An internship is a great opportunity to garner professional experience in your preferred discipline, develop your skill sets and build a professional network. However, one of the most important gratifications of an internship extends way beyond just getting a recruiter’s stamp of approval or strengthening your resume. In most cases, an internship crucially helps lay a strong foundation in a young professional’s career! In this article, we will help you understand critical aspects that go into maximising the value of your internship experience including setting goals, networking and more.
Importance of an Internship in Career Building
Internships play a crucial role in career development for students and graduates with a platform to open doors to bigger opportunities. Internships offer plenty of benefits that go way beyond what students learn in classrooms. Working with seasoned professionals can help them understand how targets are achieved in a professional setting and what challenges can emerge in different industries.
Internships are important for imparting practical experience, and they offer great opportunities for professional as well as personal growth. Through guidance and feedback from their superiors at work, interns can nurture their strengths, identify their weaknesses and work on developing in those areas.
One of the most underrated yet important benefits of internships is the opportunity to build a strong professional network. Working with experienced professionals can help interns develop key connections which can help enable better employment opportunities or even future business ventures. Even in the immediate future, internships are also a great way for companies to gauge whether an intern will be a good fit for the company before hiring them permanently or after they graduate.
Of course, the most obvious value that internships provide is helping students and graduates stand out in a competitive job market thus improving their chances of securing better opportunities at more desirable companies. Internships massively improve the credentials of a young professional, demonstrating their previous experience, and their commitment to learning and growth to potential recruiters.
In essence, although internships are not indispensable, they do pose as an essential tool for progressing one’s career and gaining competitive edge over other young professionals.
Ten Tips to Maximise your Internship Experience
Let us explore ten important tips that you can implement to help maximise your internship experience.
1. Set goals
While partaking an internship, ensure that you set specific goals that you want to achieve and extract from the opportunity. This helps you focus on what you want and it keeps you motivated throughout.
2. Communicate with your supervisor
Your supervisor could be the difference between a good experience and a bad one. Ensure that you regularly communicate with them, discussing about your performance and constantly asking for their feedback. This will help you personally gauge how well your experience is going and how you can enhance it further.
3. Be proactive
Being proactive is one of the most sought-after traits in by employers. Taking initiative on your own before being asked to do a task and seeking to learn at every opportunity will not only help you impress your superiors (and employers), but it will also help you grow quicker professionally.
4. Build relations
As mentioned above, your professional network can be vital for your career development in the future therefore it is important to try and build strong working relationships with not just your colleagues but also other professionals in the industry. There are additional steps that you can do to build a stronger network, like attending company and industry events, building connections and staying active on LinkedIn, and exploring group discussions and informational interviews.
5. Learn from your colleagues
Your colleagues are the best sources for learning about the industry and improving various aspects of your own contribution. Discuss with them on how you can improve your contribution, ask for their feedback on your work and if possible, ask them about their work to get a holistic understanding.
6. Document your progress
Always remember to make notes of the work you do, and the skills you learn. Try and understand which areas would impress potential employers in the future. These will be key when you update your resume and cover letter.
7. Participate in training and development sessions
Almost all companies conduct regular training and development sessions for their employees. As an intern, these are extremely valuable as they help you learn new skills and stay updated on industry trends for free!
8. Take on extra responsibilities
Not that you have to be a good-two-shoes, but it can really help taking on more responsibilities if you have completed the tasks assigned to you. Not only does it bode well with your supervisor, but it also helps you pick up new skills quicker on the job.
9. Ask for feedback
Feedback is one of the most effective ways to improve your skills and your delivery. Whether it’s from your reporting manager, your peers or colleagues from other team, try to make a habit of asking for feedback or how you can help improve outcomes.
10. Plan and Analyse your Next Steps
Once you have completed your internship, it is essential that you reflect on what you have learnt and the experience that you have gained. This will help you understand your next steps and plan what to do next and in the future.
Impact of an Internship on a Resume
As iterated, although not all young professionals opt for an internship, it does significantly benefit those who decide to pursue one. Having one or more internship experiences on your resume can help potential recruiters understand that you are ready to immediately transition into a professional environment in addition to the skills you have learnt.
Internships also clearly demonstrate your practical knowledge which is a key differentiating factor from graduates without any internship experience as they only have theoretical and academic knowledge. It also demonstrates a student’s initiative to actively pursue opportunities for professional development and growth.
Additionally, internships are highly important for candidates who want to garner prior experience in not just roles that relevant to them, but also in industries that they are interested in pursuing. For example, a marketing intern could also provide experience in social media or content creation, both of which are valuable skills for a marketing job.
Conclusion
Maximising the value of your internship requires a proactive effort and a well thought-out plan to ensure that your career goals remain at the centre of your focus. Your willingness to achieve these goals can effectively decide how successful your internship is. There are other external factors that do contribute to your experience as well, such as, your chemistry with your reporting manager, the company culture, your colleagues, etc. Always remember that an internship is not just a job to put on your resume, but it is a great opportunity for you to learn and grow. Take on every challenge that comes your way and the results will be endless. Your attitude can go a long way in transforming your internship into a valuable learning opportunity and a memorable experience.
