Youth Incorporated Magazine

Life isn’t life without experiences. This is even more apt when it comes to one’s career and professional life. Experience is the best teacher. The more experience you gain, the more educated and aware you become. Students who aspire to build a strong career must strive towards gathering substantial experiences. Taking up internships is the best way to do it. The period post university/board examination is when students can make the most out of the free time.

What is an Internship?

Internship is the period of work experience that a company offers to college students and freshers to understand how companies function. The internship period can range from as short as 1 month to as long as 6 months. Some agree to offer stipend for the work done while some stick to offering certificate of performance. Undertaking internships adds immense value to the students’ personal and professional development.

Read below to know the importance and benefits of internships:

• Adds Value To Your Resume/CV: Although strong educational qualifications make a resume strong, the number of internships one undertakes leaves a strong impact on the recruiter’s mind. Recruiters always look for candidates who know how to apply the learnt knowledge in real time problems and find the solution for the same. Internships teach students to apply learnt knowledge in real world. Hence, in order to secure a job in a well reputed firm, it is extremely important to undertake internships and make the CV strong.

• Helps Explore Career Path: Many students are unclear about what career paths they should opt for. Many are confused between few. Taking up internships lets students try their hands on various fields and ensure clarity.It gives them direction and helps them identify their area of interest.

• Build Network: Internships are a great way to build and expand network. Developing internal connections and building contact with external parties through the company opens up many unidentified opportunities. It helps one to introduce self to company employees, seniors and also the outsiders and also get to know them in return.
  
• Develop Confidence:When you enter the real world, you are expected to work on real projects, communicate with the clients, pitch deals, assist seniors, attend events, give presentations, etc. which instills and boosts confidence making one industry ready. This kind of confidence cannot be developed within the four walls of a classroom.

• Personal and Professional Development:It is believed that once an individual completes college, he/she breaks open the egg shell and comes out into the real world. When students take up internships, they observe various things like watching the way employees work, talk, and conduct themselves. Students are more likely to pick up and adopt these qualities. The main qualities that students develop are that of communication, analysis, co-ordination, organization, professional ethics, etc. Not just this, but students also develop professional skills like drafting of emails, operating various software and computer programs, preparing reports and statistics, etc.

• Increased Chances of a Job Offer: Many companies appoint interns with the policy of offering a proper employment to them after the internship period gets over,if their performance is found satisfactory. This means that individuals don’t have to worry about struggling to find jobs.

With the world progressing at a rapid pace, developing yourself and honing important qualities is crucial. Internship fosters development making individuals ready to enter the industry. Hence, every young individual must undertake internships for overall progress.