We kickstart our journey as a freshman in the college with big hopes and dreams. Whatever major we enroll in, we want to start somewhere and many of us dream to work for big companies. As years pass by, we understand the realities of life and how difficult it is to fit in the real world. We understand that we need to be the best of the best to reach where we have dreamt of. But what most of the students fail to understand is, the journey to their career doesn’t start only after graduation. If they start to rush early, more opportunities await them.
Putting it in simpler terms, the job market is very demanding. For freshers, the competition is really high and applying for the jobs with very little to no work experience can be backbreaking. It would be very irrational if the students wait until they graduate to get real life exposure. That’s where the role of internships comes to play. Internships enable students to get real life work experience even during their undergraduate study. The students can work in a certain department and learn from the company supervisors during the period of internship. The students have little to offer to the company, whereas the company will be giving real working exposure in return, thus, internships are generally not paid or mostly stipends are only provided.
The internship experience adds volume to the resume of a fresher applying for the jobs. It is difficult to employ candidates with no experience in work as well as college activities. The projects they have taken and their learning outcomes during the internship can become handy in making themselves stand out from other candidates. Moreover, the intern can apply the theoretical knowledge they have learnt in their university into practice. Due to these reasons, many universities have mandatorily required their students to complete internships of certain duration during the undergraduate study.
The companies which take interns are mostly well acquainted on how they should work with the interns. They help you turn into professionals by exposing you to your area of interests. With the provision of proper training and assignments, the interns can grow and know more about yourself. Internship can be a self-actualization process for many interns. As they work in various industries and departments, they get to acknowledge what fits for them and where their best interests lie. Internship is also about personal branding and personality development. Interns get familiar with unique work cultures, people and professionals. Their ambitions and goals may become clearer through internships by looking at other people succeeding in the same field. And they get the opportunity to network with professionals in their area of interest. To advance your professional career, you need many acquaintances for which, internships provide first hand fortuity. More importantly, internships may provide job opportunities to the interns after the completion of internships.
Internships are a great opportunity for students to build their career path. Learn to manage your time and start looking around if you can find any placements that interests you and matches your timing. Don’t forget to analyze how any internships can help you achieve your goals in long term.