the new situation AND present the agreement for your MTP participation of your new employer.)

Participation in former or parallel programmes: If you are a graduate of the Presidential Initiative in Russia or the Ukrainian Initiative, you are still allowed to take part in MTP, if you have NOT yet participated in a traineeship abroad. For application procedure, see chapter 12. If you have already participated in a traineeship abroad through PIP, MTP, the Russian Presidential Programme or the Ukrainian Initiative, you can not apply for MTP. The general rule is that these programs will not sponsor twice the internship of the same person

Warning: All applications will be cross-checked in the database of the Federal Commission, PIP and the Ukrainian Initiative.

11. What steps are to be taken by managers interested in participation in MTP?

Self-review:

MTP is a unique opportunity to improve your personal qualification and to develop your personality. You will have the chance to get to know a foreign country, its culture and to make a lot of new friends!

However, MTP is also a great challenge for yourself and might confront you with some hardships. Therefore, before applying to MTP you should make yourself aware of the following:

You will be away from home and from your work / company for 4, 8 or 12 weeks. A return during the traineeship is not possible. As a consequence:

Contacts with your spouse and your friends will be very limited. You will not see your family and friends for the entire period of the programme. Telecommunication with your family back home is expensive and must be paid by yourself.

Discuss this with your family!

You will be absent from your work for quite a long time. You have to make sure that somebody else takes over your tasks during this time. Make sure that your company and your colleagues support you. Communication with your company will be limited – the EU company hosting you will not appreciate you dedicating too much of your working time to trouble-shooting for your home company. If you are on an internship in a EU host company, this company may also not allow to have extensive phone calls and e-mail correspondence back home during working hours and / or at their expenses. If you will be taking part in a 4-week traineeship, you will be in seminars or on company visits all day long, and will have little or no chance for extensive phone or e-mail conversation back home as well.

On the other hand, your colleagues and your company will benefit from your newly gained knowledge and experiences.

Discuss your possible participation with your employer and your colleagues! They should be informed far enough in advance. You should explain why and how long you could be gone. Explain which benefits and advantages will raise from MTP for your company.

In some cases long absence from your work might cause you financial losses. You might miss some lucrative orders or projects. You will also not be able to continue your work on currently running projects as before. This is your own risk, therefore:

Calculate the risks carefully!

You will be living in a foreign country with different life-style, culture, attitudes and language. Throughout the internship you will be on your own in an unknown environment, being forced to communicate in a foreign language. MTP cannot guarantee that your MTP group mates will be in the same city or region as you are.

Be open to new experiences!

Formalities:

1. Get the written agreement and supporting letter of your director or head of department. It is obligatory for your application.
2. Check that your foreign passport is valid. It needs to be valid at least three months after your return from the internship. Otherwise your passport will not be accepted by the consulates. Remember to renew your passport in due time, if necessary.
3. Fill in the online application form including all required supporting documents. In very exceptional cases and after consultation with the MTP offices in Moscow and Kiev, you can submit the application documents to these offices.
4. Make sure that you have your own e-mail address, under which you will be available at any time while you are part of the MTP procedure (application, placement and participation). If you don’t have your own, open an account e.g. at ‘hotmail’, ‘mail.ru’ or ‘yandex.ru’ etc. – this will make communications with MTP far easier!

Part II - Application

12. Where do I get the Application form, how do I apply?

Online through the MTP web site: As a standard procedure interested candidates shall fill in the application form online. Additionally we will offer a download function of the application form. Instructions on how to do this, you will find on the MTP web site (www.tacis-mtp.org).
In exceptional cases and after consultation with the MTP office responsible for your country, this office will send the application forms by e-mail or by fax to you. You will send then the filled in application form back to respective MTP office.
The addresses of these offices you will find on our MTP web site (www.tacis-mtp.org) or in chapter 22 of this brochure.

