All You Need to know About Internships

If you are a college student and have your eyes set on getting a job after graduation, you may have heard of an internship, but what exactly is an internship? And how do you get it?

What is an Internship?

An internship is a short-term work experience that companies and other organizations offer to people - usually students - to get an entry-level job offer in a particular field; It is as much a learning experience as it is a business. Ideally, interns spend their time working on related projects, learning about the field, networking, building relationships, and developing hard and soft skills, and sometimes internships lead to full-time job offers.

Internships during the summer period usually last 40 hours per week for (10-12) weeks. Internships vary in the fall and spring, but they are always part-time, and some of these companies pay wages and others do not. 

Why is internship important?

As an intern, you will have the opportunity to work alongside people who specialize in the field and get a good idea of ​​what the entry-level role entails, not only will you gain real work experience; You'll meet and learn from the professionals, and start building your own network from fellow trainees to seasoned leaders.

Another less obvious but no less important benefit than internships is the opportunity to learn what you don't want to do. It is often difficult to know where to start when it comes to looking for a job; So an internship gives you the opportunity to try a few things without committing to them.

If you're lucky, you'll find a job you love, but if not, you'll at least know what's not for you when it comes to something as difficult as finding the right job, the more information you get, the better it is.

As the internship becomes more common, employers expect to see it on resumes. Applicants with prior work experience are more competitive than people who have only taken relevant courses of study.

Not only does the internship give you the opportunity to build relevant skills and learn about the field, but also to show the skills and business acumen. For most employers, even those very skilled at hiring new graduates, they find that there is no substitute for real-life experience.

Companies also use internships to prepare talent for full-time positions. For employers, internships include a lengthy interview, a training program, and sometimes a smart way to hire for open positions.

This means that some university students can complete their final years at university with job offers. In short, an internship can help you figure out what you want to do in your career, and then make it easier for you to get your first full-time job in the field.

Do interns get paid?

Intern salaries vary widely by field. Tech companies and finance companies tend to pay high salaries, while companies working in journalism, fashion, and nonprofits pay little (or no) salaries.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), 56.7% of students graduating in a year had a paid internship or co-op experience, while 43.3% of students did not.

Undergraduates who got paid the following year averaged about $18.50 an hour, graduate students earned a little more, and PhD students averaged $32.35 an hour.

Interns, as short-term workers, do not usually get health benefits or other benefits like full-time employees, but depending on the field

and size of the company, perks can be offered, such as attending certain social events, taking vacations, or covering transportation and housing costs.

Now, let's talk about unpaid internships. There is one non-negotiable thing, which is that people should get paid for their work.

But why is there an unpaid internship? In theory, an unpaid internship is often learning rather than work experience, and in fact, for an unpaid internship to be legal, the intern must benefit more from the company.

Some fields are notorious for not paying “or underpaid” internships, but students need internships to get full-time employment, and sure enough, this means that people who can’t afford an unpaid internship don’t miss out on those only valuable educational experiences. However, they face more difficulty in entering the field as a whole.

If you're interested in an area where unpaid internships are common, spending your summer or semester working for free isn't an option. So, don't give up, check your university's employment offices, as well as academic departments, institutes, and related centers at the university  because they may have scholarships and other programs you can apply for to help you support yourself while getting the work experience you need.

You can also search for funding outside your university to support internship experiences. It may take some research to find the right internship program for you, but it is worth looking for internships inside or outside your university that can help you find the work experience you are looking for.

3 ways to find an internship:

Now that you know what an internship is, you may be wondering how to find an internship, so here are three ways to find internship opportunities:

1. Use of Campus Resources:

If you are a student, go to the Campus Career Center and find out how to attend career fairs and participate in on-campus recruitment. There may also be a student recruitment bulletin board at your university. Employers may be looking specifically for students from your university, so make the most of your relationships with the university and the advantage of employers offering to hire you without looking for them.

2. Online search:

There are plenty of resources online, including The Muse, which features both job postings and internships along with company profiles to help you learn about organizations and their culture.

Searching online can be confusing, so it's best to define what you're looking for, like "product management internship" or "editorial internship." It doesn't make sense, but the more you narrow down the search, the more manageable you can always stay on top of other opportunities. However, start with a clear goal.

3. Search your favorite organizations:

Everyone has a dream company to work for, so if you are not sure exactly what type of internship you want to pursue, another direction you can take is to check out the company you want to work for first. Go directly to the website of the target company and see the type of internship programs and the opportunities they offer. So, if you find one that works for you, apply. One of the main benefits of internships is helping you figure out what you want to do after graduation.

4 tips for getting an internship:

If all of the above sounds good, the last step is to get an internship. So, here are some tips to get it:

1. Start your search early:

Find out when hiring occurs in your field. Generally, the larger the company, they start early in the fall. The internship process is likely to begin the following summer, and if your university has a job fair in the fall, this is a great place to start your search.

Small businesses have more difficulty anticipating the number of employees they will need, so they tend to hire during the time they need someone to get started, and that could mean applying anytime between January and March for summer indoor training. So, be sure to check schedules in the fall period, even if you are targeting smaller institutions. Also, if you are looking for an internship during the fall or spring period, start your search a full semester ahead; That is, before the beginning of the target date.

2. Make your resume and referral letter persuasive:

You may not feel like you have a lot of experience writing a resume and referral letter, but as long as you're open to experience-related ideas, such as course assignments, volunteer projects, and other extracurricular activities, you'll likely be able to create a compelling resume and referral letter.

3. Prepare for interviews:

It can be tempting to improvise, especially since invitations to interviews make them sound like normal conversations. Don't be fooled. Review common internship interview questions and practice the answers aloud. You don't have to memorize the responses, but you should practice them.

Make sure you do some research about the company, and find out what they do, what they are working on, and what their culture looks like. If you want to be more prepared, dig a little deeper to see what their interviewing practices look like and what questions they ask.

Try to find out more about interviewers either via the company's website, LinkedIn, or other job pages, and use all your research to come up with relevant questions to ask at the end of the interview.

4. Take advantage of your network relationships:

If you are a student, reach out to the professors, graduates, and the career center at the university, and let people know what kind of internships you are looking for. They can't help you unless they know what you're looking for. We don't mean you go and ask a graduate you've never met and ask them to give you an internship. Instead, tell them what you're interested in and ask for their advice on how to make it happen.

To meticulously research your network, make a list of companies you're interested in, start looking for people to connect with on LinkedIn or your university's graduates’ database, apply online to make sure you don't miss deadlines, and keep meeting people and giving informational interviews for tips on your research. You may find yourself in an impromptu interview and get the internship you seek.

In conclusion:

Searching for a networked job is often stressful, but it's better than randomly applying, and even if you don't succeed in your search for an internship, you'll be glad one day that you started developing your network early in your career.