Organisations offer internships to provide the necessary training and work experience to students who have completed their academic journey or wish to pursue higher education after gaining some hands-on experience. Internships can shape your career by giving you the necessary exposure during or after your academic journey. Let’s understand why internships are so important for students.

Importance of an internship

Gain competitive advantage

After completing your study program, you will apply as a fresher when you look for your first job. You must remember that the recruiter will receive a sea of applications. For you to stand out from the crowd, an internship is essential as recruiters will prefer a candidate with first-hand experience. Your brief stint with any organisation on your resume can prove to be a turning point in your life.

Interesting facts:

·         Did you know that Bill Gates, billionaire and founder of Microsoft, did his internship at the state capitol and in the US House of Representatives?

·         Nearly 70% of the recruiters offer full-time opportunities to those who work with them as interns.

Explore beyond your comfort zone

You can experience your first presentation, meeting, cross-functional task, initial days of meeting the deadlines and more through an internship. You gain enriching insights during your training and officially become a part of a professional workspace. When you face new challenges, you will learn to adapt and become an effective problem-solver. You will be encouraged to push your boundaries and continuously evolve as a competent contender at work.

A chance to polish your networking skills

Whether you opt for an internship on your home turf or overseas, you will be part of a larger professional network. It will open a new window of opportunity to connect with peers, seniors, business leaders, trainers and influencers. It is when you connect with other executives you can delve deeper into their career paths and learn from their experiences.

·         Pro Tip: If you get a chance to do an international internship after completing your study abroad journey, you can develop a global outlook and learn from different cultures.

Find your passion

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle” – Steve Jobs.

Did you know that according to National Center for Education Statistics, ~80% of students change their college majors? Similarly, internships, too, can help you explore opportunities to find the right fit for you. When you work, you can get a chance to evaluate your interests and find the perfect career path that you would like to take ahead.

For instance: As a Computer Science student, you get to work closely in the Data Science domain during your internship. And if you are fascinated by your contribution to this domain, you can decide to build your career in Data Science.

Learn new skills

When you work in a team, you learn essential life skills, including people management skills such as effective communication, team management, accountability, patience, and flexibility, to name a few. Employers these days emphasise on soft skills of the candidate during the hiring process. Adaptability, conflict resolution, critical thinking, and teamwork are some essential skills you can develop during your internship.

Pro Tip: You can build a pleasing personality through internships instead of spending additional time and resources on personality development classes. 

How to find internship opportunities?

·      When you start your higher education, check with your university if they have tie-ups with MNCs. Some premier educational institutions offer career counselling and on-campus recruitment drive. Post completion of your studies, you can participate in these in-house recruitment drives.

·         Online recruitment resources are a rich reservoir of internship opportunities in various domains and functions. Desktop research can point you to the right internship as per your requirement.

·      Please remember that your peers and professors have connections and can help you in your search. So, build a good rapport with your faculty members right from the start of your academic journey.

So, now that you know the importance of an internship, you can start with the process of finding the right opportunity. It is essential to complete your academic journey before diving into internships. You can opt for a student loan if you find accessing quality education challenging due to a lack of finances. At Avanse Financial Services, we offer education loans for studying abroad and studying in India. If you have more queries, please connect with us.