Trainee Information

Dear IAESTE Trainee,

We are looking forward to meeting you in Vienna. We have collected quite a bit of information to make your trip to and stay in Vienna as save, smooth and pleasant as possible. Especially in summer we won't give you a chance to get bored, as we offer an extensive program that will keep you busy all the time.

Please make sure that you read and understand the information provided.

Before going to Vienna:

About two weeks prior to your scheduled arrival, you will receive a Welcome-email giving you all the relevant information about your accommodation and other important details. It is our standard procedure to meet you upon arrival and accompany you to your accommodation.

Mandatory things you must do / have with you

• Passport valid at least for the whole term of your internship. Please also visit the website of the Austrian ambassy of your country for more infomation, especially if you are not a citizen of the European
• Visa, if necessary. Start your visa application process as soon as possible. This often takes more than 2 month
• Printed hard copy of this page
• Read information regarding accommodation in Vienna including the "How to get accommodation in Vienna"-Information-sheet
• Address of your accommodation / student home
• Agree on a meeting place and time with your IAESTE Vienna representative
• Name and cell phone number of your IAESTE Vienna representative: 
  • Mobile Phone number: +43 .......................................... 
  • Matej (in charge of XI): +43 699 1 423783 5 (emergency number)
• Access to about EUR 750 - 1000 to cover the cost of living and lodging for the first month. You will receive your first salary in the end of the first calender month.
• For all conversation please always provide your IAESTE reference number (e.g. AT-2010/VI-XXX) in the subject of your email!

Things you should do / have with you

• Appropriate clothing for work and spare time. The dress code at work will be casual for most students (including students working at the University or one of its institutes). It can be hot (mostly) and/or rainy (sometimes) during summer time in Vienna. So please, be prepared.
• Cell phone (make sure your IAESTE Vienna representative has your number)
• LAN cable for internet access in your room (some dormitories do not provide WLAN access-points)
• Linen (can be also bought/rented in Vienna)
• International Student ID card, ISIC (International Student Identity Card). This can save you some funds
• Subscribe to the summer reception mailing list

Arriving in Vienna:

By Plane:

• Get out of the plane and think of your luggage :-)
• Going from the airport downtown:
  • We recommend using the City Airport Train (CAT). CAT goes nonstop from the airport to "Wien Mitte / Landstrasse" and back.
  • The CAT platform at the airport is very easy to find, meaning you can't miss it. After passing customs (good luck), just follow the green/black CAT symbols.
  • A single trip is EUR 9. The ticket can be bought at the CAT ticket machines right on the airport.
  • CAT-Timetable
  • Once you sit on the CAT or know your exact time of arrival in "Wien Mtte / Landstrasse", please shoot your IAESTE Vienna representative a text message letting him/her know your time of arrival in "Wien Mtte / Landstrasse".
• Meet your IAESTE Vienna representative at the CAT information desk, in case you agreed to meet in "Wien Mitte / Landstrasse". In the event of delays, please inform your IAESTE Vienna representative. CAT is very quick, therefore you may have to wait some time for your IAESTE Vienna representative (sometimes 15-20 min) to pick you up.
• In case you go on your own to your accommodation:
  • Check out your connection on: www.vor.at
  • Input your query. Make sure you enter an appropriate time and date.
  • Make a print out of several connections
  • Buy a ticket at a ticket machine. A single trip is EUR 1.8

By other means of transport:

• Meet your IAESTE Vienna representative @ the place and time agreed upon. In the event of delays, please inform your IAESTE Vienna representative.
• For public transport in Vienna:
  • Check out your connection on: www.vor.at
  • Input your query. Make sure you enter an appropriate time and date.
  • Make a print out of several connections
  • Buy a ticket at a ticket machine. A single trip is EUR 1.8

Once you are here

Enjoy :-)

IAESTE Vienna office

The IAESTE Vienna office will be your first point of contact and the starting point of many activities. The office is close by the metro station "Karlsplatz", where three subways are crossing: U1, U2 and U4

Office hours: Daily from 10h -12h a.m. (during semester time)

Registering at the Citizen Center

You are supposed to register your Viennese place of residence at a citizen center for your choise (locations of citizen centers; for people working at the university the office in the 5. district will be a good option) within 3 working days. To do this you need to

• fill-in your "Meldezettel", a registration form. (Pre-filled version of the Meldezettel; please fill-in as far as possible, your landlord / dormitory or we will assist you in case of problems)
• have the "Meldezettel" signed by the landlord / reception of your student house
• take the "Meldezettel" and your passport to a citizen center during office hours.

