Internships are one of the greatest opportunities available to students. It allows us to experience what it’s really like working in the field we’re majoring in. However, when we choose to do an internship is more important than it seems. Of course, actually getting an internship can be hard enough, and beggars can’t be choosers. But if you have the option, the third year (of a four year degree) is definitely the best time for an internship, based on both my experience and the opinions of employers. Here’s why:
Before, and even during third year, some students might change their major or discover that they’re more interested in other areas within their faculty. By waiting until third year to complete an internship, there’s a good chance that you’ve changed your mind for the last time and have finally settled on an area you’d like to work in.
Internships expose you to different areas in the same field, and although you may have thought one area was the perfect fit for you, you may be surprised to find another that interests you more. More than just helping you FIO your future career, this also means that you can have the most interesting fourth year possible. While selecting classes for your final year, you can choose courses and electives that specifically relate to your new area of favour rather than just filling up your schedule with classes loosely related to the field. Sure, bird courses are great for your GPA, but a class that interests you means that you’ll enjoy the work and do even better than you would in a random bird course.
Even better, by doing an internship in third year, you make connections in your industry right before you graduate and begin the desperate job search. Stay in contact with people you made good impressions on (and not so much the ones you didn’t get along with), and when you graduate, there’s a good chance they’ll be more than happy to help you in any way possible. Whether that means letting you know about open positions, keeping your resume on file, or passing your name along to colleagues, these connections are invaluable to a soon-to-be graduate! Taking an internship too early, like in first or second year, may make it difficult to keep in touch with your contacts – no matter how memorable you were while you were interning.
By putting your internship on your resume and searching for jobs post-graduation, employers will see that you have real experience in their field, and that it was recent too. And again, your internship will be fresh in your connections’ minds, so if you use them as references, they’ll remember exactly how helpful and hardworking you were.
While there’s no bad time to get experience and make connections in your field, an internship in third year has so many undeniable benefits. If you have the option, you can’t go wrong with a third-year internship. So go forth and intern!