Four Ways an Internship Benefits You
As a student, chances are you’re completing an internship or you’re considering one. This type of work is common, as it provides many benefits to students carving their own career path.
Those who completed an internship during their degree were 13 percent more likely to find full-time employment over those that did not, according to a survey at Southwestern University. (See full article)
Overall, there are many benefits of an internship, here are four:
1. Provides Work Experience
An internship provides valuable work experience that cannot be learned in a classroom. University content is often theoretical and doesn’t directly teach students how to handle workplace responsibilities.
Universities after being asked to teach practical workplace skills
Internships fill this void. You are placed in a formal work environment and expected to fulfill the responsibilities of the job. You contribute to projects and create an impact within the organization while also being able to make mistakes and learn from those errors. It challenges you to expand your comfort zone in a way that a classroom cannot.
This is the experience of former UTM student, Celeste Nader, now a full time employee at RideFlag Technologies. During her internship through the CCT410 internship course, she learned skills that prepared her for full time work. She states, “...even though it's only 100 hours per semester… it gives you a glimpse of what it is like to work [in your field] ... It helps you develop technical skills and it also builds your professional skill set. It builds professional habits for you to start with and to continue with...”
As you develop these new skills, it makes you more appealing to full time employers as you now have proven skills and work experience on your resume.
2. Provides Networking Opportunities
As you spend time at the company, you are likely to meet people, unless they are making you work alone in a dark basement or something, but that seems cruel.
Watching society happen from your dark basement
While at work, you can take time to befriend coworkers and build a connection with your boss. You’ll have the opportunity to create a network, which can benefit you later when looking for a professional reference.
According to Celeste, networking helped her tremendously, “...I worked in a startup and I worked closely with the CEO and the CTO... as well as my supervisor… I was able to learn a lot from them in terms of industry practices and expectations. Also, because I was in a shared office space, I had the opportunity to join our building’s soccer team... [Soccer] helped me make new contacts and allowed me to talk to them about their work experience while playing soccer. In this way, peoples’ experiences helped me understand what people look for when hiring a candidate.”
3. Test to See If A Career Is Right for You
Incoming university students often have a career path they want to pursue, but later realize that it's not right for them. This allows them to hit the eject button on that career path and find another one.
A student doubting their major
Internships work the same way. As you work, you get an accurate feel of the job, allowing you to gauge if this career path is something you enjoy.
Celeste was able to learn a lot about the UX field from her internship. “I conducted a lot of user testing with their application and I was able to provide feedback and reports with regards to the testing results… I learned a lot of different software that they used [in the industry] … It was something new and something that I enjoyed… UX is one of my favorite fields to work in… And I think this internship put into perspective my future aspirations and what I want to do in the future.”
4. Develops Transferable Skills
When working a job, there are crucial skills all workers must have. These are known as “transferable skills”. They involve aspects of work such as communication, time management and organization skills.
Internships allow students to develop these skills, as reflected in the experience of Celeste, who states, “My internship taught me to better prioritize tasks. When you are an intern, you are given certain tasks and you need to know which ones to do first and which ones to do last.” She also said, “[These transferable skills] helped me build my own personal brand. Through my internship I showed initiative and a positive work ethic. In doing so, I was able to give an impression of the type of worker I am and it eventually led to me taking on bigger assignments and bigger projects.”
Conclusion
Internships provide a range of value to students starting their career path. They allow you to gain new experiences. They help create a network of industry professionals who can help advance your career. They provide the opportunity to ‘test drive’ your field to see if it’s the right fit for you. They also develop your transferable skills, which are crucial to being effective in the workplace.
If you’re trying to start your career through an internship, ICCIT offers you this opportunity. CCT410 allows you to find an internship, which can be either paid or unpaid, and earn a credit at the same time.
According to Khizar Elahi, a current CCT410 student, “...I would highly encourage you to enroll in an internship course. The experience of working in a professional industry environment can help alleviate anxiety and hesitations you may have of joining the professional workforce.”
Have you interned in the past? How has an internship benefited you? Let me know in the comments!