The impact of professional traineeship on the students’ perception of their knowledge and future work in the agribusiness sector

The paper presents the results of research on the impact of paid professional traineeships done by students during their studies on the perception of knowledge they have gained, as well as on agribusiness as their work environment and their further professional career. The aim of the research was to evaluate paid traineeships as a factor determining the way in which the knowledge gained by students during studies and their future work are perceived. The research material included the results obtained in a study of students conducted twice – before and after they had completed their professional traineeships. The research tool was the auditorium questionnaire, and the collected data underwent a statistical analysis, followed by a discussion. It was found that the respondents appreciated work placements as a way of gaining experience during studies. At the same time, the results of the investigation indicate that in the students’ opinion, graduating from a good university guarantees finding an interesting job. This was additionally confirmed by disagreeing with the statement that gaining good grades in the course of university studies does not bring any benefits (as indicated by the gamma correlation coefficient). Thus, completing a traineeship is significant for a future professional career, as it allows the students to look at it more realistically, including the financial aspect. However, their expectations, both before and after the work placement, remained relatively high, compared to the actual earnings reported in the University Graduates’ Economic Future monitoring system (ELA).