We care
Internships at Hyundai: A Year That Truly Makes Sense
In 2023, we launched a one year internship programme for university students. Thanks to this initiative, students had the opportunity to look under the hood of a modern automotive plant and take part in real projects.
The result? Theory finally met practice, and our teams gained new ideas, fresh energy and an external perspective.
Over time, several dozen interns have joined us, and some of them have continued their journey with us in full time positions.
🏁 How internships at HMMC work
The internship programme runs across the entire company. With five divisions, 22 departments and a number of specialised sections, every student can find a position that matches their field of study and personal interests.
Interns work in production, administration, logistics, purchasing or HR. From the very first day, they get to know the environment of a large international company and gradually take on tasks that allow them to grow and show their potential.
🔢 A few numbers
- Since the start of the programme, 45 students have completed internships with us.
- Ten of them worked on their bachelor’s or master’s thesis.
- Five interns joined HMMC in full time roles as junior specialists.
- Every year, we offer internships to 14 to 16 talented university students.
🤝 Mentoring and long‑term cooperation
Each intern is assigned a mentor who provides professional guidance and helps them understand our company culture. Thanks to the long term nature of the internship, students become part of daily operations as well as projects with a longer horizon. This allows them to truly understand our processes.
Support from interns makes a real difference. Thanks to the wide range of positions, we were able to offer truly relevant experience. Feedback from both students and colleagues confirms that the programme has a positive impact.
👥 A small community that supports each other
All students in this intake are supported by Hanka from HR, herself a former intern. She makes sure they feel welcome, find their way quickly and always have someone to turn to in addition to their mentors.
This has helped create a small intern community where students share experiences, solve minor issues together and support each other during their first working days and throughout the entire internship.
📊 Feedback helps us improve
We work with student feedback continuously and collect evaluation forms throughout the entire year — more frequently in the first weeks, because we know that beginnings can be the most challenging.Their few minutes of feedback give us a clear picture of:
- how students feel,
- how the cooperation with their mentor works,
- what they are currently dealing with,
- what we should improve,
- whether they see their future at HMMC in a full‑time role,
- and much more.
Thanks to this, we can react quickly and solve potential obstacles as soon as they appear.
🗣️ What students told us
Over the years, we have gathered a large amount of feedback from our interns, and we are happy that most of it is very positive. Students appreciate the meaningful work that helps them grow, the friendly atmosphere within teams, open colleagues, a modern environment and the opportunity to learn new things quickly.
At the same time, they also share suggestions on how to further improve their experience, and these insights are extremely valuable to us.
From their feedback, we know that in the first weeks, clear task assignments, better structure and more intensive onboarding support are key. Together with individual departments, we continuously fine tune how to make students’ entry into the company as smooth as possible, guide them through the initial period and ensure they have enough space to find their footing.
Where the nature of the work allows, we also give students more independence and involve them in tasks that help them grow and gain experience.
I expected practical experience from the internship, and that is exactly what I received. All the tasks I worked on were interesting and beneficial. I received significant support while working on my master’s thesis, for example through agreed cooperation with MCAE. The internship exceeded my expectations. I also hoped it would improve my future employability, which proved to be true.
📣 What’s next?
The internship programme continues, with selection processes taking place every spring and autumn.
Whenever a position becomes available, we always try to offer it to our interns first. We believe that even more of them will find long term opportunities with us in the future.
One example is Honza from the paint shop, who started as a robot programmer and now works on projects related to robot setup and optimisation.
Another is Domča, who joined the internal services team, where she is responsible for catering, canteens, food trends and employee communication. She also oversees vending machines and water fountains across the entire site.
Their stories will be introduced soon in a separate article. 💙
