The choice to do an internship is easily one of the most important decisions you could make in college.
If you’re going to read one article on this site, read this.
I am amazed at the amount of students who have not had internships by time they graduate college.
Obviously there are some students who have extenuating circumstances, whether that is being a caregiver, working full time, or something of the like. However, many students have the freedom and time to find an internship.
But what do they do instead?
They party. They watch TV. They nap.
I’m not saying that those aren’t important to make time for, but the key here is balance.
Why do you need an internship?
- Potential pay
- Networking
- Social life
- Degree credit
- Experience
- Career insight
In the article below, I will walk you through all of these reasons for needing an internship, and I will give you some suggestions on how to take the next step forward.
#1: Potential Pay
You can look at this one two ways. First, there’s the possibility that you will get something that pays, will give you experience in your field, and will allow you to make connections. Paid internships are becoming more and more common, especially in certain sectors. Chegg’s website on internships has a helpful page here to narrow down your search and determine which sectors pay the best. For some sectors, 75-95% of employers pay their interns! Personally, I have known people who earned the same hourly salary as a first year employee while working their internship, and they even got a subsequent job. Their summer internship took them much further than an ordinary summer job would have, and many of them still work for the company they interned with today! That brings me to my next point–networking.
#2: Networking
There’s a phrase that you will commonly hear throughout your job search: it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. According to LinkedIn, about 70-80% of jobs are found through networking alone. That’s huge! Quite a few jobs are never even posted, or, in certain fields, they are written for specific candidates. By finding a contact or a foothold in your industry or dream company, you could have a better shot. An internship is the perfect way to demonstrate your work ethic and qualifications. As a whole, people prefer to hire workers who they do not have to train as much. If you intern for a company and do a good job, you’ve already passed that first interview. According to a Forbes article, up to 60% of paid internships lead to jobs for applicants. That kind of possibility is fantastic when you start considering post-college life!
Even if you don’t end up going into that field, you’ll make connections with people. Maybe you started out in politics, but you met someone who worked in real estate, got a subsequent internship with them, and found your calling (true story for one of my friends). Meeting people, doing your best, and making those connections are the best steps you can take to laying the foundation for a strong career.
#3: Social Life
Want to make friends with the same interests as yours? The same potential career paths? Dreams?
An internship is the perfect way to do that. Personally, I have met some of my best and longest lasting friends through internships. There is something extremely bonding when you are going through the same things with someone, working often with them, and sharing ideals. Then there’s the fact that you’re voluntarily doing this internship! You aren’t forced to do this to survive like you are with a job. It is absolutely your choice to test the waters with this internship, and other people will have taken that step too. Happy hours, company events, and long nights together will provide for great opportunities to make lasting friendships.
As a personal example, I interned in politics my junior year of high school to my freshman year of college. The friends that I made when I was 17-18 are the ones that I still talk to today! This is largely because of the fact that we would stay up super late to put events together. We would deal with the same crazy people. All of us joined for a reason, and although many (most) of us decided that politics wasn’t for us, those interests and stories still bond us. That in and of itself was enough to make me incredibly grateful for doing the internship.
As a last thought, it’s a great way to get off your college campus. While it’s absolutely great to have friends on campus, there’s a different feeling about being involved in the community. Your college town starts to feel more like a home, and you feel more loyalty toward it. That sense of belonging is unbeatable.
#4: Degree Credit
Many universities offer degree credit for completing internships. This can either help you graduate or help you bump up your credits.
In my university, many majors even required internships as part of a capstone program. All I had to do was complete a certain amount of internship hours per week, attend a few classes (around four), and write a capstone paper discussing an issue my internship addressed. My Honors program was the same way, and they didn’t even require us to write a paper! While not all universities are like this, it can be very helpful to check. That three units made my schedule so much easier one semester, and it was also an excuse to get out and get some money (while getting school credit)!
I highly recommend checking with your advisor to see if this is an option. Even if it isn’t a requirement for your major, they could know of a way that you could get general credits for an internship OR they could offer helpful advice/connections.
#5: Experience
If you’ve ever looked for a job, you’ve probably encountered the conundrum that frustrates me to no end. You apply for an entry level job, but they want an insane amount of experience. Why do you need three years of office experience to be an administrative assistant earning barely more than minimum wage?
You shouldn’t have to. Yet in order to get ahead and be a competitive applicant, it certainly helps to have this experience. Participating in an internship is one of the best ways to gain industry-related skills, and it also helps you to grow your transferrable skills. Unless you are in an internship where you’re literally getting coffee for someone (which I’ve never actually seen in real life), you’re building skills. Some potential resume-builders include:
- Google Suite (what can you do with Google Suite? What can you create? How do you use it?)
- Microsoft programs (Excel, PPT, Word, etc.)
- Graphic design programs
- Various databases and contact programs (i.e., MailChimp)
- Web design skills (i.e., WordPress)
- Industry-related programs (i.e., engineering platforms, accounting programs)
- Event organization
- Soft skills
- And much, much more!
The organization, platform, and overall knowledge that you accumulate is priceless, and I have been able to use my skills in many, many different industries. An internship can be the best thing to take your resume from okay to fantastic.
#6: Career Insight
One of the most helpful things about my internships were that they helped me to determine what I did and did not like in terms of careers. That knowledge was honestly just as valuable as the skills I gained. My high school internship helped me to deduce the parts of politics that I liked (interacting with people, planning events, organizing, communication) and the parts that I didn’t like (partisanship, finance, precinct walking, cold calls, etc.). This then helped me to choose a major that eliminated the less savory parts of politics. Subsequent internships helped me to narrow down what I liked, disliked, excelled at, and needed more help with. Eventually, through a combination of internships and jobs, I was able to figure out where I belonged.
The beautiful thing about internships is that they are a way to dip your toes in without having to dive in. You get to sample your potential career path, and the earlier you do this, the sooner you can figure out, oh, maybe that’s not for me. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, and it’s much better to figure it out while you’re in college and can change your path more easily. On the other hand, maybe your internship completely reaffirms what you want to do, and that’s fantastic! The experimentation and discovery not only allow you to make a more informed decision about what you want to do, but they also offer you some peace of mind and make you a more well-rounded applicant.
A Final Word
College is a time when you have many things going on at once, and sometimes it can be difficult to figure out what to prioritize. However, an internship should make the top five things that you do. From getting ahead in school and work to making friends and connections to learning more about yourself, you can’t go wrong with an internship. In a world of ever-raising expectations, internships are the perfect way to set yourself apart. For reference, only about half of students do internships, with that number declining in recent years. Help to raise that number and put yourself ahead!
Have any questions, need any advice, or want to add your experience? Let me know in the comments below!
