Getting an internship during one’s college career is often helpful for undergraduates looking for a real-world experience they can use when they graduate and begin to go on interviews and start their career.
An internship can be paid or unpaid and be a great opportunity to develop industry-specific skills, gain real-world work experience, test-drive a chosen career path, establish professional network connections. This can allow a recent college graduate to gain an advantage over their peers by developing character and professional development.
It’s important that when selecting a program students learn what they can about it and choose one that will really help them gain some valuable experience.
Just because you want to get an internship, it may not be that easy. So here is a video on how to get one.
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Entry Level Jobs
Here is a common scenario for the college grad: Internships are an extremely important addition to a college student’s resume-arsenal.
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You have just graduated, or you are about to graduate, and you are searching for job postings for entry-level jobs that relate to your education.
Theoretically, entry-level jobs should be open to people who may not have much or any work experience in their fields but have completed the relevant education or degrees.
This is an “entry-level” job. Right?
Wrong.
Many of the postings you see for “entry-level” jobs, including those for filling clerical/receptionist duties, require some experience.
But the experience, nevertheless.
Very frustrating, you have spent four years and thousands of dollars on your education so that you can acquire meaningful career employment, and you can’t get the job.
You don’t have the experience. Now you’re faced with no income and no health insurance. You may have big educational loans to pay off.
You eventually find employment out of necessity, but it may likely be a job totally unrelated to your education and for which you have little enthusiasm.
How To Get Work Experience
You ask yourself: If everyone wants to experience, how do I get the experience in the first place?
For those of you still in college, one answer, student internship.
Many students have the opportunity to work in their chosen field while obtaining their education.
Most four-year college career centers and placement offices have programs established to assist their students with real work experience to enhance their employment prospects.
If you are a student with at least two years to go before graduation, I strongly encourage you to check out the internships program as soon as possible.
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Make contact with the appropriate person in that office who is charged with coordinating or administering these programs. The sooner you get started, the better.
Some internships are non-paying, but it’s the experience you’re after.
Some students can accumulate up to one year’s worth of experience or more, depending upon the internship hours and schedule.
Internships can be extremely valuable in gaining experience and getting your foot in the door in a particular industry or company. Whether you engage in an internship while still in school or directly after graduating, internships can help kick-start your career!
Why are internships so important? You might ask.
It’s hard to get the experience you need to make yourself marketable for full-time positions while you’re still in school and haven’t had the opportunity to work in the field.
While many internships don’t pay (although you can find some that do), the experience you’ll gain is usually worth it in the long-run.
I’ve had several friends who landed important internships during the summer while in school and were able to secure a job with the same company immediately after graduation.
For some companies and fields, internships are crucial and companies may take on significant numbers of interns to evaluate their performance and decided whether or not they will hire on candidates once they graduate.
Companies typically prefer to hire internally, and this often includes volunteers and interns.
It’s much easier to consider someone for an open position who have already demonstrated their work quality and knows the organization’s structure and culture.
Interning with a company or organization you’re interested in working for can help you to get your foot in the door and dramatically increase your opportunities for future positions with them.
Even if you don’t land a position at the company you intern with, your internship can still provide the exposure to the industry that employers like to see when hiring on candidates.
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It helps employers to train new hires if an employee has at least had some exposure to the types of activities, terms, and work that is done in the field. Internships can serve as the stepping stone into full-time positions.
While interning can help you get experience to land a job, it can also help you to determine whether you actually WANT to work in the field.
Interning at a company can give you the insight to see if you actually like the type of work they do and decide whether you can see yourself pursuing a career in the industry.
When you see the daily tasks and responsibilities employees have, it can help to clarify the types of positions that interest you, as well as to see what size of company best suits you.
These can all be valuable things to learn before you apply for full-time positions so that you have some idea of what you’re getting into.
Here is the listed importance of internship as a college student:
1. You can get college credits
To make it meaningful for the students, to pursue an unpaid internship as a college student many industries compensate the money part with a 2 credit point.
But keep in mind that you should be through with the credit point system of your university.
The criteria and conditions that will make you eligible to earn credits for your non-paid internship should be kept in mind and you should also be aware of the criteria for earning credits in an industry.
2. New experience
Completing an internship allows a college student to test drive their chosen career path. Most recent graduates have never actually worked in their field of interest.
