Why You Should Consider Applying for an Internship

If you hope to experience your dream job in your preferred field before graduating, an internship may be perfect for you. An internship is when a person applies for a temporary job opening at an organization. The specified employment may be a paid or unpaid opportunity, depending on the company. 

We cover three main reasons why a student (or anyone) should take advantage of internship opportunities.

Picking the right career path

We often consider a specific career path an ideal choice for us to work post-graduation, but there are two things that must be considered. One, if you are doing an internship during college, remember that you have been asked to choose a career path (to study) at the age of eighteen, and what you thought was your dream job at the age of eighteen may not be the same when you are twenty-two years old. The second thing is that many career options may look good online when researching potential places to work, but without experience, it's difficult to gauge whether you will like that position or not. Therefore, when applying for internships, apply for those you're most interested in learning more about and gaining experience. 

Also, don't be afraid of applying for positions in different industries unrelated to your passion or major. Testing out different career paths through internships will allow you to gain experience in other fields, which will help you to make a more educated and reliable guess regarding what career path is the most suitable for you. 

Experience

The key point of internships is to obtain valuable work experience, and even more importantly, it allows you to test out if the career you thought you wanted is truly what you want to do full-time for a long-time. Every major job role will require you to have a decent amount of experience in the respective field. (Though not all, you will find that some jobs will hire based on experience over degrees.)

Some of the skills you will learn as an intern are crucial in the real world, such as working in teams, meeting deadlines, and working in a professional environment. These skills need to be sharpened constantly, as these skills are vital in making sure your superiors see you as an exceptional employee.

Networking 

Have you heard the phrase, "Your network determines your net worth?" The saying typically means that meeting new people is arguably the most beneficial factor of internships because your circle of friends, or in this case, your coworkers, will help influence your process of work. Usually, the full-time employees you will work with are highly experienced in their field. Therefore, it is crucial for you to establish a connection with them through some form of common interest, such as your passion for the job, your ambitions, or hobbies. 

The experience and connections built from the internship will also help you obtain better opportunities to land your dream job, possibly at the place you interned. 

Though hunting and applying for internships can be a dull, tedious task, it will be worth it because it is a vital stepping stone in developing your ideal career. Fortunately, there are internship websites that show a list of internships offered by various companies. It is crucial to look at internship opportunities when you're a high school senior or college freshman. That is the ideal time to explore different possible career paths that you desire to pursue. However, you are never too old to learn, so you are never too old to intern. 

What other benefits do internships have? Let us know in the comments below.