Why internships matter

By Toni Frana, Career Expert at Zety.com 

Internships are often the start of something that can meaningfully impact your early career path and they are certainly a building block of your career foundation. If college coursework and college clubs and associations are the first pieces you need to build your career, internships are a way to discover exactly the path to follow, and will help set you apart. 

While internships help build your resume by giving you needed experience, there are many more advantages to having at least one internship before you launch your career. An internship in college can ultimately lead to a job offer, give you networking opportunities, hands-on experience, and the chance to find a mentor. 

Zety, a resume templates service, looks further into the benefits of internships, and how you can make sure to take advantage of this opportunity as a young professional. 

Gaining Valuable Experience and Clarity

The exposure you gain from having an internship during college can be invaluable to you as you work toward launching your career. In fact, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), 50-60% of interns will be offered full-time roles. Working as an intern gives you the opportunity not only to land your first full-time role, it also helps you determine if your career goals are right for you. 

The experience gained as an intern can be very telling to you. You may find that the internship you have is an excellent fit for the work you want to do after finishing college. On the other hand, if your internship turns out to be something you don’t enjoy, you can evaluate whether or not you want to continue down the same path, or pivot to something that will provide you more fulfillment. Knowing what doesn’t work for you is as important as knowing what does, and the best way to make this discovery is by working as an intern in your chosen field. 

Building Skills to Strengthen Your Resume  

If the internship you have doesn’t turn into a full-time role after it ends, know that most employers appreciate entry level applicants with internship experience. This can give you and your application a boost when applying to other roles. 

An internship definitely helps bridge the gap between the coursework you’ve taken toward your degree and putting that theory into practice. The experience you gain during an internship lets potential employers know that you’ve applied what you’ve learned through school and have experience in a professional setting, not just in the classroom. Your experience will also help build both hard and soft skills, both increasingly valuable to employers in this market. 

According to data from resume builder LiveCareer, hard skills like project management and technical skills, as well as soft skills like critical thinking, negotiation, and communication are important to include on your resume when applying for jobs. With an internship, you will develop and strengthen your skillset and prepare for what’s next as a young professional entering the workforce. An internship can help you feel ready and confident in applying for jobs and able to tackle your first paid and professional role with that same confidence. 

Mentorship and Networking  

As an intern, you’ll likely have interactions with a larger team of professionals. Meeting other team members, more experienced employees, and people working across an organization allows you the opportunity to foster relationships and have meaningful conversations with others. This opportunity to make networking contacts for future opportunities, and through these contacts, perhaps find a potential mentor, is priceless. 

Leveraging this opportunity to have informational conversations with others doing the work you’d like to do (and even others in different departments), can shed light on what the industry is like, what the culture is like at the organization, and also provides you with an outlet to gain firsthand knowledge from those with more experience. Asking how others got started in their own careers and what they see as potential opportunities and challenges in the field can be very enlightening. Arming yourself with this knowledge will ensure you are as prepared as possible when exploring next steps after an internship. 

Not only are in person conversations great, you can also follow these connections and grow your network on digital platforms like LinkedIn. This helps you gain visibility across the industry to a wider, digital audience, as well as helps establish yourself as a professional in your field. 

Internships are Available Year Round

Previously, internships used to primarily be offered in the summer, but that’s not the case any more. Internships are available year-round, and can be in-person, remote, hybrid, paid, or unpaid. As a result, it’s possible to have more than one internship over the course of a college career. The opportunities will vary by location, company, and industry, so putting a plan together to secure an internship is important. 

A few things to consider when seeking an internship: 

• Plan Ahead: Give yourself time, as it can take 4-6 months to find and secure an internship.
• Be specific on your application: Make sure you are tailoring your resume in a way that highlights the skills and experience you have that align with the internship. 
• Be proactive: Talk to advisors, your career center, and older students to gather information and advice on best practices for securing your internship. 
• Get creative: If larger companies aren’t an option, consider smaller businesses and non-profits. 
• Use Resources: Your professors, career center, and internship job boards are great places to identify what internships are available. 

Being intentional, allowing ample time, and also putting together a plan for securing your first internship will make the process much more streamlined and easier to navigate. 

Internships Grow Your Confidence and Open Doors

No matter your major, there is likely an internship opportunity for you. Remember, internships are designed to be a learning experience. Be confident in what you’ve learned in the classroom, and lean into any experience and skills you have in order to show an employer what you can offer the organization as an intern. When you receive an offer, know that getting your foot in the door with a company is a great first step to learning who you want to be professionally.