Field Experience

The internship is the most used way by higher learning institution students to join the job market after they are done with their studies. Internships are short time job position that may result in permanent employment. Most employers provide these jobs in their effort of talent searching and provide a stepping stone for employees to develop their experience. Students who are still learning and those who have just graduated use internship to meet degree requirements and improve their work skills. Doing this has its own advantages and disadvantages as expressed below.

Improved hiring potential

Practical work experience provides students with skills that are required in the job market. This improves their market value because most employers look for people who have some experience in the line of job they have applied for. According to the Berklee College of Music, less risky job seekers are most preferred by employers. Less risky job seekers are those people who have revealed their capabilities by successfully undertaking and completing an internship as opposed to those who have no practical experience even though they performed well academically. Students are always advised to set goals with their intern supervisor and be industrious in there working and this can assist them in landing a permanent job with the company or get a good recommendation. Making extra efforts in undertaking their duties can also be a bonus.

Learning

For a student, to realize that they have gained from the class learning in college or university, they need to apply practically the skills and knowledge they have been learning in class. “Through internship students strengthen their skills as well as learning others in a more relaxed way as compared to those who have not gone through internship,” (Berklee, 1998) Other than developing themselves technically students get the rare opportunity to see what employers expects in the line of professionalism, etiquette, work ethics, the will to work, dress and other basic behavioral requirements. This is a perfect preparation for students to become better employees when they begin their full careers.

The Downside

The internship can be expensive in some cases for instance when students are taking management internship course, they obviously pay the normal school fees an additional cost for the internship. However, not all internships are paid, while some profit companies pay, non-profit and some private companies don’t. These companies don’t pay students if the work experience they provide is in line with their education. In some occasions, students may get internships that are more laborious than learning experiences.

No guarantees

There is actually no way an employer can assure a student that the internship will be a walk in the park for them. “Well organized field experiences are available but part of the experience is learning what you like and what you don’t like about the employer or the job,” (Statistics Canada, 2000). The bitter truth is that this may be all you student gains from the internship that turns out against his/her expectations. In addition, no student is given an assurance that they will be employed on the full-time basis by the company.

Contacts

Through the internship, students get into personal contacts within the company and even outside linkages depending on the company they are working for. These create a reference base for the student when he is done with the internship for future purposes when he will need answers to some questions as well as getting a job. In the course of the career, colleagues have workplace bonds that can be traced back during the internship days. The company can have a great impact on the coming generation of workers by living a position impression with an intern, and the coming or current interns will learn to keep contacts by maximizing on the opportunities they get to work. this will create an influx young, enthusiastic talents which will boost the spirit of the company and remain focused to its objectives. Companies gain a lot from this young energy and this can lead to more future employment to the young people graduating from higher learning institutions. Formalized programs for the internship can be time-consuming to conduct. In solving these most companies use permanently employed stuff members who are tasked with guiding the interns. The internship is always viewed as a source of free labor but it can cost the company heavily in compensation. In 2010 an article in Ink magazine gave a report that interns who are not paid are only legal under strict criteria. Payment of interns may be beneficial to the interns but this may limit the experience gained by the interns in unpaid circumstances since the company is not required to receive any advantages from the labor of the interns.

Flexibility

Interns gain from status by taking extra hours and plan for the completion of a specific task given to them. Interns who are not paid can use this time and get a part time job during their period of internship. Free hours can, however, be used to do specific duties which might be disappointing to the student in the internship experience. “The contact with the main operation in the company may not come to pass as promised during the first interview. Even though an intern would like to be industrious and take part in different projects, these opportunities may not be available to the intern,” (Tait, 2001).

In conclusion, the internship may not always be what they appear to be. The most internship is not glamorous but they get the job done. An internship may be so frustrating to the intern but the experience they obtain from that is valuable and the intern receives proper training. Therefore students who are planning to start an internship should know it is not a walk in the park as it seems and should be ready to face the reality of the life outside the class.