A four-stage reading
The assessment follows the order in which uncertainty can be reduced. It starts before the agreement is uploaded and ends with questions you can carry into a conversation.
1. Establish the placement context
Tell us the intended start and end dates, whether a study programme requires the placement, the work location and whether you have already accepted verbally. These facts help distinguish a compulsory internship from a voluntary placement and reveal which referenced documents may be missing.
2. Transfer only what is needed
After scope is confirmed, we provide secure instructions for one agreement and relevant schedules. Remove bank details, passport numbers, health information and signatures that are not needed for assessment. A university regulation may be relevant; an entire academic record is not.
3. Read by consequence
The pre-read marks the parties and status first, then duties and supervision, remuneration and expenses, working time and leave, probation and termination, confidentiality, intellectual property and repayment language. Cross-references are checked against the attachments you supplied. We record uncertainty as a factual question, not a guessed answer.
4. Discuss and document
Your consultation puts the highest-consequence points first. You can ask about language, practical implications and how to phrase a request for clarification. The follow-up note groups observations under clarify before signing, confirm in writing and keep for your records.
What to have ready
- the complete proposed agreement, including visible page numbers;
- any schedule or policy expressly incorporated into it;
- the study rule confirming a mandatory internship, if applicable;
- the offer email where it states dates, pay or location differently;
- your own list of no more than five priority questions.
When another professional is the right next step
A consultation pauses at the boundary of legal representation, residence permission, social-security classification and individual tax treatment. If a clause raises one of those issues, the useful outcome may be a clear referral question for a Rechtsanwalt, immigration adviser, university international office or tax adviser.
Review the full consultation scope or send an initial question.