When students reach their graduation year, in some courses, they are allow to choose to take on the internship paths while other courses have mandatory internship modules.
With a heavy workload, you may want to put in all your focus on pursuing your academic grades instead of doing your internship. You may think that you have all the time in the world to get into corporate field so you can’t afford to be distracted now when your priorities should be your studies.
Internships often put real-life perspective into books, turning theory lessons in lecture halls into professional workplaces and offices. Furthermore, it gives an added advantage in your resume if you apply for entry into universities or scholarships.
Not yet convinced? Here are 10 major reasons why students should do internships before they graduate:
Learn how to work in a professional environment
Every occupation comes with a different workplace environment that enables its workers to excel and contribute to the growth and development of the company.
In internships, you get to understand how these environments work, how to collaborate effectively and rise up the rankings as you become used to the working environment. You can use your experience to adapt well to any workplace you get into once you graduate.
Students who do not take internships only work on information they get from case studies and analysis from textbooks, which may not be totally accurate when it comes to understanding workplace environments.
Improves your resume
A majority of companies and businesses today prefer hiring potential employees who have working experience before they sign them on. This is also true for entry-level jobs, since early experience will let these companies know that the student is familiar with the job and won’t require additional training.
You can also use your internship experiences on your application for scholarship and entries to popular universities to set you apart from other candidates.
Gain real life working experience
If a student wants to get real-life working experience for them to be considered in the jobs they are considering once they graduate, going for an internship will be the best way to do it.
When a student does internships, they will be in the actual work environment they aim to work on and discover how they can adapt to their future jobs. They will also see what kind of career path they can expect and discover what roles are involved in certain industries.
Gain professional feedback
In school, you will only receive feedback from your teachers. However, in the workplace, you may be receiving on-the-job feedback from peers, supervisors and other management.
Your colleagues will not only target at your ability to work and follow instructions but you will be judge for your attitude, ability to innovate and how well you can communicate with people from different background and different age. These are important life skills that are not picked up in books.
Get the opportunity to watch and learn
If you want to learn more about the industry you want to work in the future, an internship can give you that opportunity.
Usually in an internship you will be assigned to a mentor where you are guided on how to do practical tasks. Take for an example, you may be assigned a small part to complete or ask to take part in major projects.
The ability to put theory into practice
In school, it is difficult for you to try out the ideas or theories without fearing the peer pressure of making a mistake in front of your classmates.
Whereas during your internship, you are expected to make mistakes so you can learn from them. You will be able to put what you have learned in the textbook into action, thus affirming the value of what you have learned from your lecturers.
You will get to be better at your craft and come up with new ideas inspired by your coworkers.
Understand yourself
Aside from helping you learn all the relevant information and skills you need to grow in the industry, the internship will also help you see if it is the industry you really want to be in.
Since you can see how the industry works through the internship, you will see if the knowledge and skills you have is enough to excel in the industry. This will help you to take decisive action towards choosing your degree course.
Build confidence
You will definitely grow as a person and be confident with your abilities if they take an internship. In the internship, you will learn different skills and new activities which you may not have developed during your academic years.
As you succeed in the tasks you get in your internship, you will become confident in yourself and improve your skills as part of your personal growth.
To get a shot in the company they want to sign up for in the future
Doing an internship will also give you an advantage at the company you want to work in.
If you do your best in your internship, the company may request for you to return or stay in the company as a full-time employee once you graduate. Many of the MNCs in Singapore are always on a lookout for brilliant interns whom they can groom to take on management positions down the road.
To broaden their network
Finally, going to an internship will also help you to develop your professional network outside your school. As an intern, you will get to know people from all walks of life who has many years of experiences, who you can reach out to for advice and other help in the future.
Don’t ignore the power of networking. The colleague sitting next to you may one day call you up to join his new start up.
Conclusion
Besides achieving academic success, it is important to prepare yourself for the real world. Internships allow you to do that in a safe controlled environment where you are given room to make mistakes. Whereas the consequences of making bad mistakes in your job may end up getting yourself demoted or worst, fired.
For more job related articles, do check these out:
Powerful Career Advice That Every University Student Needs
Amazing Personality Test Can Help You Choose Your Career Path
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