According to About.com internships are work-related experiences where students learn professionalism and gain important work knowledge and skills that are important to their field of interest. Internships are highly encouraged for college students to gain hands on experience and acquire expertise for their major.
An important tool in searching for internships is called prospecting where students can contact an employer for available internship opportunities and also have the chance to ask questions regarding what they will learn from the company. Some internships take assistant roles where they support administration with different day-to-day tasks. Other students are fortunate to earn actual operational experience and take on leadership roles where they have the ability to oversee and implement various projects for the organization. Along with prospecting, students are also encouraged to use social networking site and search engines to find valuable internship connections. Most companies have internship information available online under the careers section of their website.
Another important aspect of an internship is to decide if you need a paid internship. Some students are luckily enough to receive paid internships such as The Disney College Program which allows students to receive monetary compensation while learning transferable skills, educational opportunities, professional experience, employee discounts and meeting new people. Other internships include those that maybe unpaid but receiving college credit for the hours spent at the organization achieving beneficial experience that is not found in a traditional classroom setting. Some students, those who still live at home or are financially supported by their parents, are able to maximize their potential with an unpaid internship. Other working students may not be able to afford just college credits alone. It is important to recognize your individual need and take the step in the direction that best suits you.
If you are having a hard time deciding whether you should intern or not, take a look at your financial situation to see what you can afford, talk with your parents and ask how they can help and also speak with your counselors and university instructors for feedback. You never know who maybe able to help and what connections they may have!
Links:
http://internships.about.com/od/internshiptip1/qt/prospectinginte.htm
http://blog.howdesign.com/content/binary/intern.png (picture 1)
http://www.dcwasa.com/images/internship1.jpg (picture 2)
Internships are very important. Many times when you go looking for a job, they won’t hire you if you don’t have experience. The experience you need comes in an internship. It is sort of like a transition period where you take everything you learned in class and apply it in the real world, prior to actually getting paid for it. Many professionals recommend completing two internships. The more experience you gain, the better you will look in the job market. A great source in looking for an internship is the PRSSA Job Center. You can access it through Google but it is a place where employers post job and internship listings specific to a career in public relations. It is a great resource and I suggest checking it out if you are searching for an internship or a job.
I think it is so hard for graduates in this economy. As a student athlete, I didn’t have the time to work or receive any internship experience until this summer. I wish that my internship could be paid, but I know that this is not the best time for companies and the work force in general. My brother recently got accepted into the Disney Program for the end of his freshmen year of college. Although he will get paid a little each month, that is still better than me! Internships are crucial to gaining on-hand experience and networking with potential employers, and I am grateful to have gotten offered one, even if it means I may have to look for a job on the side to make some extra cash. Hopefully you will have good luck with your career in the future!
[...] “Internships” by Stephanie [...]
Hey Stephanie! I thought this blog was really informative. I keep hearing how important internships are for getting your career started. I’ll start my first internship next month and I’m really excited! I was lucky enough to kind of just fall into my internship, but I really want to do more than one and your idea about prospecting was helpful. It sounds like a good bit of work but definitely worth it. I looked into the Disney College Program last year and that sounded like a lot of fun and I may try looking back into that for my second internship. Thanks for all the great tips!
Hey Stephanie,
Internships are very important primarily to offer us some experience within our field of choice. I had actually never heard of using prospecting before when searching for an internship. The way in which you described it makes me think of the actual search process. I had also heard about The Disney College Program before reading your post, but I had no idea all of the perks that came with obtaining one of their internships. I would love to have not only a pain internship and the employee discount. I would be a frequent visitor of Disney Land.
-Meghan