Long-standing strategic partners, Irkutsk State University and Irkutsk Oil Company (INK), have signed an agreement on student internships at the enterprises of the largest oil producing company in Siberia and the Far East. The document lays a solid foundation for systematical organization of the educational, industrial, and pre-graduation internships for students from all faculties and institutes of the university at enterprises for the extraction and processing of raw hydrocarbon materials in Russia.

The modern labor market in the oil production industry of the region traditionally places high demands on graduates of educational institutions, assessing their practical competencies, applied skills and abilities, rapid integration into the professional environment. The agreement on practical training of students from ISU at Irkutsk Oil Company is an effective mechanism in forming a strong personnel potential through graduates of the leading regional educational institution.

Alexey Vokin, ISU Vice-Rector for Education:

For more than seven years, student internships were conducted on the basis of agreements between the university’s academic departments and the relevant INK enterprises, which created certain organizational problems and difficulties. The management of Irkutsk State University, having studied the situation in December 2024, initiated the development of a new agreement that will provide uniform rules and standards for the organization of internships for all academic departments of ISU. It will streamline the interaction with the internship organizers and mentors at INK enterprises and create an effective system for practical training of students. Contractual relations with INK create favorable conditions for long-term partnership cooperation between the university and one of the largest producers and processors of raw hydrocarbon materials in the region. I am confident that this mechanism of interaction will soon become an optimal working model for future contracts and agreements with large companies and corporations in Eastern Siberia, expand opportunities for graduate employment, and create all the necessary conditions and prerequisites for their entry into the region’s labor market with competitive advantages.

The signed agreement provides for three levels of internships:

• Educational Internship: An introduction to the main processes of the enterprise, corporate culture, regulatory acts and industry specifics. This stage forms a basic professional understanding.
• Work-experience Internship: Students perform applied professional tasks, work with documents and participate in the activities of the company’s departments. This stage forms practical competencies and allows to determine career priorities.
• Pre-Graduation Internship: The final stage, during which students apply the gained knowledge to prepare final qualification works and also have the opportunity to prove themselves as promising young specialists to the future employer.

All types of internships are planned to be organized at the sites of INK’s specialized departments, which will allow students to work in conditions of modern technological processes, in a real production and management atmosphere, and perform professional tasks and functions under the guidance of experienced mentors. The internship will be conducted in strict accordance with the requirements of ISU educational programs, reinforcing theoretical knowledge with practical skills and applied abilities in the chosen specialty. The terms of the agreement provide for the possibility of priority employment at INK of ISU graduates who have shown high results in the internship program.

Irkutsk Oil Company is a Russian oil company founded in 2000. It is one of the largest independent oil producers in Russia. As of 2022, the company was engaged in geological study, exploration and production of raw hydrocarbon materials on 55 licensed subsoil areas. In 2024, the number of personnel in the group of companies was over 17 350. The company’s head office is located in Irkutsk, with representative offices in Moscow, Krasnoyarsk, Yakutsk, and Mirny.