EPFL career services and internships for international students
To verify This page has 2 items that could not be confirmed on an official page. Check them yourself before relying on them:
Where EPFL students get help with CVs, job search and internships, how Forum EPFL works, and the permit points to check before a mandatory Master's internship. The general rules on side jobs and the 15-hour limit are on Working while studying.
Key facts
- The "Career Center" is now the CED: EPFL's Career Center became the Transversal Skills and Career Center (CCTC) in 2022 and the Employability and Development Center (CED) in October 2025 (epflcareer.ch).
- Who can use it: all EPFL students, during their studies and up to six months after graduation: trainings, employer events, one-to-one appointments, virtual walk-in meetings, Master's internship support.
- Forum EPFL is run by the Forum EPFL Student Association, not by EPFL itself. It is held each autumn at the SwissTech Convention Center; the 2026 edition was 5 to 9 October 2026. Student services are free.
- Mandatory internship (Art. 39 OASA): full-time and paid, but non-EU/EFTA students need labour-market authorisation before starting; EU/EFTA students announce it to the inhabitants' control (EPFL).
- Pay: EPFL Recruiting states that, "for information purposes", the Swiss authorities (service de l'emploi) expect an internship to be paid about CHF 2,000 a month, and that this is a requirement for the work authorisation of students from outside the EU.
1. EPFL Employability and Development Center (CED)
What the CED lists for students, PhD candidates and recent graduates:
- Trainings (for example CV writing, motivation letters, job interviews), registration online.
- One-to-one appointments: log in with your EPFL account and request one.
- Virtual walk-in meetings: quick questions with an advisor, no appointment.
- Employer events and industry roundtables with alumni.
- Master internships: support for the mandatory Master's internship, coordinated by EPFL's internship office (internships@epfl.ch).
- Job board: epflcareer.ch, Jobs.
Contact: ced@epfl.ch, +41 21 693 50 52, RLC A1 341, Station 20, 1015 Lausanne.
2. Forum EPFL (student association)
- Register on the Forum platform with your @epfl.ch address and upload your CV to the CV library, visible to the participating companies. Registration must be renewed every year.
- Skills Weeks: CV and cover letter revision by experts, interview workshops, CV photos. Two per year; in 2026 they were 30 March to 1 April and 28 September to 2 October. The CV check is offered to third-year Bachelor, Master and PhD students (Forum EPFL, Skills Week); other students can use the Career Center services listed above.
- Forum week (each October): company presentations, networking and interviews; entry is free.
- Mentoring with EPFL Alumni for Master's and doctoral students.
To verify: 2027 dates (published by the association each year).
3. The mandatory Master's internship
EPFL states that industry experience is obligatory for all students in a programme leading to the title of engineer or architect. Main periods: February to September or July to February, or summer, depending on your programme. Some students do it as a Master's project in a company.
| Internship | Master's project in a company | |
|---|---|---|
| Supervision | Company supervisor | EPFL professor, with the company |
| Agreement | EPFL internship agreement required (three signed copies) | Optional |
| Pay | Paid (about CHF 2,000 a month expected, see below) | Not necessarily paid |
| Work authorisation | Needed for non-EU/EFTA students (Art. 39 OASA) | Not needed (EPFL supervision) |
Remote work: EPFL says remote work is neither recommended nor desired; on the company's request it may allow a limited amount, with justification. Working remotely from Switzerland for a company abroad is forbidden (EPFL Recruiting).
4. Permit points for international students
These rules come from EPFL's Recruiting and Study management pages; the cantonal authority is the Service de l'emploi (vd.ch/emploi).
- Side job during the semester: maximum 15 hours a week during courses, full-time during university holidays; non-EU/EFTA students wait 6 months after arrival (with an exception for research student assistants). Details and forms: Working while studying.
- Mandatory internship: a separate legal ground, Art. 39 OASA: students in full-time training may be authorised to work during a mandatory internship if it is not more than half the total length of the training, an employer applies, pay and working conditions meet Swiss standards, and the student's housing is adequate (OASA art. 39, Fedlex). EPFL adds that the internship may be full-time and paid.
- Non-EU/EFTA: the company applies to the labour-market authority; EPFL issues an attestation that the internship is mandatory and that you stay registered. Do not start before a positive decision.
- EU/EFTA: announce the internship to the inhabitants' control of your commune or of the canton where it takes place; you may start once it is announced.
- Does the internship count toward the 15-hour limit? No: the 15-hour weekly cap belongs to the side-job rule (Art. 38 OASA, six months after the start of studies, up to 15 hours a week outside holidays), while the mandatory internship is authorised under Art. 39, which sets no weekly hour cap (OASA art. 38 and 39). To verify: whether you may keep a side job during an internship semester; ask the Service de l'emploi.
- Voluntary (non-mandatory) internship: the full-time internship rule (OASA art. 39) applies only when the internship is a mandatory part of your studies (EPFL Recruiting, internship conditions). Otherwise it is treated like a side job: at most 15 hours a week during the semester, full time during school holidays, announced to the Service de la population and authorised by the Service de l'emploi, and for non-EU/EFTA students only from six months after the start of studies (État de Vaud, stay for studies).
After your degree, the job-search stay: see Staying in Switzerland after graduation.
5. Your payslip, tax and AVS
An internship salary is a normal salary: AVS contributions and, for B-permit holders, tax at source are deducted. See Swiss tax ID and payslips and AVS. To find a side job, see Finding a student job.