Internships are Great for Your Career/Life

Here are a couple pieces from Bankrate on internships. The first says that internships are good career moves. The summary:

"Internships are something that can give you a leg up in your first job," says Martin Yate, author of several books on hiring and getting hired.

How can they do this? Let's list the ways:

1. They give you practical experience in a field, something most college graduates don't have.
2. They allow you to rack up real-world accomplishments -- perfect fodder for your resume.
3. They give you a built-in set of references.
4. They might just get you a job offer from the firm you worked for as an intern.
5. They can show you whether or not this line of work is to your liking.

The second piece lists 15 steps to getting an internship and is a great resource for those out there looking to improve their careers with an internship.

I actually had three internships before I finished with college -- and one of them saved my life. Here are the details:

• In my junior year of college, I interned for a lawyer because I was planning on going to law school. I hated it. Then, through a series of events, I discovered business, loved it, and changed my life's work. Boy am I glad I did! If I had gone one to become a lawyer, I think I would have been miserable for much of my life.

• Between my junior and senior years in college, I served an internship with the federal government. It was never going to be something I did for a living, but it was a great experience. I lived in my first big city (Washington, D.C.), saw all the great tourist sites our nation's capital has to offer and, oh yeah, learned some good skills as well. Really, it was just resume fodder (but quite good fodder at that) that paid fairly well. What a great summer that was!

• Between my two years getting an MBA, I worked at a big company in Indianapolis and made more money per month than I thought was allowed by law (something like $3,500 each month.) It was here that I started learning about the "real world" of business and was able to pocket a good amount of savings at the same time.

How about you? Anyone out there had an internship? Was it a good or bad experience?

Comments

[claymeadow]

don't forget if you call in "sick" for your internship make sure you post the drunken photos to your social network, especially if your boss on your "in" list. :-)

[Ben]

I am working in the entertainment industry right now and I can safely say that I would NOT have the job that I have if I had not interned.

Throughout college I held several, often unpaid, internships at various production companies, studios, and networks. I am now working for one of the companies that I interned for.

I think that I learned more about the entertainment industry through my internships than I ever learned in film school - and I am certainly further along in my career than many of the people that I went to school with who didn't intern.

By the way, I have been reading your website for a while, and have never posted until now - but I have learned several personal finance through reading your blog.

[Anitra]

I was not able to get any summer internships in college - thankfully, I discovered through my classes that I was in the wrong major. My school did offer some other ways to get real-world experience, which helped.

I did get an "internship" after my fourth year, which turned into a "real" job once I finished my two remaining classes in the fall.

I think a lot of students who don't stand out from the pack (not the top of their class, small/unknown school) have a hard time getting internships - especially if they are feeling a monetary squeeze. I know that I needed to make enough money each summer to cover all my expenses other than tuition and rent.

[Money Blue Book]

Intern as early as possible since they are usually for little to no pay. It's much harder to do an internship when you really need to start supporting yourself or others financially.
-Raymond

[KC]

My school had a mandatory co-op (internship) program for all engineering degrees. We had to complete at least five 10-week blocks while in school for a total of five years. I definitely agree with #5. In school I loved digital design and swore that I'd go into that line of business. I spent 4/5 blocks at intel and hated it. If I hadn't had the chance to co-op there, I probably would have ended up working there and being miserable.

[Marle]

Apparently, the internship scene in New Zealand can be quite crappy if this article is anything to go by:
http://idealog.co.nz/magazine/november-december-2007/features/creative-serfs

Because there is more supply than there is demand, interns are getting exploited left and right. I understand that you've gotta pay your dues, but be careful to not sell your soul.

I still believe in internships though -- I was lucky to have positive experiences as an intern and it led me to my first job straight out of university.

[Broke Grad Student]

I've done a couple of internships and a couple of summer jobs, and they've all been great experiences. Even the ones I didn't enjoy were great, because they helped me figure out what I didn't want to do. Having work experience not only improves your resume, it gives you something to talk about if you get an interview. Also, some industries use internships as a way to test out potential employees before hiring them, so it's the best way to get your foot in the door.