I am a recent graduate in Geology at Vilnius University as well as a successfully employed professional at Fugro Baltic which is a part of international network working on onshore and offshore geotechnical projects world wide. To emphasize the importance of Erasmus traineeship as a crucial factor for my career I should start with the first Erasmus traineeship I had accomplished during my Bachelor studies. I had taken 3 months traineeship at Energy and Geoscience Institute in Bratislava, Slovakia during summer of my 3rd year of geology studies. I was doing a research on passive margin of Western Australia which included generalization of the sequence of ocean spreading and formation of continent-ocean boundary. Returning back to Vilnius from this traineeship I had immediately applied for a position at UAB Fugro Baltic and after a week I was given a position as a project engineer – the position I am on ever since.

This lead me to my second traineeship. This time as a recent graduate after my Master studies. From my employer I had learned about the huge project going on in UK. It was a prospective nuclear power plant’s site investigation project carried out by UK based company from Fugro network thus I decided to apply for an Erasmus+ trainee position.

This was an incredible experience because not only I had a chance to contribute to the realization of a project of such importance but it also felt as if I was not a trainee but rather a one of the necessary elements in this complex process. Now after the traineeship this project not only highlights my CV. The new geotechnical investigation techniques I’ve learned, the skills I have acquired and people I’ve got to know provide me with future opportunities to be involved in many other international geotechnical projects that require high skills and competences.

So any of you who doubt about participating in Erasmus+ mobility program should understand that it is probably the easiest and most effective way to raise yourself above your fellow students in the competition of future employment and future career opportunities.

By Julius Vladicka, VU graduate