Internships: Why Working Hard for Nothing Pays Off
February 3, 2010 | ama83
Anyone who has done their fair share of job-searching will tell you that it is not only the degree that employers are looking for, but it is the experience in the field that is most valuable. Internships are obviously a great way of earning experience and possibly school credit. However, many students need to remember to treat their position as professionally as a paying job.
Internships can often feel like a hassle when a student already has a full work load with his or her classes. Most often, these jobs do’t even pay students for their work, which can make the student feel even less inclined to do a good job when there is little reward. What students may not realize is that there is an invisible incentive that will pay off later when you go out into the job market.
Professionalism is important in anything a student related towards his or her career. Though this may be obvious, it is easy for students to just slack off or see their internships as meaningless. Either they don’t treat the internship as a real job and refuse to give it the same kind of respect, or they are frustrated with having little to no paycheck.
I have worked with interns who show up late to work, sit around looking bored, and are unfriendly to work with. These interns who keep up habits like these will be overlooked in the future. When the internship is finally up, the managers will not consider them for permanent positions and are likely to forget these students all together.
However, a student who is proactive, hardworking, and easy to get along with will always be remembered in the future. I currently work with one intern who goes beyond his regular duties by keeping the classroom neat and organized. He always makes use of his time. Being such a hard-worker, I cannot picture running the writing lab without him, which is exactly the kind of impression every intern should strive for. Become an asset as an intern and your temporary employers will want to make you permanent.
Although it may not always seem that internships are necessary, they can be more helpful than students realize, as was mentioned in a previous blog. If the right internship is completed while upholding proper work ethics, a student may have actually earned his or her way into a full-time position after graduation, or even made professional contacts and references for a more suitable position after the internship.
When I was an intern at my junior college, I established a good reputation for being a thorough and helpful intern. Students and teachers came to like working with me because I cared that I did a good job. I made sure to improve and become a necessity to those I worked with. In doing so, my superiors eventually became some of my strongest references on my resume, and were anxious to give me first dibs on newly opened positions that were a step-up from my internship.
It is important to note that a student’s reputation for his or her career starts before the first day of the job, before the first interview, and even before graduation. I realize that many college students look at their college years as a time to party and have fun, but your performance as a student, as an intern, can open or close doors depending on your own work ethics.
In short, treat your internships seriously, and your managers will take you seriously in the future.
Very well said, that a student’s reputation for their career start BEFORE their first day on the job.