Graduates from the Russian Presidential Programme and from the Ukrainian Initiative willing to apply for MTP are also required to fill in the MTP online-application form in addition to the FC and UI application, because the MTP application form provides additional information which is necessary to provide a successful MTP traineeship.
Applications from graduates of the Russian PMTP and the Ukrainian Initiative will be finally accepted after confirmation and agreement from the Federal Commission (Russia) or the Inter-departmental Centre (Ukraine) accordingly.

Managers interested in ‘Local MTP’
The ‘Local MTP’ is open only for managers from Russia and Ukraine.
If you are interested in participating in the ‘Local MTP’, please complete the application form for 8- and 12-weeks programmes and indicate on the application form that you are applying for the ‘Local MTP’.

Applications from Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan will be accepted until November 2007, since the last traineeships within the framework of this phase of MTP will be conducted until summer 2008.

13. Instructions for Application

The objectives of the application documents are to

• Enable MTP to do an effective pre-screening of the applicants and to check if you as an applicant are eligible for participation in MTP.
• Serve as a basic information resource on you, the candidate, during the selection and later for your placement in a host company (however, when being invited for a group, you very often will be asked to update and complete this information).
• Serve as the first step of your learning in MTP by making you aware of your own and your company’s training needs.

The application documents consist of

1. The application form which is divided into 4 parts:

1. Specification of the candidate
2. Brief description of his /her home company
3. The description of the learning project, based on your personal objectives and your home company’s objectives identified in the needs analysis (see below) on desired host company in Western Europe)
4. The passport data

2. A home company needs analysis. This feature provides you with the tools to conduct a more detailed analysis of your home company, especially regarding challenges and tasks your company or department is facing and which therefore may determine the tasks for your training within MTP.

How to fill in the application form?

It is necessary to answer all questions in English. If there are questions you cannot answer, please ask our experts in the MTP offices in Moscow, Kiev and Cologne. Questions asking for "other /further..." always have to be answered in detail, e.g. further languages: “Greek”.

4-week programmes

Please answer all questions in the application form and make sure that the information given is as comprehensive as possible. Please attach all requested additional documents.

• Describe in detail your home company and your responsibilities in your company. If your company has several profiles of business activities, please highlight the profile you are working in and in which you would like to obtain additional experience.
• Describe in detail your interest and the interest of your home company.
• Describe clearly your project and / or learning objectives in as much detail as possible. The description should contain the objectives and planned methods of reaching them. (see also chapter 8). Of course, the way of working on such a project will differ in some respects from that in a 8- /12-week programme. However, it is one of the new features of MTP to more intensively involve you and your host companies in the MTP learning process.

8- or 12- week programmes (incl. Local MTP)

Give as much information as possible. The more precisely you answer the questions, the better we will succeed to find a traineeship fitting your expectations. It is important that you:

• Describe in detail your home company and your responsibilities in your company. If your company has several profiles of business activities, please highlight the profile you are working in and in which you would like to work on during the internship.
• Describe in detail your interest and the interest of your home company.
• Specify your qualification. Think over, what makes you interesting for a desired Western company you want to be trained in.
• Describe clearly your project and / or learning objectives in as much detail as possible. The description should contain the objectives and planned methods of reaching them. (see also chapter 8)
• Describe the desired Western company, you would like to be trained in. The MTP partners in EU have to get a clear idea of your expectations.
• If you have any existing contacts with enterprises (institutions) in the EU, please state them as detailed as possible. However please notice that contacts with EU enterprises are no precondition for participating in MTP.
  For example it is not enough to write only "ABB Germany", instead you should write "ABB Germany, Hanover branch, department, contact person, address, phone /fax no. and e-mail-address.
  
