Internships at Sonae companies capture the interest of young talent from 38 countries

Sonae Companies welcomed 80 of the most talented young people with high potential on the Assessment Day of the Contacto Programme, an initiative that intends to attract and integrate young talent, selecting those students who will be granted one of the several internships Sonae Companies will be offering this year. Participants were selected from among the more than 1,400 undergraduate and master’s finalists who were interested in the young talent recruitment programme of Sonae Companies, this year breaking the record with 38 nationalities represented. 

Maria Antónia Cadilhe, Director of Talent Management at Sonae, says, "The internationalisation strategy of Sonae Companies has contributed to boost its recognition on a global scale, not only in the development of sustainable businesses, but also in the implementation of the best people management practices. Nowadays, Sonae Companies are considered a benchmark as a school of leaders, contributing to the personal and professional development of its employees, thus becoming attractive for young talent with high potential who wish to build successful careers at a global level”.

For the Assessment Day, which took place at the Sonae Learning Centre, in Maia, young students were selected from 7 countries and different academic backgrounds. Among the most represented courses were Economics, Management, Finance, Engineering, Information Systems and Textile Design. Among the various schools represented, it is worth mentioning Universidade Nova de Lisboa, ISEG, Católica Lisboa, Católica Porto, FEP, FEUP, Instituto Superior Técnico de Lisboa, Universidade do Minho and the Spanish Instituto Empresa Business School. 

Sonae Companies are looking for over 50 talented young people, undergraduate and master’s finalists from several areas of training. The Contacto Programme, which is celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year, is a pioneer initiative in Portugal for recruiting young people with high potential, through which Sonae Companies offer paid internships for nine months, providing young students with the opportunity to develop their skills and enter the job market.

Sonae Companies are looking for ‘Gyroscopers’, seen as open-minded talented students with a global perspective. These soft skills were evaluated during the Assessment Day, when participants were challenged to discover Sonae and prove their competencies and values by facing several challenges and dynamics related with the topic of "having the world”. The activities included innovation challenges, one-to-one interviews, pitch presentations and group dynamics, searching for young people with an ambitious, creative and entrepreneurial profile, who were intellectually curious, flexible and focused on excellence. 

Following the Assessment Day, Sonae will match the candidates’ preferences with those of the mentors in order to then invite the selected young students to undertake a nine-month internship at Sonae Companies.

Created in 1986, the Contacto Programme remains faithful to its mission to attract and integrate, in the different Sonae Companies, young talented students with diverse academic backgrounds, who aspire to have access to the best leaders and wish to develop ambidextrous competencies, while also cultivating an extensive business network.

Part of the Programme’s mission is also to strengthen, year upon year, the long and strategic partnership Sonae has established with Universities, thus contributing to an effective link between the academic world and the labour market.

Throughout these 30 years, the Contacto Programme has received more than 40 thousand applications. This has led to the selection and participation of over 4,500 young people of different fields of expertise and nationalities in the Contacto Day, of whom hundreds eventually became part of Sonae Companies’ teams and have even reached leadership positions.