Top 5 Reasons to have a Professional Internship
By Katie Arango
At this point, it’s probably going to come as no surprise that completing a professional internship is probably a good idea for your future career. But why exactly is it that internships have become the new interview? Here are our top five reasons to get a professional internship:
1. Decide if your chosen field is right for you
One of the main benefits of getting a professional internship is to see if you’re headed in the right direction career-wise. It gives you a great opportunity to wade into your field to see if this line of work is really for you. If not, you’ve got plenty of time to tweak (or outright change) your career track. If you’re a great writer, should you go into journalism or communications? If you love marketing, would you thrive in a start-up environment, or would you prefer agency work? How to figure that out? Get an internship!
2. Give your resume a boost
It’s the standard Catch-22: you can’t get a job without experience and you can’t get experience without a job. One way to break this frustrating cycle is with a professional internship. Whether it’s for two months or six months, you’ll gain hands-on experiences that will show a future employer that you’re ready to hit the ground running at a new position. And in this job market, you want to get any edge you can among your peers, and an internship (especially an international internship) can help you stand out in a crowd.
3. Apply your classroom knowledge
Let’s face it, even the best college education will likely have a lot of theory and much less actual experience. A professional internship is a great way to see how what you’ve learned at university can be applied to the real world post-graduation. Not to mention, it can be very rewarding to see yourself having an actual impact on your chosen field!
4. Have more to talk about on a job interview
Not only can having a professional internship help you land the job (or grad school) interview, but it can also help you ace it! If you’ve had an internship, you can give industry relevant examples to highlight your knowledge and skills. And if you’ve had an internship abroad, your anecdotes should demonstrate cultural awareness, initiative, maturity, communication skills, and flexibility – among many other skills that are highly coveted by employers!
5. Networking
It’s all about the networking! And this goes beyond just getting excellent letters of reference from those in your field! Take advantage of your interactions with professionals in your chosen field to get their take on the industry to see what a day-in-the-life is like for them, and what challenges and opportunities they’ve had along the way. Your supervisors and coworkers are excellent sources as advice and potential mentors.
What was your number one reason for getting a professional internship?
Katie Arango
Program Director, Argentina:Katie, a US native, had traveled to Buenos Aires on several extended trips before the citys lure became too strong and she decided to call it home. Long fascinated by the global scene, Katie earned a degree in International Studies from Miami University and spent time studying and living in Madrid, Spain. She then worked in marketing for an international board game company followed by a brief foray as an online community editor for several websites before joining the Connect-123 team. Still a tourist at heart herself, Katie loves watching newcomers discover the charm of Buenos Aires and takes great pleasure in helping them make the most out of their work and volunteer opportunities while experiencing everything this dynamic city has to offer.
My number one reason is number one which is Networking, to know exacle what challenges aand oppotunities along the way.