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Recognition of internship as professional experience advances in Congress and may change the way students present their resumes in job selections and competitions, with direct impact on the entry of young people into the job market.
The Senate approved on Tuesday (07) Bill 2,762/2019, which amends the Internship Law to formally recognize internships performed by students as professional experience.
The text also provides that the public authority will regulate in which situations this period can be used as a criterion in public competitions.
After the vote in the plenary, the proposal was sent for presidential sanction.
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The measure addresses one of the main obstacles faced by those trying to enter the job market: the requirement of prior experience for entry-level positions.
By incorporating the internship into the student’s professional trajectory, the project creates a legal basis for this experience to be recognized not just as a formative stage but also in the resume.
According to the approved text, the change will be made to the Law 11,788 of 2008, known as the Internship Law.
The proposal establishes that the activity developed during academic training may be considered professional experience, without removing the educational character of the internship or altering its nature as supervised practice.
What changes for students and recent graduates
In practice, the approval of the project strengthens the position of students and recent graduates in selection processes that require proof of experience.
Although many recruiters already consider internships as professional experience, the new legal provision tends to provide more legal security to this interpretation and reduce disputes over the value of this stage of training.
Moreover, the text addresses a sensitive point for those seeking their first job.
The author of the proposal, federal deputy Flávio Nogueira, justified that young people face difficulties precisely because they are required to have experience that they have not yet had the chance to build.
In this scenario, the internship appears as a bridge between academic training and formal entry into the job market.
The report in the Senate was handled by senator Damares Alves, who presented a favorable opinion on the proposal in the Social Affairs Committee.
In defending the project, she argued that internships already occur in a work environment and involve activities with professional content, even if supervised and linked to the educational process.
This understanding was already present, to some extent, in parts of the public administration and in certain notices.
According to the proceedings in the Senate, the rapporteur highlighted that some public competitions already expressly accept the internship period as a form of proof of experience or as a valid title for scoring, especially in specific areas.
Public competitions and internship regulation
Despite the advancement, the effect of the proposal on public competitions will not be automatic in all cases.
The approved text determines that the public authority must regulate the circumstances in which the experience obtained during the internship may count for tests and selections of this nature.
This means that the concrete application will depend on subsequent rules.
Thus, the future regulation should define in which situations the internship will serve as a scoring criterion, minimum activity time requirement, or another form of professional proof.
Until this stage is completed, competitions and selection processes will continue to be subject to what is provided in the notice and the specific rules of each career.
Still, the project consolidates a relevant guideline.
By legally recognizing that the internship constitutes professional experience, Congress signals that the practice developed by the student during graduation, technical courses, or other regular training cannot be treated as something peripheral in the process of labor insertion.
Proceedings of Bill 2,762/2019 in Congress
The proposal began its proceedings in the Chamber of Deputies in 2019 and reached the Senate in 2023, where it passed through the Education and Culture Committee and then the Social Affairs Committee.
In the CE, it received a favorable opinion from senator Leila Barros in November 2023.
Later, it advanced in the CAS with a report by Damares Alves, until it was approved in plenary in April 2026. In the Social Affairs Committee, the opinion was approved on March 11, 2026.
After that, a period was opened for amendments in the Senate plenary, with no changes presented to the text, which allowed the matter to be forwarded for final voting in a single round.
The definitive approval occurred in the deliberative session on April 7, 2026.
This journey helps explain why the topic has returned to debate only now, despite the project having been presented several years ago.
The legislative process went through distinct phases in the committees and only reached the plenary after the formal instruction in the Senate was completed, already without substantive changes regarding the recognition of the internship.
Internship Law and weight of professional resume
The approved change also resonates with the reality of thousands of students who enter the job market through supervised internships.
In many areas, this is the first opportunity to engage with routines, deadlines, responsibilities, and tools of the profession, even if under institutional supervision and with defined pedagogical objectives.
By transforming this experience into professional experience recognized by legislation, the project tends to strengthen the understanding that the internship is not merely a complementary stage of training but a concrete work experience linked to technical development and preparation for future roles.
The wording approved by the Senate was precisely in this direction. The proposal now depends on the manifestation of the President of the Republic to become law.
As of the last official update of the legislative proceedings consulted, the project had been approved by the Senate and sent for sanction, with no public record in this material of the conclusion of this stage.
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