What is an Internship Program?
When it comes to internship programs, it’s beneficial in two major ways. First, Employers will have the chance to find the right candidates with the right talent. Second, being the Straight out of college /young people/job seekers/freshers will have the chance to get first-hand industry experience. Internships will help them gain industry knowledge, experience, and enhance their skill-set. The internship could be a real-work experience for you, and that’s why you shouldn’t miss the chance when you get one. Moreover, apart from experience, internship programs are a great way to build good work ethics, time management, and other essential qualities. The internship is like a “career-oriented” learning process and experience in simple terms.
To better understand what an internship is and why we should do it, we have taken the liberty of making this article more of a “questions and answers” type. It’s going to be easy for you to get the whole idea. Let’s begin.
Why should you do Internships Programs?
The importance of internship programs and why you should do it can be put in 5 simple points as:
1.) You should do internships to gain real industry experience.
2.) You will gain real knowledge. You can enhance your skills and performance rate. It can help you stay current with industry standards.
3.) You will learn real work ethics, time-management skills, communicative skills, and other important professional qualities.
4.) Your resume stands out from the rest. Internship experienced resumes are preferred over high GPA grades.
5.) You can find a future line of interest to you.
Who offers Internship Programs?
It depends. Colleges (undergraduates & graduates separately), corporations, industries, brands, schools; some government agencies, and even start-ups are offering internships. We have to understand the fact that companies don’t offer internships to guarantee a job. Internships are offered by them to filter talents to recruit as well as impart industry-experience. If you get the job, it’s good. If not, you gain knowledge and experience.
If you are a college student, the internship arena is wide open with multiple opportunities. It can help you land entry-level jobs. For employees, the company may offer internship programs or any other skill-building programs. In most cases, internships are offered mostly for young talents and new graduates.
What are the Types of Internships offered?
All major types of internships come under these basic categories, which are:
i) Industry-Specific internships. Ex: finance, marketing, social media strategies, productivity, technical side, etc.
ii) Voluntary Internships
iii) Time of the year Internships. For Example, Summer/Fall Internships
iv) Internships abroad
v) Paid Internships
vi) Unpaid Internships
vii) For College/School students, there could be “Course-Credit” Internships.
viii) For Employees, it could be in the form of training skill-building programs. It can also be in terms of gaining knowledge in a different field altogether. For Example, an employee can become an intern for a short-time (somewhere or in the same company) to gather knowledge and experience in a new-field or such incidences.
What is the actual time-span? How long we have to do an Internship?
Short term Internships – The period can vary from weeks to a couple of months. It can also be for a few weeks or even for a few days too.
Long term Internships – They are mostly over six months to a whole year or two.
Although people undergo internships for even a few weeks or days, the time limit of ‘Six months to a year or two’ is probably the most followed internship period.
If we consider the “Time-of-the-Year” type of internships, they are different. For Example, Quarterly internships will have their own time. Summer Internships may last for a month or two. Internships over winter-break can last for approx. Four months and such.
The internship period also depends upon the type of work/course/skill-set too. If it’s a new field that your company/employer wants you to learn, you may have to intern for even a year.
The exact internship time-periods depend upon the subject matter, be it for colleges/schools/ companies.
What do we cover in an internship program? What do we do while Interning?
Initially, the Interns will be given training on tasks/jobs they have to do and what they will be working on. It can also be talk sessions to discuss their role as an intern in the company and about what their nature of work is. Interns will learn step by step at a slow pace, and they don’t get anything first-hand.
If they are interns who are still studying, internships will be mostly related to their subject or any specific area. It can be taken as a credit for their degree or not.
The role/work of an intern varies depending on your employer or mentor, or it can be based on the type of internships that you have taken.
Interns may be asked to assess already working employees in their job, or they can be given their own set of tasks.
Internships can also involve in making the interns study, process work documents, process data, or any specific task-completion to that of visiting different places and meeting people.
How many hours is an internship?
The hours of work vary drastically from internships to internships. It can be a half-day daily for seven days a week. Internship working hours can also be like normal 9-5 job times i.e., normal 8-hour window.
Sometimes the employers/companies will say the word as the time-period could be a total of say 75-100 Hrs. per week. It can also vary from Interning for about 5 Hrs. per day for seven days. The hours of internships vary depending upon the situation.
If you have a large period of say six months to one year, then an intern can work accordingly by spending a few hours per day or normal 8 Hrs. or over-time till the work is done.
The interning hour also depends upon employee/student availability. For instance, Internships could be their second part while degree/graduating/job will be their primary thing in hand.
An internship hour depends upon situations like the above.
Do interns get paid? Do Internships are paid?
High percentages of internships are paid, while a few percentages are not paid. People do prefer internships that are paid, but few are just here to gain experience alone.
In the case of No-Pay Internships, some employers offer allowances to their interns. It can be in the form of travel or accommodation or food allowances and such.
How can you apply for Internships?
Internships are offered at a specific time of the year in which the employer/company would find it useful and appropriate. If you are looking for a career, then keep looking at the company’s official details. It will show you the internship programs offered, the time, and the duration.
Some employers/company has traditional time-of-the-year where they offer their internship programs to young people. Like for instance, Company A usually offers Internships programs in the fall months for six months.
If you are a college student, you will be better aware of internship programs, time, and duration offered by your college.
You have to be on the look-out for internships. Some may be offered to you, while some may be tough. For Example, some companies/employers bring selected candidates for their internship programs through tests. If this is the case, then prepare yourself well and start looking for good places to join as an intern.
If you are focused on any specific line-of-work or the specific subject of interest/skill-set, then choose internship programs according to them. It will not only help you gain experience but also help you get a strong-hold on your niche area.
If you like to intern in any specific place/company, they are on the look-out. See if they are offering any internship programs at what time and duration.
To gain knowledge, people do search for internships and don’t care about money. For them,
In conclusion:
Internships are a great way to start your professional career. You get to know the actual happenings, see the industry standards, and stay current. Not only that, being an intern will teach you many important work ethics, which are important when you step into your professional careers.
We hope that this article about ‘what an internship program is’ and ‘why you should do an internship’ will be of use to you. The other detail about internships will also be able to give you insight into internships.