Secretarial and Assistance Practices II

It is recommended that students have already attended all the other curricular units of the degree in order to successfully complete the internship.

It is also recommended that students have the necessary skills in terms of:

• Organizational and working skills;
• Sense of responsibility and strict compliance with duties and working hours;
• Oral and written communication;
• Information and communication tools and technologies;
• Ability to think critically and solve problems;
• Interpersonal relationships;
• Respect for confidentiality and other ethical values.

The teaching methodology applied in this curricular unit is situated learning. This teaching method places students in real situations that are relevant to their learning, allowing them to apply, in a real context, the theoretical knowledge they have already acquired in other curricular units of the degree, as well as acquiring new knowledge as a result of contact with such environments.

Seminars are planned to guide students through the internship and to discuss other relevant topics.

The main goal of this course is to provide the student with the relevant skills to carry out the duties of Secretaries to Directors and Administrators and Management Advisors, in a work setting, whether in a public or private, profit-making or non-profit-making organization, and in any industry.

The curricular unit also has the following specific objectives:

1) To provide the student with contact with the working reality of a Secretariat professional;

2) To promote the interconnection between work practice and the content taught in the degree courses;

3) To create or improve students’ work habits and routines;

4) To encourage students to interact with experienced professionals who are experts in secretarial and advisory work;

5) To develop the relevant soft-skills for carrying out Secretariat and Advisory duties;

6) Encourage networking and student integration into the labour market.

In order to achieve these objectives, students should improve the following skills:

1) Technical skills: reinforcement of the technical knowledge associated with the professional exercise of Secretariat and Advisory functions;

2) Professional skills: development of work routines and time management processes, problem and conflict resolution, involvement with the organizational culture of the host organization, professionalism, sense of responsibility and ethics;

3) Networking skills: strengthening the ability to integrate into the workplace, particularly in multidisciplinary teams;

4) Oral and written communication skills in a national and international context.

The internship has a minimum duration of 100 hours of business/organizational practice and will preferably be carried out in the areas of secretarial management and administration and management consultancy, in accordance with the ISCAC 1st Cycle of Studies Internship Regulations (https://www.iscac.pt/getfile.php?id=15821), approved on November 13, 2023, which we strongly recommend you read carefully and which establishes the following stages:

1) Submission of the internship proposal, by fully completing and submitting the following documents on the Inforestudante platform (available at https://www.iscac.pt/index.php?m=8_252&lang=PT – LICENCIATURA – realização de estágio)):

• Application for Approval to Undertake an Internship (the suggestion of an advisor is optional and will be designated by the Course Director);
• Acceptance form from the host organization and the supervisor;
• Internship plan;
• Protocol (optional);

2) Participation in prior training, with the aim of helping with the internship and the preparation of the respective report;

3) Attendance of the internship in the form of a continuous period, provided for in the school calendar, whenever possible and provided that the company accepts, or in another period, provided that it is between the first day of classes of the second semester and August 31st of that year;

4) Elaboration of the internship report, following APA norms for citations and bibliographical references, with a maximum of 30 pages (counting from the introduction and excluding annexes), according to the model available on the ISCAC website and with the following structure and content:

• Cover: Name of the organization hosting the internship, title (theoretical theme developed in the report), name of the degree, student’s name and number, place and date;
• Back cover – Title (theoretical theme explored in the report), Name of the organization hosting the internship, name of the student, name of the supervisor and mentor teacher, period of the internship;
• Term of Responsibility/Declaration of Authorship/Declaration Against Plagiarism.
• Summary: Summary of the report, including the theoretical themes covered, objectives, main conclusions and recommendations;
• Table of contents;
• List of Tables;
• List of Figures;
• List of Acronyms, Abbreviations and/or Symbols;
• Introduction: Objective(s) of the internship, duration and period of the internship, brief presentation of the host organization and the department/function in which the student carried out the internship, specification, in summary form, of the theoretical theme selected, based on credible bibliographical references, through citations presented in accordance with the APA standard, and, finally, indication of the structure of the report;
• Theoretical framework: theoretical development of a topic related to the activities carried out by the trainee, within the scope of the internship, or to the activities of the host organization, and which falls within the scope of the course and/or the curricular units of the course);
• Internship: general description of the sector of activity and the host organization, detailed description of the activities carried out by the intern during the internship, such as tasks, projects and the student’s main contributions;
• Conclusion: a) general evaluation of the internship in relation to the objectives previously established (in the internship plan), b) summary of the main knowledge and skills acquired by the student and the student’s main contributions to the organization, c) critical analysis of the knowledge acquired throughout the course and its suitability for the internship carried out, and d) identification of the main training gaps felt during the internship.
• Bibliographical references: include all the bibliographical sources referred to throughout the report, and only these;
• Annexes (optional): any additional documents that may be relevant to the preparation of the report and the description and assessment of the activities carried out by the trainee.

5) Submission of the report on the Inforestudante platform, accompanied by the other compulsory documents listed on the ISCAC website ((https://www.iscac.pt/index.php?m=8_252&lang=PT – LICENCIATURA – avaliação de estágio (Submeter inforestudante – Entrega Diss./Teses)):

• Attendance register;
• Supervisor’s evaluation report;
• Student’s evaluation report;
• Advisor’s opinion;
• Tutorial meeting record;
• Model for drawing up the report/internship (model to be followed when drawing up the internship report to be submitted);

6) Presentation and defense of the report, in accordance with the aforementioned regulations;

Note: The internship supervisor is responsible for accompanying the student through the different stages of the internship, meeting and maintaining contact with the supervisor in order to resolve any issues that may arise. This contact must be established at least once. If the distance from the internship site justifies it, meetings between supervisor and supervisor may be held remotely, and the student may be asked to take part in these meetings.

SIM

Given the context of the Internship and Professional Insertion, the bibliography should be in line with the purpose and scope of the internship and should be selected by the student and the supervising tutor.