Offical information on registration by the City of Vienna in English.

Viennese Public Transport

The monthly ticket (valid for one calendar month, e.g. May) for public transport (all metro lines, buses, trams, trains within Vienna) costs EUR 49.50 and can be bought at ticket machines in each metro station. Alternatively there are weekly tickets (valid from Monday to Sunday) for EUR 14 available. More information on public transport in Vienna you can find here:

www.wienerlinien.at/wl/ep/home.do?tabId=0

For information on connections and timetables please check: www.vor.at (example query)
Qando offers smart phone apps to support location based real-time schedules for the Viennese public transport.

Travelling by train

Please check our information on "public transport"

Your first working day

In most cases an IAESTE Vienna representative will help you finding your way around on your first working day and will introduce you to your working group or employer.

Bank account

We can set up a bank account for you at Hypobank Niederösterreich (our partner bank). This bank account comes with an Austrian debit card to withdraw money at ATMs, but no Internet banking. The account is basically free of charge except for the debit card costing EUR 10.

An Austrian bank account is in most cases necessary to receive your salary. If you would like us to arrange the bank account at Hypobank Niederösterreich, please let us know as soon as possible. We are able to arrange for the bank account before you arrive in Vienna.

For trainees from the Eurozone a local bank may not be mandatory especially for short term traineeships. Please ask your employer.

Telephone / Cell phone

We recommend you to get a prepaid SIM card for your mobile phone, which can be bought at mobile phone shops. You have to calculate approximately EUR 10-15 for the start. This should last between one week and two months depending on your habits.

Recommended mobile phone operators:

• Bob Cost: EUR 15,00 inclunding 100 free minutes. (you have to buy a EUR 10 cupon within the first 4 weeks, otherwise your account will get deactivated). A data plan is available for EUR 4 per GB per month.
  To check your prepaid credit balance, type *101# and then the calling button (available at the Austrian Post Service, Niedermayer, ...)
• Telering Mücke Cost: EUR 10.

Once you get your Austrian phone number we would like you to disclose the number to us and the other trainees. For this purpose we have designed a google spreadsheet. The link to the spreadsheet will be included in the welcome mail.

If you do not need your SIM card after your traineeship, please give it us. IEASTE Vienna will then distribute the SIM cards to new incoming students.

Cheap intenational calling

For cheap international calls with your Austrian mobile

• voipbuster.com. It offers VOIP calls with your PC or mobile starting from 8ct/min (incl. dial-in) to many international destinations. For more information please visit the operators's home page. Credit card required. No setup costs.
• eety offers cheap international calls. Sole drawback: it is not working outside of Austria. Cost: € 16,90. Contains 1 € charge

Skype also allows calling landline / mobile phones for competetive rates. Please visit the vendor's website to learn more.

Summer reception / Social program

There are several activities organized by IAESTE during summer. You can subscribe (user name: iaeste; pw: nospam) yourself to the summer reception mailing list to get informed about those activities. There will be some information about this in the welcome package you'll receive in Vienna as well.

Summer reception also includes many exciting weekend trip to the Austrian countryside and neighboring countries. Most of the events are already fixed and listed in the schedule.

In addition, during the semester every Wednesday a get-to-gether in a pub or restaurant takes place. Meeting point is the IAESTE office at Wednesday, 18:30h. That's a great opportunity to meet all the other trainees in Vienna and have a chat with them and us.

Before you leave

• Unregister at the citizen center. That is very similar to registering (see above). You need to fill-in the same document you used for registering. If you have problems filling-in your details. Please ask your landlord or us to support you.
• Keep the receipts regarding the payment of your rent. Just in case issues arise.
• Close your bank account. In order to do that please visit a branch of your bank and have your passport with you. Branches of Hypo Niederösterreich -> "Kontakt & Services" -> "Standorte"

Please consult our FAQ for further information, too.

If you have further questions concerning your stay or other issues, please get in touch with your IAESTE representative or the XI team at incoming [ at ] vienna.iaeste.at

Best regards,

   the XI - Team