The alternation courses are activated with the signing of the Convention between school and business and of the individual student's Training Project.

The Convention formalizes the partnership between school and business for the activation of the paths. The Convention defines the respective responsibilities, the duration of the routes, the schedules, the main training contents, the names of the school tutor and the company tutor.

The Training Project, to be attached to the Convention, is the document that details the educational activities of each student.

In the Training Project, prepared by the school together with the company, it is possible to find the data of the student, the company, the data on the insurance policies, the indication of the times and spaces in which the training will take place and the expected results.

While the Convention formalizes the partnership between school and enterprise for the activation of the paths referring to a plurality of students, the Training Project is personalized on the needs of the individual student. Consequently, for every collaboration between school and business there will be only one convention and as many training projects as there will be students hosted alternately between school and work. The alternation paths are designed together by school and business.

A good method can be to start from identifying the skills needed by young people for a positive insertion in the work environment. This list must include both professional skills, specific to the food and wine or tourism sector in which the company operates, and transversal skills - soft skills - linked to the young person's ability to operate in the company context (problem posing, setting and solving, ability to work in groups, analytical skills, etc ...).

Starting from this analysis companies and schools together develop the path of alternation identifying which tasks will be entrusted to the student. The selected activities must be functional to the training course of the young person and can be carried out both at school and in the company.

Finally, the design (co-planning) should be three-year and customized on the profile of the individual student. In this sense, the training project will cover the entire period in which the child will be engaged in the various forms of alternation regardless of any pauses caused by the resumption of traditional school activities and will be modeled on the basis of the characteristics of the young person, his level of preparation and the concrete opportunity that the company offers.

In Italy, for example, a registration in the National Registry for school-work alternation is planned, indicating the maximum number of students who are willing to host, the periods of the school year in which to carry out the activity, the collaborations with other operators , or those subjects (bodies, associations, chambers of commerce, schools, training institutions, etc.) with which alternation paths have been activated, what will be the activity to be performed, the professional figures required, where the activity will take place ( full address), contacts, any other additional information deemed useful to educational institutions

Ultimately, in Italy, for example, the process follows this path:

 First Phase

The student and the school tutor (a professor who will take care of the student during his experience and verify that it takes place correctly) meet, reflect on what the skills and attitudes of the boy or girl are and together they choose company or host structure.

Then a period of preparation begins to deal with the alternation of school and work during which the student is informed about health and safety standards in the workplace.

 Second phase

In this phase the student comes into direct contact with the host structure knowing the external tutor (the person who works in the company and will take care of assisting the student during the alternation period) and visiting the company, institution or institution chosen.

Before starting the project, each child must sign the training agreement, a document which commits him / herself to respect the accident prevention, behavior and norms regarding privacy and safety at work.