Want to get hands-on experience? Meet industry experts? Make sure you’ve chosen the right major? You can achieve these and many other benefits by doing an internship.
Internships offer students a chance to join an official part-time or full-time program provided by an employer. They give invaluable professional experience to undergraduate or graduate students. Besides, a lot of internships are paid. This means that students can earn some extra money in addition to developing their knowledge and skills.
But these are only a few of the most obvious benefits of internships. Let’s keep it going. Here are seven reasons why you need to take an internship.
1. Networking
Internships allow students to meet industry experts and establish valuable connections. It helps to exchange information and learn from others. You grow as a professional by getting to know the best industry practices. Besides, upon completion of your internship, you can get good references and guidance from your supervisors, which will help you build your career in the future.
It’s often challenging to balance study and internships. However, with some academic assistance from the DoMyEssay writing service, you can easily handle a busy workload. Writers will help you with college papers while you can have more time to focus on getting practical work experience at your internship site.
2. Valuable Experience
Interns enjoy endless learning opportunities. Aside from developing essential technical skills, they also learn to:
- Manage time;
- Test their theoretical knowledge in practice;
- Navigate the workplace;
- Work in teams;
- Adapt to changing work environment;
- Find work-life-study balance.
In addition to industry-related skills, taking an internship is a chance to learn more about yourself. You figure out your goals and motivations. As you progress through your internship and work on different projects with different people, you might find new interests that will enrich your career path.
3. Confidence
Internships are valuable because they give students confidence. They encourage young people to believe in their ability as they learn to navigate the workplace. As an intern, you get to learn and grow in a safe environment and get guidance from your supervisors.
To make the most of an internship, students should find a program in a relevant industry. To secure a position at your dream company, make sure you prepare a strong application. Your resume and cover letter should be detailed, relevant, and concise. Can someone do my essay for me? Yes, you can hire professional writers to craft you a winning essay or cover letter. It is a great way to get a unique application that demonstrates your best qualities and enthusiasm.
4. Increased Employability
By doing an internship, you get valuable skills that will improve your resume. It gives you a chance to practice in a real-world working environment, which is something you cannot get in the classroom even if you study all your textbooks.
The work experience you get from an internship significantly improves your employability. Studies show that students who did an internship are 15 percent less likely to face unemployment after graduation. This is because interns get to work on a variety of tasks and projects, which prepares them to enter the workforce.
5. Exposure to Real Work Environment
You can treat an internship as a trial. When students choose their majors, they are mostly too young and inexperienced. They often have an idealized idea of what certain professionals do and are not familiar with the challenges and demands they face.
It is crucial to see first-hand what work your desired career entails. According to the 2016 State of Millennial Hiring Report, 81.1 percent of students reported that they changed their career focus after doing an internship. For some people, these were significant changes in their career directions, like the change of their major. Others had slight alterations. Regardless of the extent, it’s undeniable that it’s beneficial to see the industry you want to work in from the inside to make sure you are going in the right direction.
6. Job Offers
Many successful people started their careers with internships. Getting a job offer upon completion of your program is not rare. As stated in the Endicott College Career Center Graduate Report, 53 percent of college graduates were employed by their former internship providers. Companies are interested in offering jobs to interns. These people already know their work environment, so employers don’t need to waste any resources to train new people.
Thus, you should take your internship seriously and use this chance to show your skills and make a good impression. It’s not granted, but you might get a job offer from your internship provider.
7. An Opportunity to Watch and Learn
Internships allow learning from others by watching them. Of course, when you start your training, you will be assigned a supervisor who will provide you with direct knowledge. But being around other employees will help you grasp what a real work environment is like. And if you are lucky and get to work with professionals not from one but from several departments simultaneously, your experience will be even more complete.
By paying attention to people around you and what they do, especially how they do it, you can better understand different roles and learn about appropriate ways of communication between divisions. You can also observe how superiors interact with their subordinates. To give your observations more context, you can also ask clarifying questions. Most of the time, people are happy to explain their actions if they know it will help you learn.
All this knowledge will, later on, help you build better relationships in your own workspace. And if you get a job offer from a company you did your internship at, such knowledge can become truly invaluable.
Final Thoughts
Although doing an internship is an optional step, taking an opportunity to get work experience is always a good idea. It’s your chance to learn, build confidence, and become more employable. Thanks to the connections you build as an intern, you might even get a job offer from your internship provider right away. Now that you know the reasons to take an internship, don’t miss this invaluable opportunity to grow personally and professionally.