Internships allow a young professional to experience everyday life in their future career.
The subtle etiquette of a work environment is a big change from campus life and the more experience a person gains the more at ease he or she will be when it comes time to apply for professional jobs.
Applicants that have spent time producing in an office can easily show their value.
This value is apparent through quality portfolios, glowing recommendations and the confidence that can be gained through hard work at a paid or unpaid internship.
There will always be job seekers with more experience than you, but opportunities for college students will always be there as well.
If you’ve ever wondered how you’re supposed to get experience when virtually every job listing you come across requires some degree or experience, the answer is usually through a college internship or entry-level position.
Whether it is paid or unpaid, an internship gives you the chance to go and explore the real working condition of your career.
No matter how good you are at studying or how knowledgeable you are, unless you have a working knowledge and hands-on experience in works related to your job, it can be a difficult task to land your dream job.
An internship is that bridge that connects your theoretical knowledge with practical applications.
3. Job Prospective
With increased experience and prior familiarity with the working condition of the company where you took your internship, your chances of getting a job is more than someone who has no prior experience.
Companies may recruit candidates who interned at their company because they can save money in training as they must have imparted the required knowledge you already had the necessary skills required for the prospective job.
4. Forming a Network of Professionals
Internships open the door for many networking opportunities. The old adage, “it’s not what you know, but who you know,” applies to many job-hunting situations.
Take this for example:
Two recent graduates are looking for a job. Student A has superior grade scores but has not professionally networked at all.
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Student B has average grade scores but has spent countless hours participating in clubs, student organizations and volunteered their time in exchange for hands-on experience.
An internship can give an opportunity to talk with the people who are experts in their field.
If you are able to impress them with your working then they may help you in advancing your career or assist you in landing the job in the same company.
You may be interested in acquiring skills but it is people that matter the most and internship can give the opportunity to explore and meet with different professionals and form a network of professionals.
5. Getting to Know the Compatibility of Your Job
Sometimes it may happen that the things that are taught in a university and the knowledge that is really being put into use are quite different, different in the sense of the application.
Your course may have certain gaps in imparting different career paths.
So an unpaid internship can give you the chance to explore your career choices in advance and can help you in making a wise decision for your future growth.
6. Learning Beyond Your Field
A college internship is a valuable source of work experience and portfolio additions.
Including a professional internship on your resume is a good way to set yourself apart from other recent graduates. An employer automatically knows the prospective employee has been “battle-tested” and will be able to perform basic office duties with practiced ease.
This is more evident, in my opinion, with internships at smaller organizations.
These internships allow the college student to take on more responsibilities rather than getting coffee and making copies at larger, better-known organizations.
Nonprofit organizations and small companies are happy to employ interns.
Their small budget makes them a perfect fit for a cheap or free intern. Another characteristic which helps these organizations match well to an internship program is their ability to allow an intern to experience a variety of working situations.
These varied tasks enrich a college interns skill set and professional portfolio.
What you take out of an internship, and thus its overall value to potential employers after college depends not only on the work you put in, but the opportunities the job presents to you.
Picture one job or internship that utilizes its young employees or interns in a way that sees them getting coffee, making copies, filing or entering data into a computer.
While these jobs need to be done, college students should look for opportunities that utilize them in more ways than this. Even if the student does find themselves getting coffee, making copies, filing and entering data, their responsibilities and duties should expand beyond that.
7. Not Responsible to Meet Deadlines
By definition, a person is an intern if they are only practicing the skills required in a company for education purpose and any work of his or her has no instant benefit to the company.
So in short, you are not under pressure to complete a daily task in the company but the same time
8. Developing Leadership
Developing leadership is one of the most important parts of one’s college experience.
Students should be sure to get involved in activities at school or in internship programs that give them the opportunity to develop as a leader.
Learning about management, the organization at a high level, finances, advertising, etc. is also important while in college.
These are some of the major tenants of a successful company and employers are often most impressed with applicants that can offer experience in these areas out of college.
9. Other Perks
You may not be getting paid for your work but to keep you engaged, the company can offer means to compensate for money like giving you extra incentives in terms of free food or travel expenses.
They may also provide you with add-on learning to experience like providing you access to meet the leading industrialist and innovators in your field or giving you access to their library that contains lots of detail about your job.
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