In recent years, it has become increasingly common for college students to have a paid or unpaid internship under their belt when they graduate. To be competitive in the workforce and give yourself a head start in your job search after graduation, it is more necessary than ever to apply for meaningful internships.
In order to find out which type of internship would be right for you, here are some answers to some of the most frequently asked internship questions.
Simply put, an internship is a work experience at work that is related to your current career interests or field of study. Internships can be paid or unpaid, and can take place during the academic year or during the summer. All internships are short-term, but can last from a single week to a full year. Most internships function as training opportunities and some, especially those that take place during the school year, can be research projects where a teacher or company wants a student to study a new topic of interest.
Regardless of when the internship takes place or how much it pays, the experience can provide you with a number of invaluable opportunities.
Some can give you more practical experience and others can provide an opportunity to shadow key executives or participate in weekly meetings. A company may offer you the opportunity to dive deep into a single project and present your findings to company leadership; Another may give you the opportunity to work across departments, giving you wide exposure to many parts of a company at once. Asking yourself what you want to get out of an internship is essential to know what will be the best fit for you.
An internship is an official program offered by an employer to potential employees. Interns work part- time or full-time in a company for a certain period of time. Internships are most popular with undergraduate or graduate students who work for one to four months and have a goal to gain practical work or research-related experience.
The modern concept of internships essentially stems from medieval apprenticeship, in which skilled laborers (often craftsmen) would teach a young man their trade and in return that person would agree to work for the teacher for a certain period of time.