Value-Added Internship
“In almost every business, you learn by doing. The apprenticeship model is much more effective than the classroom for cultivating entrepreneurs"
This doesn’t just apply to building entrepreneurs, but also in making great employees. A survey carried out by International Labor office, reported that
more structured and formalized internships are also associated with better post-programme outcomes. These features include, in addition to the payment of a stipend, the presence of a mentor, access to health insurance, similar working conditions to regular employees and a sufficient internship duration to allow significant work related competencies to be acquired.
I started my Internship search many months before the anticipated start date, with a clear intention to intern with a software firm. Just like every job/internship search, I got a few rejection emails, some never replied, but finally, two great internship opportunities came through. One of the firms, I secured an internship at, was Genesys Tech Hub — a people-centered community, focused on growing talent, sustaining businesses and developing technical capacity in Nigeria. Going through the structured internship program at Genesys, made me realize how much positive impact a structured internship program could make to one’s student-career experience, rather than a random internship, done without any defined aim. If you want to know how to secure a good internship you can check out this article.
Here are some of the benefits that can be gotten from the right internship, which could be a motivator while seeking an internship:
- Opportunity to take your career plan, for a test drive: sometimes its difficult to tell, if your career plans are actually right for you, considering the fact you may not have had any experience, in your chosen career field. Interning in a particular field/under a particular department in a firm gives you the opportunity to experience what it feels like to take a career in that field, this will help you decide if a particular career will be right for you, so you can make the right adjustments, just in case it wouldn't. A good internship, will not only allow you to have the experience of working in a particular field but will also allow you to meet and interact with professionals specialized in your field of interest or across other fields. This experience shapes your career decision making.
Internships enable you take your career plan for a test drive. You might discover by interning in your planned career field that it’s not what you thought it would be like. Or you might discover that one area of your chosen field is a better fit for you than another.
2. An Environment, where your skills can be honed:
The environment you find yourself in, can go a long way to shape your life — skills, health, relationships e.t.c. An office environment comprises not only the physical environment, but also includes the workers. An office environment with a structured internship usually makes provision for accommodating interns, not only with a conducive environment but will the right support and resources, that can help you improve your skills and gain the necessary experience. They would usually have a work culture and office policies that support this. During my internship, you had the liberty to work into any office, and seek help from anyone whom you felt could help you. This helped me, in improving my skills, as it was easy to get help and mentorship.
3. Improved Interpersonal/Team skills: interpersonal/team skills are very important skills one needs to have. This is as important as technical skills, because there is only so little that can be done alone, and you will, therefore, need to work/interact with other people.
“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”
Interning with the right firm will give you the opportunity to work, interact and collaborate with other people, thereby helping you improve your “interpersonal skills”.
4. Stronger Social and Professional Network: you may probably not care so much about your network, but here are some quotes that give you reasons why you should care about your network:
“Networking is not about just connecting people. It’s about connecting people with people, people with ideas, and people with opportunities.” — Michele Jennae
“The successful net-workers I know, the ones receiving tons of referrals and feeling truly happy about themselves, continually put the other person’s needs ahead of their own.” — Bob Burg
“Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.” — Steve Jobs
Not all opportunities are gotten through very formal application processes, some opportunities come from recommendations. Don’t try to connect with people with the selfish interest of exploring benefits that could come from the relationship. A genuine interest in people, is a good way to build good relationships, which becomes your network.
5. Gain more confidence: I personally think this was one of my Biggest takes, from my internship. No one may ever sit you down, to teach you about confidence, but in a good workplace, an enabling environment is set in place to encourage people to truly express themselves. This could help you become more confident in expressing yourself. The experience of having worked in a professional environment, also makes you more confident, while interviewing with potential employers in the future.
There are so many more benefits that could come from securing the right internship, these are just a few of them.
If you would like to view a list of current and future internship openings across good companies, click on this link (a GitHub repository with current and potential internship roles). You can also follow @genesystechhub on twitter, so as to know when the learnable’20 application is opened(currently open).
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