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Internships are a great way to boost your resume and gain valuable ‘on-job’ experience. While most students know and understand the importance of internships in establishing career contacts, many students fail to take advantage of internship opportunities and lose out on valuable experience believing in myths surrounding internships.
Myths are hard to ignore but it is high time we break the myth surrounding internships and find out what they are really about.
Myth 1: Internships are not worth it
Thanks to the persistent myths, many people believe internships are about working long hours for peanuts and are often not worth it. Ask any ex-intern and they just cannot stress enough on the myriad of benefits that internships brought along. This will make you stand out amongst the crowd of people with similar grades but with little or no job experience.
Myth 2: Interns do nothing worthwhile
Thanks to movies, we all believe that interns do nothing better than making copies and supplying coffee. It's not true. Internship is what you make out of it. Occasionally you may be asked to do tasks that no one else wants to do. But for the most part, internships program are designed to help young people gain new skills.
Myth 3: It is a cheap labour for company
An internship is based on a give-and-take relationship. As an intern you can bring a fresh, youthful perspective on old processes and the company can in return provide valuable networking, training and experience. It is a great way for you to add experience to your resume and a great way for the company to find fresh talent.
Myth 4: Internships is all about getting pre-placement offer
Getting pre-placement offer is one major benefit of internships. However, there is a lot more to it than just getting the offer. From earning valuable on-job experience, exposure to networking, there is so much you can gain during an internship
Myth 5: All interns are either unpaid or poorly paid
Clearly a misconception, especially at SwitchIdea. With verified internship ‘unpaid’ internship no longer exists. And there are many companies that actually offer highly competitive stipend along with many cool perks. Companies want interns to enjoy their time, so they make sure you get cool perks in office as well as something to enjoy for your free time, such as massage therapies, movie coupons, etc.
Myth 6: Highly paid internships are the best
High stipend doesn’t always equate with good training or good exposure. Many times low-paying companies with less manpower can provide you serious work, responsibilities and add great value to your resume in terms of real experience.
Myth 7: You should take internship only in the field of your education
It is perfectly fine to intern in a related field. For example, if you are into marketing, it is ok to intern in content or if you are into web developments, it is perfectly ok to intern in graphic designing. You can still learn valuable and useful skills that can help you do better in your chosen career field.
Myth 8: Only college students can intern
You can start working on internships when you are in high school. Several companies launch special internship programs meant to give an early start to younger people. These internships are designed to hone your skills and prepare you for your future careers. You just have to dig and find one.
Myth 9: Internships always guarantee a job
Sadly no! Just because you are interning at a company, it doesn’t mean that you will always get a full-time job offer. Of course, if you do well and show calibre, there are high chances of you getting a pre-placement offer (PPO). However, a lot of it also depends upon the position available at the time of your internship.
Myth 10: Only big companies offer good internships
Internships from big companies may add brand value to your resume, but it is in low-profile companies that you get to experience the real work. Most big companies hire interns to meet the societal pressure but small companies need real manpower and you can soon become a part of the workforce in the company.
Myth 11: Internships doesn’t make a difference
Probably, the biggest and the most harmful myth of all. An internship is like a stepping stone to the corporate world. Apart from helping you earn some pocket money, it prepares you for the job. It increases your chance of getting a good job and provides you with an edge over students who have never done an internship.
Myth 12: It is ‘only’ about an experience letter
“It doesn’t matter if you have done the internship or not, it is all sorted if you can get an experience letter.” There isn’t an iota of truth in the above statement. Interviewers can instantly find out if a person has done an internship or not. If experience letter is all that was needed, successful and rich people would have never done internships.
Myth 13: You are on your own during internship
In most companies, managers value their interns’ opinion and are interested in their perspective. Interns often work in teams and under the guidance of higher level employees, usually called as mentors or project managers. So you can be rest assured that you will be working, interacting, and learning with other employees in the company.
Myth 14: Every internship is just the same
Internships are often very different and it is up to you what you want to make out of yours. If you want to work for a month or you are totally fine working for a couple of months, discuss this with your manager during the interview. It is a good idea to get as much information about the internship as possible before accepting the role.