Internship - How you can find the perfect one?

Internship – How you can find the perfect one?

Internships have proven to be the best way for students who are still in college to gain some professional experience. In fact, a research shows that 80 percent of the internships get converted into full time job opportunities. Taking an internship when you are still in college will help you plan your post-college career. If this is your last semester and you have not taken up any internship as yet, then do not waste your time anymore.

Every day, competition in the employment sector is increasing and getting a job you like, when you are a fresher, is becoming more and more difficult. The number of candidates is more than the number of jobs available. So having some experience sets you apart from the crowd. Here comes the need of taking an internship.

Start researching:

List down the name of the companies you would like to work in. When you are clear about the kind of work you want to do, it gets easier to select the right company you want to work for.

Go for the companies where you can actually learn something rather than just earn a big name.

Find out what exactly you would like to have practical exposure in, apart from your routine studies. For example, if you are pursuing graduation in mass communication then you have to choose your area of special interest such as, Advertising, Public Relations, Journalism, Film making, Direction, etc.

Find out your strong and weak areas and try not to go for the weak ones.

Have a clear idea about what you expect from yourself and your career as this helps you in getting a perfect internship opportunity.

Be flexible about your work environment. Do not set any specific rules for yourself as the 'real world' is different from what you assume.
Work on making a professional resume.

Work on making a professional resume.

Preset your goals that you want to achieve during the internship.

Is internship related with career goal?

Getting an internship gives you an exposure to professionalism and gives you a real perspective of the people from the world beyond your college. Also, it helps you in understanding what your strength and weaknesses are.
Students feel that they already have a lot of college work, assignments and co-curricular activities. Why waste time in doing internships where you are paid less or, sometimes, have to work for free? But it is not about the stipend you get, it is about the significant experience you get in just one or two months' time.

You should come out of your regular routine and explore the challenging part in your career and build some experience.

Types of internship you can take up:

Paid and unpaid internships - While researching on internships check what the pay-scale is as it helps you in making a decision. It does not matter whether your internship is paid or unpaid. In many cases they ask you to work for free but they give you a wide range of learning experience.

Virtual Internships- Some students are not able to take time out for internship. For them there is also an option of working from home.

Summer and Winter Internships- No need to worry if you do not get an opportunity in one season, you have a chance to apply for another one. Most of the companies look for interns during the summer and winter vacations.

When you go for a job interview, the most important factor that employers look for is your academic performance as they want someone who can contribute to their organization with his/her talent.

The employers do take into notice what the student has learned at school or college along with the extracurricular activities. But an internship is like the icing on the cake for your resume and the chances of you getting selected in some good organization increases.
In a highly competitive job environment, employers want to see how much enthusiasm you have to be successful and work.