In the mobility project "MILES and more: Marketing in Ireland - let´s examine strategies" 10 VET learners do a 4-week work placement in Cork/ Ireland. Their course of studies at a vocational college specialized in Business and Administration prepares them for a degree as bilingual secretaries certified by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and, at the same time, for university entrance certificates. The main job-related subjects are Business studies & Accountancy and foreign languages : English (incl. Translation and Correspondence) and Spanish, Information Technology plus Start-Up (optional subject) . Thus, the course of study that these VET students attend is particularly oriented to the European dimension of the labour market. This accounts for the needs of the participants: - professionalizing their job-related knowledge of English - putting into practice the competences they have acquired in an integrated form in a job situation abroad/ in an international context - practicing adequate intercultural behaviour in professional and private situations - observing marketing strategies as the project focus: marketing is a precondition for successful businesses in any field; for VET leaners, it is an attractive topic that is part of Business Studies and Accountancy and can be related to Start-Up classes; learning independently, and using modern information technologies - facilitating employment or doing business in the European labour market and/ or seeing studying or (further) vocational training abroad as an option - understanding the Europass as a European instrument of recognition and transparency - motivation for ongoing efforts during their VET training Preparatory steps (vocational college Rheine, autumn/winter of 2015/16): - feedback to learners on their English- language job applications - Acquiring general theoretical background knowledge on marketing strategies, preparing questionnaires for interviews on specific marketing strategies of the companies - Intercultural pre-course (socio-economic knowledge on Ireland, intercultural awareness) Activities to be realized in the receiving country (Cork/ Ireland, spring of 2016) 1st week: Getting to know the company and employees; job-shadowing and first job-related work 2nd - 4th week: Apart from job-related activities - interviews and research on specific marketing strategies, recording results with the help of various forms of presentation; regularly reporting partial results to project coordinator of the VET college; - documenting observations made in comparison to insights from intercultural pre-course end of 4th week: self-evaluation, companies and work placement agency evaluate VET students´ performance Follow-up activities (Rheine, summer/ autumn of 2016): - Evaluating the project - preparing multimedia project presentation - presenting project results on marketing strategies in Business and Accountancy/ Start-Up classes (sequence of lessons, students teach students) - presenting the project at the open days of the VET college and on local radio channel radio RST Objectives: the VET learners are expected to - practice applying for a job using English (in view of the European labour market) -enhance their competence of vocational English - strengthen their self-confidence and their social competence - learn to act and to prove themselves in a foreign cultural context, as they will communicate and cooperate with colleagues, customers etc. (intercultural learning, team work) - experience differences and commonalities regarding everyday work situations (e.g. applicability of marketing strategies, hierarchies, conflict solving) - acquire knowledge about the European labour market and improve their chances to find appropriate employment in the future - have a good look at one particular aspect of business study, i.e. marketing, by preparing their mobility project and by applying their knowledge practically, by verifying and modifying their knowledge (learning by doing) - learn to plan, check and document their work continually (learning independently, time management) - practise collecting their results, analysing them and drawing up a presentation and a sequence of lessons on the topic to convey content to their target audience using appropriate modern media - use the Europass as a European instrument of recognition and transparency (job application, certification) As medium and long-term effects we expect that presenting experiences and results of the project to other VET learners, VET staff, parents, apprenticing companies and other interested members of the public, the idea of working and/or studying in Europe (which will be the topic of our Europe Day in 2015) will be recognized as an attractive perspective that is worth being supported.