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It’s almost the season for job hunting. A lot of juniors and seniors may have already experienced internships by now. However, freshmen and sophomores are probably wondering why it is so important to intern during college. For those of you who aren’t sure why they should do an internship, here’s a list of 5 reasons.
Looks impressive on your resume
Internship experience gives you a competitive edge to your resume. The fact that you have been an intern means that you have taken that one step further in your college career to gain experience. Having a list of experiences other than your part time job enriches the quality of your resume.
Trial the career field before making a decision
There are huge risks to go straight into a job without any insights on how work is done in that company. Corporate culture, working style, communication style, workers’ mindset and personality – there are many dimensions to think about when choosing a job.
Even if it was your dream job, you might hate it. You will never know how it feels like to work at that company unless you actually work there.
It sucks to hate your job after all the time and effort you put in to job hunting. And it’s usually really difficult to change jobs early in your career. By doing an internship, this disappointment can be avoided.
Might lead to your future career
Not all but some internships, especially 外資系 foreign-affiliated internships, will directly lead you to getting a permanent position in the company. In many cases, internships are a part of the screening processes for new graduates to be hired. It is difficult for recruiters to judge the candidates’ skills and capabilities in just a short interview. It is also a good opportunity for students to show their strengths and sell themselves more effectively, because you are given the time to demonstrate your skills in an internship than just in an interview.
Preparation for actual job interviews
Most internship programs have selection processes through submission of Entry Sheets, SPI (online examinations), group discussions and interviews. The entire process for an internship application is almost exactly the same as actual job screening processes. Not only the process itself, but the questions which you may be asked during the interview and the online exam is also very similar. Even if you don’t get the internship, going through this process is a good learning experience for you to prepare for the real scenario later on. It’s not as serious an issue to mess up during an internship interview than in a job interview as you’ll still have a chance to prepare for the real job interview.
You will gain professional knowledge and skills during your internship, which will help you to talk more comfortably(confidently?) in interviews. The experience of having had an interview in the past can also simply serve as a topic to talk about in your interviews later on.
Networking
You will meet a lot of people during your internship, whether it’s your group members, participants or employees at the company. Getting to know the people from the company you want to work for is also very important, as you will get to know the corporate culture. Getting to know the most recently recruited employees is important as well, as you will have the chance to ask for tips on preparing yourself for online tests and questions that you may be asked in the interview.
Don’t wait until the last year of your college to do something. When you’re a freshman you feel that 4 years is a long time, but college years pass by quickly and you’ll realize how little time you have towards the end. You don’t want to panic in your last year and regret your poor time management skills.