• Please be aware that the more limitations (for example timing, duration, location of the traineeship) for your participation you give, the smaller will be the chances of finding a suitable host company. You should apply with an open mind, having in mind that opportunities for learning exist in all EU-countries.
• Be ready to go to all 9 countries participating in MTP IV. Of course we will try to consider your wishes and preferences. However, the most important thing for us is to match you to the best company according to your needs. This company might be not in the country of your first choice.
• Indicate your permanent contact data! After you have passed selection, you might at any time be chosen as member of a MTP training programme – it will help a lot, if you indicate one e-mail-address and one phone number at which our MTP partners can contact you easily at any time.

Please note that the properly filled-in application allows to speed up the searching of a suitable host company for you!

14. The next steps after submitting of the application form (Selection Procedure)

4-weeks programmes

1. Pre-selection: The application forms will be checked for formal criteria, for completeness and comprehensiveness. If all requirements are fulfilled, candidates are entered into our database of applicants.

2. Selection and Invitation for a group: If a group of a specific profile is being planned, all relevant candidates will be contacted by the MTP office in their country and will have to undergo a comprehensive personal or telephone interview. If you pass this interview successfully and the profile of your business is fitting into the group, you will be invited for participation.

8- and 12-week programmes

After you have delivered your application form to MTP, the MTP office responsible for your country will start the selection procedure, which consists of three steps:

1. Pre-selection: The application forms will be checked for formal criteria, for completeness and comprehensiveness. If all requirements are fulfilled, candidates are submitted to our telephone interview.

2. The telephone interview: It is conducted in Russian and in the EU language you have indicated in your application form. The aim of the telephone interview is to check your foreign-language knowledge and to get a first personal impression of your personality. If you have passed the telephone interview, you will be invited for a selection session.

3. The selection: It takes place in form of a Selection Session and lasts for maximum half a day. During the Selection Session the applicants have to pass written tests and an individual interview, which is conducted in a EU language. The final assessment of the applicants is made by a team of selection experts consisting of representatives of the MTP partners.

Please bring to the selection session:

• A copy of your international passport (one page)
• The last page of the application form with your signature and the stamp of the company, including the written confirmation of your CEO to let you go to the internship for 8 or 12 weeks
• A photo for the application form (3x4)

During the selection procedure you will have to pass:

•  A motivation test (in the EU language you speak),
•  A psychological test (in Russian),
•  A test on general management issues,
•  An interview with experts from the Selection Commission. It will be conducted in the EU language you speak.

As mentioned before in chapter 8, during this conversation you will be asked to explain your change project and tasks for your internship in a EU company.

Selection results

If you successfully pass the selection, you become an accepted candidate for MTP. Please note: this does not guarantee participation in MTP, it just means that your profile is entered into the pool of possible candidates for MTP, from which the MTP partners choose the participants for their groups. We have a lot more applications and eligible candidates than placements available.

If you have not fully met the selection criteria, e.g. because your foreign language knowledge is not sufficient for participation in MTP, you will be deferred. This means that you are free to apply again after a period of 3-6 months. This can be done only once.

If you have not met the selection criteria, you will be rejected. Once you are rejected, you have no possibility to apply again for MTP.

You will get the information about your selection result from the respective MTP offices by telephone or by mail about one week after the interview.

If you have applied through the Russian Presidential Initiative or the Ukrainian Initiative, you can receive information from the Russian Regional Commissions or the office of the Ukrainian Initiative.

15. Where will the selections take place?

As a rule, selections for participants from all participating countries take place in the MTP Moscow office on a regular basis every Monday (address see at the end of this brochure). For detailed information please contact the MTP Moscow Office.

There are also selections held in other Russian regions, in Kiev and other cities and regions of Ukraine, as well as in all other participating countries. Participants from the cities and regions in-question will be informed about these sessions in due time by the local MTP office.

16. Who pays for the costs arising from the selections?

The travel costs as well as costs for accommodation related to the selection have to be covered by the applicants. There is no charge for the participation to the selection session.

17. What happens after you have passed the selection?

4-week programmes

You will be contacted by the MTP Moscow or Kiev office if a group of your profile is being planned and will be invited for this specific group.

