Have you heard about Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs? It was also news to me, I learned about it only about 1,5 years ago, and I am just finishing 6 months of work with Egyesek under this project. Crazy, how fast life is. Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is a cross-border exchange program which gives new or aspiring entrepreneurs the chance to learn from experienced entrepreneurs running small businesses in other participating countries.
I wrote a business plan, applied, and found Egyesek, and from September 2023 I already lived in Budapest. I spent 6 months in the Budapest office of Egyesek and worked as a project coordinator. I had previously worked in marketing in IT and wanted a change. That's why this program was great too. I got into a completely different environment that I might never have gotten into so easily without it.
I learned more about how to write projects, and how to coordinate them from start to end, and at the same time, I had the opportunity to participate in the training for trainers (Keys For Change Reloaded) and many other great projects that were organized by Egyesek. I learned a lot about how a youth organization should work and I also got a few opportunities to facilitate workshops with our international volunteers or on trainings.
I also improved my Hungarian, certainly the biggest challenge was when I spoke at the university to students about our programs - in Hungarian, which I managed and it was a nice feeling. But it was also a lot of fun. Not only being in Budapest, which is full of great events, parties, and brunch spots (and that I like the most). But also to be part of the world of trainings and youth exchanges full of fun, theatre, dance, and performances... as you can see in some pictures.
Another great thing - networking! I met many great organizations, and great people on projects as participants or facilitators and learned a lot from all of them. I definitely recommend trying Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs if you have an idea for a business, but also if you want to change your career and make many new contacts - both for work and friendships.
If you want to know more about it, info can be found here https://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu/
