To Intern or Not to Intern, That is the Question

Well if you want my advice I say, ‘TO INTERN!’ I can’t emphasize enough the value of a good internship. You think you know what career you want after you graduate, right? WRONG! I don’t care if you’ve taken every class and read every book on the topic, until and unless you’ve had an internship in your ‘field of interest’ you have no idea if it’s the right career for you. There is nothing like hands-on experience to truly understand and evaluate a prospective career.

If you’ve found a good internship, you will get to learn and experience firsthand the day-to-day ins and outs of the field; the real nitty-gritty, no holds barred exposure. You’ll sit in on meetings, try your hand at the various tasks, learn about the different personalities that gravitate toward that field, make great contacts, and most importantly, see if the industry is truly right for YOU. Furthermore, many companies require that you have internship experience before they’ll consider hiring you for a job. (Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that you get to put it on your resume!)
Common Misconceptions about Internships:

1. “I have to intern at a big, well-known, Fortune 500 company to get the exposure I’m looking for.” WRONG! In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I’ve interned at small and large companies and can tell you that more often than not, since big companies take on numerous interns at a time, not only are you more likely to get lost in the shuffle, you’ll probably end up doing more grunt work than real work. On the other hand, since smaller companies have fewer employees, they usually view interns as an extra set of hands and therefore are more than happy to let you help out with the ‘real work’.

2. “Internships are always full-time positions so I can only do one in the summer when I’m not in school.” Wrong again, at least most of the time! While some internships do require a full-time commitment, most companies are more flexible with the academic year schedule since they know that the interns are usually in school and because they’re not paying you (although some internships do pay!) As long as you can commit a certain number of hours per week you should have no problem securing an internship.

3. “Internships only involve drudgery.” I just graduated from college and I can tell you that a lot of my friends were opposed to internships because they felt this way. They thought the internship would only involve grunt work for them and ‘free labor’ for the company. If you do your research and you make it known to the company that although you aren’t opposed to doing some of the tedious work, first and foremost you are there to LEARN, you’ll be surprised at what an internship can really be like and what you will walk away with at the end of the term.

So remember, if you take the time to research and see what’s out there, speak up about your desires and needs (Be realistic! Absolutely NO divas allowed here; you’ll fail miserably), and work your butt off while interning, you’ll be on your way to a great learning experience and if you’re lucky, a possible job opportunity in the future. After all, it’s all about who you know, not what you know.

*Note: The opinions presented in this blog do not necessarily represent the views of oneTRUEzone.