Internship: How important are they?

In North America, an intern is one who works in a temporary position with an emphasis on education rather than merely employment, making it similar in some respects to an apprenticeship. Interns are usually college or university students or other young adults and can also be adults later in life seeing skills for a new career.

An internship may be either paid or unpaid (in the form of stipend), with paid internships being most common in the medical, science, engineering, and technology fields. Internship positions are available from businesses, government departments, nonprofit groups and organizations.

Internships offer benefits that may include instruction and mentorship; work experience; networking opportunities; and a verbal or written letter of reference. Ideally, the employer has thought carefully about these benefits and described them in the posting. It is also up to the applicant to research or ask about the details of the situation.

Internships essentially afford penultimate or final year students the opportunity to get their feet wet in the corporate world during their three-month summer break. Traditionally the main staple of the investment banking or management consulting careers, the internship has extended into other realms of industry, such as oil and gas, computer and even graphic design. Hence, for a lot of university or college students studying locally or abroad, this would be the time to try out a field for size before they commit to it.

What's it really like?
Many students who enter internships anticipate a boring experience of no work of real importance. At times, this can be the case if you end up with a supervisor with no time or a department with low activity. But, if your selection process goes well, you would have found a company that offers an experience that goes the extra mile both career-wise and socially.

"An internship is a great opportunity to try out a field before you commit to it. Pick the field you think you'll like best, and go for it," says Andrea Chung, 20.

Sometimes, you may be surprised at what you discover. "When I first joined, I thought I wanted a career in seismology. After my internship, though, I opted to pursue a career in reservoir engineering. The experience was a real eye-opener for me to put theory to practice and figure out my next career move," revealed Mohammed Idris, 21