Internships : What, Why, When and How
‘An internship can change your life’, says everyone who has ever done any relevant internship.
Google HR executive – Sanjeev and Rajeev, you both have been shortlisted. Tell me why should I hire you.
Sanjeev – I have excellent grades, 2 presentations, 1 department project, excellent co-curricular, and a recommendation letter.
Rajeev – All that, plus I did a summer internship at Microsoft.
Google HR to Rajeev – You’re hired!
We understand it was a truly terrible, tiny tale (and we promise to fire our Editor-in-Chief for this), but it underlines one very important fact – how crucial an internship is in one’s career.
What is an internship?
Feed this question to Google and it coughs up – ‘An “internship” is an opportunity offered by an employer to potential employees, called “interns”, to work at a firm for a fixed, limited period of time.’
Let’s make it simpler for you – it’s a job before the actual job, a peek into your career before it actually starts. You will go to the office (unless you do a work-from-home internship), have real responsibilities, learn new skills and utilize your existing ones (if any), and get paid (generally). Sounds great, right?
Now, why should you do an internship?
Again, breaking it down into five main points –
1. Because work ex matters – 44 out of 100 employers value relevant work experience more than any other qualifications while recruiting (Source : The Chronicle of Higher Education). Also, getting experience will do wonders to your confidence during any job interview.
2. Because it allows you to apply classroom knowledge in real life situations – Internships give you a way to utilize your knowledge base, and expand it, by applying it in situations where the outcome is not the number of marks you score in an exam but something that could affect a whole company.
3. Because many students don’t know what they want – Internships can be used as tools to identify, or at times even discover, what you would be good at. Say, you are hired as a marketing intern at a company and that exposed you to content writing (marketing through articles), something that you loved and may eventually think of making a career out of it.
4. Because it opens many doors – Your mentor at the previous internship might put in a word for you with your next employer because she happens to know her. Likewise, an internship could open many doors for you. Even a recommendation letter works wonders at places.
5. Because you might earn college credit and even money – Many colleges, going alongside the industrial demands, now mandate internships. Working at the office instead of studying for a theory paper is much better, isn’t it? Additionally, you will earn your pocket money for college days. How cool is that!
When should you do an internship?
Whenever you’re free! Companies hire interns round the year, but most students do internships during summers and winter breaks because they have no exams during this time and lesser curriculum engagements. There are many students who even do internships round the year; work-from-home internships can be a real awesome experience!
How to find that awesome internship?
• Start with Internshala where you have more than 1 Lac employers listing their internship requirements.
• You could talk to your college Training and Placement Cell (T&P Cell). They are in constant touch with employers and a word of recommendation from your professor opens many doors for you. But T&P cell can only help you bag internships during the vacation.
• Use the internet to scour for internship openings. Many company websites post internship requirements and ask you to mail your resume directly to them. Of course, you need to have your resume ready. For tips to write a resume, check here.
An internship can pave your way to that dream job. An internship can change your life. Stand out. Find an internship today! For the best internships visit here.
Now that you know all about internships, let’s take you through the most practical guide ever written to land an internship.
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