In order to facilitate this and to make sure that MTP will assign you to the group of the right profile: keep MTP informed about relevant changes in your life, e.g. change of address, change of work, change of professional profile.

8- and 12-week programmes

From the internal MTP database, which contains the information from application form and from the selection session, the MTP partners will choose participants for their MTP group. If you are foreseen for a specific group, you will be contacted by the respective MTP partner to check if you are available. Very often at this stage, you will be asked to specify the information from the application form or to give additional information. Based on this information, the MTP partner will start to place you at a EU company.

Decisive criteria for placing the candidates in enterprises are the individual qualifications of the candidate, a clearly defined internship or learning project and the profile of the home company of the candidate. In any case your active participation to identify a suitable host company will be an extra factor of success and highly welcomed.

After an adequate enterprise / institution has been found, you will receive a confirmation per e-mail from the MTP offices in Moscow or Kiev resp. in your country informing you about participation in the respective group, about the date of beginning, place and duration of the training.

What are your tasks after successful passing of the selection?

There are some things you can do to increase your chances for participation (however – none of these are neither a precondition nor a guarantee for participation!)

• Check your e-mail regularly
• Keep MTP informed about relevant changes in your life, e.g. change of address, change of work, change of professional profile
• Inform MTP about EU companies that might be ready to host you for an internship.

18. How will the traineeships be organised?

MTP traineeships are always organised in groups of about 18-25 managers leaving together for one EU country, the 4-week groups are visiting 2 EU countries. The groups are organised in so-called waves of about 6-9 groups of different duration leaving in parallel and having a joint final event, the Europa Seminar. The dates and duration for each wave are fixed, for details please refer to the MTP web site (www.tacis-mtp.org).

4-week programmes

4-week groups as a rule will be organised in two different EU countries with company visits and seminars on management topics relevant for the specific group. Each 4-week group will be composed of managers from basically the same sector or branch.

8- or 12- week programmes

In EU, traineeships will take place in enterprises and institutions from all sectors and branches of industry throughout the European Union. The introductory seminars will be organised in the participating countries. However, the economic profile of the EU member states is very different, and you will always have the situation that with your specific profile it is easier to go e.g. to Germany or Italy than it is to go to Poland or UK.

For participants of ‘Local MTP’, traineeships will be organised in NIS affiliates of EU-based companies from all sectors and branches of industry. MTP will provide for you the same support as for participants of other MTP traineeship programmes. The participation in a Europa Seminar is foreseen and will be organised and covered by MTP as well.

MTP will provide for all participants:

• Visa: MTP will arrange and pay for 4-,8- or 12-week single entry visa.
• Medical, accident, public liability insurance: MTP will arrange and pay for medical insurance which will only cover for acute diseases and dental treatment in cases of emergency, not for pregnancy, chronic illnesses etc.
•  Residency and work permit will be organised.
• Accommodation in the EU: MTP will arrange and pay for accommodation. You will be accommodated in hotels, boarding houses, hostels, student housing or apartments, depending on the country where you will have your traineeship.
• Air travel from the meeting points in your country to the EU and back: MTP will arrange and cover the costs for your flights from the meeting points in your country to EU and back within the framework described see below in chapters 19 and 20. For graduates from the Presidential Programme air fare will be paid partly by the Federal Commission.
•  Transportation inside the EU throughout the traineeship: MTP arranges and covers the costs for transportation inside the EU as far as they are related to the regular traineeship activities.
• During the stay in the host countries, experienced tutors consult the participants.
• Living expenses within the limitations described in chapter 20.

19. How do I travel to the host country?

Arrival and departure of the MTP participants to the individual training programmes in the EU is organised from central meeting points. Main meeting points are:

The journey to / from the meeting points has to be organised in due time by the participants themselves.

Since the tickets for international flights are on group fare basis, they are valid only for precise flights, together with the other participants. Otherwise, there will be no refund of expenses. That’s why all participants depart from Moscow or Kiev. All participants are expected to respect the travel schedule.

