What is an internship?

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Before you can choose the perfect career it often helps to see and experience them first hand. Enter the internship. So these work experiences offer a firsthand view of different industries and job possibilities.

Understanding them and their different types are important because businesses offer internships in many different ways. They can be paid or unpaid and provide varying views into a career.

This flexibility makes it important to understand your goals to maximize their value for you. Read on to learn more about these powerful opportunities for your future.

Why is an internship important?

It is hard to know if you like something until you can experience it. This is why internships are so important as a step in anyone’s career development. They allow individuals to see firsthand how a job is performed. Items such as the work itself or how teams work at the employer.

Is this work you will want to do as a career? Will you be good at it? Will it be fulfilling for you? These are questions you can answer through internships. Further, just as important to knowing if you would like this career is finding out that you don’t. Better now then after further training or more work and time spent.

Who can get an internship?

These work experiences are available to people of all ages. This is different then in the past when they were more for just graduating college students looking for their first job. In todays world future workers start earlier in career development. Further, many move to different careers throughout their lives. In addition to college graduates, many others now require these powerful opportunities as well.

Using an internship to career transition

In addition to college students, many that have been working in one industry may want to start the process of a new one using an internship. This lets them check out their new career before making the switch in a less risky way.

High school internships

In many fields there has been a recent push for future workers to try internships while in high school. This helps address needs for more workers in these fields. It also supports a view that future workers should start earlier in many careers. Technical careers such as cyber security, marketing and more are now providing these jobs as early as high school to develop talent. You can go here to learn more about high school internships.

Come out of retirement with an internship

According to a recent study by Paychex, 1 out of 6 retirees are considering retuning to work. These experienced individuals have great expertise for various high-demand fields. An internship is a great way for them to see if this is the right decision or for them to try it. Similar to those changing careers that are still in the workforce this is another way to do it for a large part of our population.

Benefits

There are many benefits to trying an internship with really few drawbacks. Lets explore some of them.

Work experience

Your past work experience is the primary thing that gets someone a future job. However this is hard to get before you land that first job or when new to the workforce. Internships are a great way to get this work experience.

These opportunities also let you simply get to see what it is like to work in this type of job or business. This is very helpful in connecting the dots and moving forward faster.

Interview practice

Practice is very helpful for getting better at interviews. An interview is a meeting with the employer or hiring employee about the work opportunity and your fit for the role. Practicing interviews, even without selection, improves skills.

Expertise and support through an internship

Internships let you meet and work with people in a career of interest, which is a great aspect. Access to these people can be a great source of knowledge for you to further develop in this job area. They can also be a guide and support you before you intern and after. Finally, the more people you meet the more you can develop your network of contacts and resources for the future.

Internships give confidence

The unknown and change in general often scares people. An internship is a great way to let you see what a job is actually like and removes many of the unknowns and doubts. For many this should and often does give confidence as you continue your career development. Finally, if you don’t like a work experience this can also give you confidence that you are making the right decision to not further explore this area of work.

Internship details

Since there are many different types of internships, here are some common considerations that can help you choose the right one for you.

How long are internships?

These opportunities can vary in length but are often four to twelve weeks in duration. During this time an intern will work part time 2-10 hours per week. Again this can also vary depending on when the intern does the opportunity. Generally when done during the summer interns work more hours as they have more availability. Ensure that you discuss these things before committing to a specific opportunity.

Are they always paid?

Internships are not always paid, as it depends on whether the intern or employer benefits more from the opportunity. Employers must assess this using an evaluation or test with the Fair Labor Standards Act. As an intern, you must determine if the experience is valuable enough to take as unpaid. Common other factors that add value include getting school credit or the level of support from experts.

Skills versus experience

Gaining job experience during an internship is valuable. Another aspect to consider are other tech skills that can be learned. This is really important if this is a career area that you know you will want to make a career in. Access to experts that can guide you is something to heavily consider when choosing where to intern.

Will I get academic credit?

Many high schools and colleges offer programs that align an internship with school credit. Before you take an opportunity, you need to confirm this with the school or business.

Ensure that you work with the sponsor of a program at your school, the business contact, and your career or school counselor. Finally, make sure to balance any opportunities for school credit with pay, work experience and skill development.

When will I work on an internship?

Most internships are part-time and the times will vary when you work. You should consider all your schedule before committing to an internship. Key considerations include other school, job, family or commitments that must be balanced with the internship.

In the future, balancing competing things will not go away after you intern. So recognize that the skills that you get in balancing your schedule during an internship will be really helpful for you in the future.

How to get an internship?

Below are some simple steps to find an internship.

1. Research resources

If you are unsure of the type, industry or where you would like to intern, please remember this is ok. You are new at this stuff and not expected to have all the answers. So if you are unsure, talk with a trusted resource such as a career counselor or teacher. If you are out of school there are non-profits such as United Way or Work Development boards that can help. These resources are there to help you chose a direction or get ideas. Use them.

2. Establish your goals

After getting some inspiration, information, or both, it is important to establish your goals and objectives for an internship. This will help you compare available opportunities you later identify to these objectives to see if they are a fit.

3. Prepare for the Internship

Ensure that you build a resume, cover letter and establish a professional presence. This includes developing appropriate profiles on business related social networks such as LinkedIn. It is expected that you may have limited experience, but ensure you show any relevant experience you do have.

Further, if you have unprofessional things in any of your social accounts that are public, you may want to clean these up. You may also want to do mock interviews to ready for the real ones coming up.

4. Find available Internships

You can use the resources from the first step to find available opportunities. Another good idea is to go to a local conference or meet-up that is in the area you are interested in. Keep at it and you will get results if you put in the effort and are patient.

5. Interview, follow-up, and feedback

Make sure to do research and prepare for the company, the opportunity and any people that you will be interviewing with. Ensure that you have questions to ask and that you have practiced prior to the interview.

After the interview send a thank you for their time the next day. If you are selected for the opportunity great, and if not it is ok to respectfully ask for feedback. They may or may no give it but it can help you learn from the experience on what to improve.

Next Steps

If you are an adult or someone in high school you may want to explore pathways that include internships as an option.