I have been working with a client who has recently graduated and is currently applying for graduate internships and helping them with the process.
Graduate internships can play a critical role in career success particularly for those students who like a structured approach to planning their professional career going forward. Listed below is a breakdown of why they are important and how they can contribute to long-term career development.
Practical Work Experience
Gain practical work experience on the job.
Understand workplace dynamics and expectations.
Develop soft skills like communication, problem solving, teamwork and time management
An internship will provide both practical experience, studying around the subject matter, mentoring and coaching which can lead to additional accredited qualifications related to the industry.
Building up your CV
Having an internship on your CV can:
Set you apart from other candidates with only academic experience
Demonstrates to employers you have worked in a professional setting
Show concrete achievements to show and discuss at interviews
Career Exploration
Internships can help you clarify the type of work you enjoy doing or in some cases the type of work you do not enjoy doing.
Internees will spend time in different areas and try other roles within the business / organisation before committing to a particular career path
Internees will find out their strengths and areas they will need to work on
Hopefully through undertaking an internship will avoid long-term career mismatches
Build up Networking Opportunities
Internships are a great way to connect with other professionals and build up your knowledge in your chosen field
An opportunity to build relationships that could possibly lead to job offers or referrals
Many internships offer learning and development opportunities leading to accredited qualifications and being mentored and coached as part of the programme
Internees will gain access to job opportunities which may not be posted publicly
Pathway to Full-Time Employment
Lots of organisations use internships as a recruitment pipeline.
Those interns who perform well are very often offered full-time roles
The organisation has already invested time, money and resources and will know the internees’ capabilities and will decide towards the end of the internship whether to offer the intern a job
You already understand the company culture and workflow
It will save the company/organisation time and money in recruitment and training
Internships can lead to full-time employment
Skill Development
An internship enables the individual to build both technical and soft skills which may not be part of a degree programme. For example, using industry software, interacting with customers and attending meetings.
You will learn to work to deadlines and learn to handle positive and negative feedback
Internships are a good way to start your career as it enables you to learn on the job in a structured environment whilst being supported and guided at the same time.
If you are considering an internship please contact Alistair
If you are interested in finding out more about our Internship Programme please contact Alistair Stirling.
If you are interested in finding out how to find an Internship Programme please contact Alistair Stirling.
For a chance to have an initial Free 20 minute consultation with an experienced, qualified, impartial and independent career adviser please contact Alistair Stirling on (07904) 614946 or email us at info@stirlingcareersconsultancy.co.uk or contact us via our details above or below.
We look forward to hearing from you.