20. What financial preconditions are to be met?

Participation in the Managers’ Training Programme is free of charge for all candidates. The costs for accommodation, food and insurance as well as travel expenses during the programme are fully covered by the MTP (for details please see above, chapter 18).

All expenses related to participation in a selection procedure have to be met by the applicant.

Please consider, that the financing of the programme is limited

As for 4-week programmes: Most meals and all the travel will be organised by the programme. If no meal is organised, you will receive a compensation, which is also on a basic level.

As for 8- and 12-week programmes: The scholarship is calculated only for covering the basic daily needs, i.e. food on a self-catering basis and public transport at the place of internship for the 8- and 12-week programmes.

The programme covers as well the visa fees and supplies the flight or train tickets to and from Moscow for participants of other NIS countries (Ukraine, Azerbaijan or Uzbekistan). If for some reason the participants have to pay themselves for their plane tickets to Moscow or for the visa fee, they will be refunded by the Moscow office or by the host partner, upon preliminary agreement and presentation of the corresponding receipts.

21. What responsibilities do you have as a MTP participant? What is expected from you?

As MTP participant you will have the opportunity to take an in-depth look at Western management practices. Moreover, you will work in a chosen area. As a manager, you will learn important aspects of Western style leadership and company culture.

As MTP participant you

• have to accept the conditions for participation in MTP
• are obliged to attend the whole traineeship programme, this includes that you have to be present at the seminar sessions and be present at your host company during the usual working hours

If you end your stay in the host country earlier than planned without agreement of MTP, you must be aware that this might result in disciplinary action, which might include financial claims.

• are expected to diligently perform the tasks entrusted on you by the host company and to complete your project assignment
• are expected to send reports or other records to your Project Coach or Course manager according to the requirements of the MTP partner providing your training
• are expected to actively take part in the seminars
• are expected to behave according to the rules and laws of the hosting country and to respect the regulations in your host company
• are expected to accept the cultural habits of your host country to behave accordingly

Of course, you are not expected to take over habits that are contrary to your own culture or religion, but you must not offend the common habits and rules of behaviour of your host country, e.g. as a Muslim you are not expected to drink alcohol because all Europeans do so, but you must not expect that they won’t drink alcohol because you are there.

• must be aware of the fact that offending the MTP regulations or the laws of your host country may lead to immediate exclusion from the programme, all related costs (travel costs, further claims raising from leaving or from your actions) you will have to cover on your own
• are expected to go to any location within the EU, also to very small towns, if the host company MTP has found for you is located there
• are to accept that the participation in MTP is a unique and very individual experience. The EU is a community of different countries, each of them having its own culture and habits in business as well as in daily life – accordingly the conditions you meet in your internship will vary depending from the country you are visiting – you cannot fully compare, e.g. an internship in Denmark with one in Italy or Spain. This is one of the special features of the MTP – each country will offer you a unique experience. None of the more than 2.700 traineeships offered so far was alike. One participant might go, for example, to a small company in a small town and staying in a hotel, whereas another is staying in a major European Capital in a single student apartment. You are expected to be aware of this and are expected to be ready to see the MTP experience as a unique and individual one.

You are invited to compare and learn from your colleagues experiences, but do not expect that things will be the same in all MTP countries!

MTP is offering you a great chance, please take it!

22. Where can I get more information on the MTP? Contacts

More information concerning the MTP may be found in the Internet at: www.tacis-mtp.org and at the MTP Partner office in your country.

Also, there is information available at the European Partners’ Internet pages. Here you will find further information on the organisations involved, but also links to science, politics and culture.

MTP National Offices

MTP Partners in EU

Disclaimer

MTP is not reliable for any damages or costs or any other form of liabilities rising from participation in MTP despite the restrictions for participation mentioned in this brochure or in any other information document published by MTP.

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication is the sole responsibility of the MTP Consortium led by Carl Duisberg Centren and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.