– By Rosaline Gudugba
Having previous working experience is the No 1 most frustrating reason why most graduates seeking entry-level employment can’t find jobs today. The popular saying that “you can’t get a job without experience and you can’t get experience without a job” couldn’t be truer and you will find plenty of memes on the internet that registers this frustration not only experienced in Nigeria.
As unfair as it seems, frankly, it is only logical for employers to seek out candidates who can prove that they have the abilities and competencies required to perform the job.
This is not to say they are not aware or understand that as a recent graduate, you would be lacking in the experience department, they, however, are not willing to gamble with someone who cannot demonstrate or prove that they have the necessary skills and abilities to succeed in their company.
So instead of thinking, “where will I get the experience when no one is willing to hire me?” change your thinking to “How can I prove to an employer that I have what it takes to succeed on the job given an opportunity?” This way, you will be challenged to look for ways to provide solutions to an employer’s problem rather than waiting for an employer to come and save you from yourself.
You see, recruitment cost money, time and resources and for you to have an opportunity; you’d better be worth the employer’s time and money. It then becomes your responsibility to help the employer gain enough confidence in your abilities by offering some proof of having gathered the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience through other means such as internships, volunteering, and extracurricular activities prior to your application.
In this write-up, we will look at internships as a method of gaining experience.
WHAT ARE INTERNSHIPS
An internship is a job training for professional careers. They are temporary opportunities offered by employers to intending employees to work within their organizations in order to gain some valuable work experience.
Basically, it is the exchange of service for work experience between a student and an organization usually for a set period of time which ranges from one to two weeks short stay to as long as twelve months.
In some parts of the world, internships are often integrated into a student’s coursework and earn credit for them; much like what we call Industrial attachment or Teaching practice here in Nigeria.
Internships could either be paid, unpaid, or partially paid work and does not often result in full-time jobs, although this could be the case in some instances, internships are crucial experiences that can help you explore and launch your career.
In a world where having working experience is an important determinant to finding full-time employment, having internship experience is essential for job seekers seeking entry-level positions without prior working experience.
WHAT ARE THE PURPOSE OF INTERNSHIPS
Internships are a great way to gain practical and useful working experience in the desired field and develop personal transferable employability skills. The major advantages of internships are discussed below.
GAINING EXPERIENCE:
Some things simply can’t be thought, they have to be experienced for knowledge to be impacted, and internships provide just that opportunity to build up your skill base.It is a chance to work collaboratively with others, explore various career options and sometimes have a look and/or understudy professionals working in your desired field or role. Also, it is a great way to gain insight into and sometimes carry out the practices, processes, and techniques performed within specific fields, or industry and an opportunity to work with industry, or role-related machinery, technologies, equipment’s, or programmes etc.
LEARNING AND GROWING:
An important factor in Internships is that it provides an opportunity to acquire and build your knowledge base. It is a great way to gain industry knowledge first hand from an organization and professionals, learn about your career choice, the industry or various roles that you can succeed in as well as offer the chance to work in an office environment where you can build on your employability skills such as working within teams, analytical, leadership, interpersonal and communication skills etc.
There really is no limit to what you can learn since knowledge is intangible and cannot be quantified, it is entirely up to you to apply yourself to the job.
DETERMINE YOUR CAREER PATH AND INTERESTS:
An internship is a great way to gain experience in a particular field and helps you find out if you are interested in that career or not. It is an opportunity to see what other roles offer by observing professionals within your department and other departments. This helps to streamline your choices; bringing you closer to determining your desired career path based on what you experienced. It also enables you to prioritize important skills for further development.
For instance, after interning in the HR department, you could realize that working in such a role was not as fulfilling as you had imagined because it provided little opportunities to engage daily with internal and external stakeholders. Rather, you found that working within the sales, business development or marketing department provided a thrilling and challenging, result-oriented environment and an opportunity to engage daily with internal and external stakeholders. This means that skills such as strategic planning, negotiation, communication, interpersonal and analytical skills needed to succeed in the sales and marketing field would be prioritized.
Also, being able to determine your true career path will help you approach job search/ hunting in a targeted mannersuch that you would target and apply to vacancies that you have a great chance of succeeding in based on how your abilities fit the role, with your qualification, skills, and experiences acting as proof of your competencies. This is a great way of increasing your chances of finding full-time employment, especially in the area of your choice.
NETWORKING
Networking is a business and a personal social skill that helps to build mutually beneficial relationships with people within and outside your industry. Building a successful career will require great networking abilities and internships are a great way to meet people, practice your networking skills and build a network of professional contacts, mentors, and references that can prove useful later.
We’ve explored various benefits internships can provide to interns, however, the organizations also benefit from them too. One significant benefit is that it can help simplify their recruitment process because they already have a pull of experienced and resourceful individuals, tested and trusted to possess the necessary abilities and competencies and who often need little or no training.
Also, because businesses operate within societies and owe their success to its acceptance and patronage, a good way to give back is for them to help shape the future of its youths by equipping and developing in them the right skills, knowledge and first-hand experiences. This can be seen as a form of corporate social responsibility of some sort by some organizations.
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