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Join us as an intern and make the difference!

Have you heard about Free Software and you want to know more about it? Are you already a Free Software advocate and do you want to help to bring software freedom to our society? Then our paid internships are for you! Learn by doing and gain knowledge and technical skills through an internship with us.

At the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), we strongly believe in the power of internships to teach about software freedom and their importance for both the intern and the organisation. That is the reason why we have supported them since our earliest years. Over more than 20 years of our organisation's existence, many interns have come to learn about our work and help us achieve our goal of empowering people to control technology. Some of them have stayed with us and are now part of our staff. Others are still associated with us in other ways, and we are delighted to cross paths with those who have continued their careers in this or other related fields.

We have talked with some of our latest interns about their experience with us!

Free Software is easy to use and important for our society

A paid interniship in the FSFE can be an intensive yet enriching experience. It familiarises people with the use of Free Software and it helps them to strengthen relationships with the Free Software community worldwide.

Some of our interns are already using Free Software, but there are others like Elif, who was an intern in the legal area and knew about it, but never used it because she had the impression that "Free Software is hard to use". This changed after her months at the FSFE. “During my internship at FSFE, I saw that there is so much Free Software that is user friendly. Now I use it every day”, states Elif. But Free Software is not only about using it in your daily life. Even as an active Free Software user, being part of our team helps to get a better understanding of its importance in our society, as Sergio, an intern in the policy area explains: “After this internship I was able to better comprehend the importance of Free Software, and to understand how the policy and legislative processes take place in the European Union, but also in regional and local levels in Europe”.

"I use Free Software whenever I can and really enjoy it!”

Marlene, former FSFE intern

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Get your hands on

"As an intern, you get to make a difference in real-life situations by working for software freedom", says Evelyn, who worked in the policy area, but like the other interns, had the chance to work on different tasks and projects, such as helping at the FSFE booth during several conferences. Or helping in workshops, like the one on Upcycling Android in Bolzano, which Marlene said was "one of my favourite days of my internship. It was a pleasure to meet other people who also enjoy Free Software, and I learned a lot at the workshop".

"My favourite task was things I have done for the Ukrainian refugee kids project. Because I believe the story of Ada & Zangemann gives them hope and courage to start a new chapter in their life.”

Elif, former FSFE intern

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Become part of an international community

Being an intern at the FSFE is not only a step in your career in which you can enhance relevant skills for your professional path such as technical ones, but it is also a community experience. You acquire personal skills and get to know different people from all over the world while giving something back to society. “Doing meaningful work that has a real value”, is how Vincent describes it. He is a former intern who is currently an active member of our community.

“A bonus tip, you get to work in an intellectually stimulating environment while having a lot of fun”

Evelyn, former FSFE intern

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Interested? Have a look at our internships and traineeships page to find out more about what we have to offer, and check out our newsletter and news section to find out about our vacancies.

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