Benefits of Summer Internships for Career Building

Why not go on a vacation during your summer break? Why spend your summer holidays interning  especially when you aren’t even getting paid? Summer internships may not be as fun as going on a vacation but let me tell you not all internships are from hell like in the movie ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. A summer internship can be a fun, learning experience. It provides an opportunity to a student to gain valuable experience in his field of study or a field of his interest. Also, the knowledge that you get from books alone isn’t sufficient to prove that you have expertise in a given field. Unless you get some hands-on experience, you wouldn’t know how to apply the concepts that you have been taught in class. So, let us look at a few reasons why a summer internship can help you have a successful career ahead.

• Build your resume:  A resume is one of the most important tools for you to market yourself. Naturally, having a strong resume is really important for you to be considered for a particular job position. Summer internships provide you with a plethora of opportunities to work on various projects that look good on your resume. Also, if you intern in a creative field such as content writing for instance, you would have work samples that you can include in  your professional portfolio.

• Explore a career path: Internships are an excellent way for students to get firsthand experience about their field of study. Furthermore, internships can help a student decide if a field is right for them. You may also change your line or your career path if you intern in a field of your interest and decide to stick to it.

• Gain real world experience: Theoretical knowledge is important. However, it does not equip you with the necessary skills to tackle real life problems. Internships give you an opportunity to use the concepts and knowledge that you have learnt in class and put them to good use.

• Convert into a full-time job: Employers often look at internships as a way of scouting for future talent. It is easier and more effective for employers to recruit from a pool of good interns than to recruit freshers or outsiders. Naturally, internships have a good chance of getting converted into job offers depending upon availability.

• Establish career goals: Internships have the power to shape your career. Through an internship, you can assess your strengths and weaknesses and set short and long term goals for your future.

• Learn from the experts: During your summer internship program, you get a chance to learn from the best in your industry. They help you hone your skills and give you positive criticism that would help you grow further. In addition to that, you might also receive professional guidance from them which will help you with your future career prospects.

• Boost your confidence: An internship can be a real confidence booster for you. When you successfully complete projects and tasks assigned to you, it automatically gives you a sense of achievement and you grow in confidence. It also makes you get out of your comfort zone and come out of your shell.

• An edge over freshers: Employers always look for candidates with relevant work experience. An employer is more likely to hire someone with an internship experience over a fresher or somebody with a generic profile since he requires less training and can take up a position of responsibility. He may also receive a higher starting salary.

• Network with professionals: Internships give you an opportunity to work closely with your supervisors. However, you must not limit your interactions to your supervisor or your team. You should build connections with professionals from different departments and organizations so that they can refer you in case an opportunity shows up. In addition to that, it would also help you learn and grow professionally.   

• Improve your soft-skills: You have a sound technical background and specialised knowledge. Great! But the presence of key soft skills is what differentiates a good candidate from an ideal candidate. Recruiters look for key soft skills in a candidate such as communication, team-work, leadership, time management etc. A summer internship helps you build on these soft skills.

Here’s why a summer internship can be an excellent opportunity for you to build a successful career. For more information related to career building and recruitment, you can visit us at  https://pod.ai/employers