This post target the aspirants who are about to finish the college or are in last leg of obtaining their graduation certificate, even important for those who are recent passed out and are waiting for a good job offer or yet to be placed. The answer in one –GET ON TO INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
An internship is a period of work experience offered by an employer to give students and graduates exposure to the working environment, often within a specific industry, which relates to their field of study. Internships can be as short as a week or as long as 12 months. They can be paid or voluntary
The purpose of the internship program is to get real exposure to the industry picking up relevant skills and knowledge the intern is employed at. A good internship program or let’s say a chartered internship program not only gives you practical aspects of the responsibility level but also increases the chances of getting absorbed on a full time employment. Here are the few snapshots of what industry research says
“Interns are hired in the companies where they practice internships with success rate of 72.8%”
“the chances of landing in a good job are increased by 56% if you have an internship certification of relevant skill”
BENEFITS OF INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
SHARPENS YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
No matter how many books you read or how many classes you take, nothing beats on-the-job learning. Not even the best teacher in the world can give you the kind of deep knowledge and insight you can get from on-the-job learning.Look at it this way. What you read goes into your head, but what you learn from experience goes into your heart. In other words, learning from books is a mental process, while experiential learning is emotional as well as mental.
Let’s assume there are two drivers. One spends about 10 hours a day behind the wheel, driving. The other reads about driving for ten hours a day. Which of the two do you think will have the quickness and presence of mind to navigate the car in real drive test? You can’t learn how to drive from reading books. You have to get behind the wheel and drive. Similarly, there are things about your profession that you can only learn by experience.
This is why recruiters and employers prefer job candidates who have had some work experience. if you have done an internship, you will already be familiar with what needs to be done in the work setting. You will at least be aware of the basics. That means you can start delivering right from the word go, which is exactly what most employers want.
EXPOSURE TO VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS AND TASKS
An internship program is highly significant to introduce you to the office automation, work flow and to know various departments and their respective role in the organisation. Internships are at times hard to execute, but they build your competitive muscles to face the industry challenges
During the study programs you are in theory or practicals [in controlled supervision] but in industrial exposure you learn to execute professionally. The recruiters are interested in what you can do not what you know. Internship pressures have a way of making us bring out our A-game. It intensifies our emotions, thoughts, and memory, and sharpens our clarity.
GIVES YOU EDGE IN JOB MARKET
Jobs aren’t easy to come by, especially at the entry-level. You might have noticed that most companies are asking for job candidates with a minimum of about 2 or 3 years of experience. Such employers will not look twice at someone coming in with absolutely zero experience.
This has always created a sort of chicken and egg dilemma for graduates. You need experience to get a job, but you need a job to get experience. Doing an internship gives you some sort of shortcut into getting experience. Since getting a job a job without experience is a tall order, why not get the experience you need from an internship, moreover it develops essential TEAMWORK to work along different people and colleagues.
Employers understand that someone who has had an internship has already learnt most of the basics and therefore won’t need a lot of prior training before they can settle down in the job.
NETWORKING WITH PROFESSIONALS AND MENTORSHIP
Mentors are all around us. Who makes you feel confident, inspired, focused, and is willing to share their experience? –
—Anna Letitia Cook
In the working world, it’s all about who you know. As an intern, you will be surrounded by professionals in the industry. Internships are more than just about earning credit, getting a grade, or making money; internships provide an opportunity to learn from the people around you, ask questions, and impress. The professionals you encounter during an internship can be your future colleagues or the connection to your first job.
GAIN CONFIDENCE
Internships allow you to test out specific techniques learned in the classroom before entering the working world. It’s an opportunity to apply what you have learned in a safe environment where mistakes are expected – rather than learn the hard way in your first job out of college.
TRANSITION TO A JOB PLACEMENT
Many companies use internships as a way to enhance their recruitment efforts. In some cases, a company may decide to hire an intern at the end of the assignment. Even if a job offer doesn’t happen right away, an intern who makes a favorable impression could receive an offer down the line when an opening occurs. It’s a way for companies to test out an employee before committing to hiring them.
WRAPPING IT in simple words , internship program makes the qualification complete in all respects and develops confident personality, exposure and skill enhancement in the freshers, which in long term helps them in progressive careers.
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