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Internships - Why they are
Important, When to Start Looking, and How to Obtain One
With the hustle and bustle of everyday class, studying, and assignments, students are often too busy to to think about internships. In reality this is the most important factor a student needs to consider.
Students often make a big mistake by not obtaining an internship and then end up working at a job that does not pertain to their field when they graduate. Remember you only have six months after graduation before you have to start paying those loans! Don't get stuck in a low paying job that you have to take in order to make your student loan payments.
Internships are the key to obtaining a competitive advantage over all the other competing graduates. Companies nowadays are looking for college graduates that have experience in the field rather than a a student with only a degree. A student with an internship will have the necessary experience to get started right away with a job and have the knowledge of how a company atmosphere works.
Some universities require you to have an internship either with a real company or they offer an internship class in which you have to complete a certain project. Regardless of what your university requires, students should always seek an internship outside of the classroom.
In class internships will not allow you to build social networking skills needed to enter the business world. Often times internships will lead to your first job. If the company you are with does not plan to directly hire you then you should build a social network with the people you work with because this can always lead to great references and in some cases job referrals.
If the company does not plan to directly hire you than you should stay six months and then look for another company internship. There is nothing wrong with switching around to different companies to gain more experience and possibly a full time job. The more experience you have the better off you will be when it comes to starting your career.
Another important thing that students should keep a journal of the tasks and projects that they complete on a daily basis. This will allow you to build a successful resume and also explain your tasks in interviews after graduation. Trust me it is worth taking the extra 15 minutes at the end of the day to write a short description of what you completed.
The best time to start looking for an internship is your junior year. This allows you to have complete two year of classroom work and will give you some time to play with if you do not like the first internship you get. In addition, you will have two years of experience by the time you graduate. So take a trip to the career center at your college and ask them if they know of any local companies that are hiring. This is the best place to start because a lot of local companies will send them openings rather than post it on a job website or the paper.
You will also want to check websites such as monster and career builder in addition to local papers. Most companies start internships over the summer so it is best to start your search in April or May to get a head start.
There are a few factors you will want to consider when choosing a company to complete your internship.
The first factor will obviously be the field that you want to get into. With each college major, there are a variety of fields that you can go into. The internship should be as close to what you want to do after college as possible. You will want to surround yourself with mentors that you can learn the ropes of the business from.
The second factor should be location. Remember the closer to campus you are, the more hours you can put in because you can go to class and return to work easier.
Other factors will include how willing they are to work around your class schedule and study time, how much responsibility they are willing to give you in order to meet your learning needs, and how much you can grow within the company.
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