Internships, are generally unpaid positions (or they pay very little) doing necessary but menial work in a particular field. Generally they are offered college students. Despite their lack of pay, this is one invaluable experience that you shouldn’t pass up if given the opportunity.
An Incredible Learning Opportunity
Often internships give participants the chance to learn some incredibly interesting material. While it’s true that you may spend some time doing menial tasks, you’ll also spend some time learning the ins and outs of an office in your chosen career. Generally, people at an internship are open to questions and so you should take the attitude that you need to learn as much as possible–and dig in!
What a Career Is Really Like
A good friend of mine took an internship at a law firm one summer. She came back and changed her major. This too, is part of the learning experience. It’s a chance to get your feet wet in a career while you still have time and options to be flexible in what you do. It’s also an opportunity to get to know the minute details of a career. Perhaps you discover that real estate law is not your thing, but you’d rather be a litigator. Internships can help give you direction.
The Resume Boost
Recent studies show that most companies now hire “within”. They hire people they know or people that their top officers know. In fact, many new graduates complain that it’s difficult to even get their resume read let alone land an interview. So doing an internship at a company offers you the opportunity to be seen by people who have the power to hire you. Even if you decide that this isn’t the career for you, being able to put on your resume that you got a job offer out of your internship speaks volumes about your value as an employee.
Those are just a few reasons to look for a good internship during college. If you’re not sure where to start looking, let me suggest the career center on your college campus.
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Valorie Delp shares recipes and kitchen tips in the food blog, solves breastfeeding problems, shares parenting tips, and current research in the baby blog, and insight, resources and ideas as a regular guest blogger in the homeschooling blog. To read more articles by Valorie Delp, click here.