Internships have for many years been the next step after graduating from university. Favored by those who have taken and passed their degree in a similar field to the workplace they’re interning at, for many graduates, an internship is the first stage onto the career ladder after several hard years of intense studying.
However, with more and more companies allowing a more flexible internship route, there has never been a better time to start gaining on-the-job experience alongside studying for those relevant industry qualifications.
As so many employers now seek to take on those students currently studying for a degree, becoming an intern is no longer just for graduates, but rather those aspiring graduates looking to get on the ladder much quicker than before.
The Traditional Route of Internships
For many people who have undergone successful internships with some impress top-earning companies, the process tends to begin after university finals have all been completed, and those newly printed award certificates are issued!
However, with most degree courses lasting on average around the two to three-year mark, alongside a very long holiday period after those all-important finals, it’s not uncommon for many graduates to take up an internship for the very first time many months after their final ever lecture, and more than often into their early twenties.
Yet compare this to the concept of a student beginning such placements at the tender age of 18, having first entered university, and combining his or her studies with crucial workplace experience, the older intern is now severely lacking by a couple of crucial years, at least.
The Huge Benefits of Combining University with An Internship
Companies such as DST believe that by combining a successful internship while working through university, the possibilities to excel in the workplace are limitless.
Rather than being an impossible scenario, with lectures and study at university level allowing for many gaps during just one weekday alone, there is ample opportunity for a student to approach a potential company offering internships and combine both work and study together.
All students need do is take with them a copy of their timetable, which once is issued for a term will not usually deviate from the times on this piece of paper! Then, employees can work around these times and offer an intern vacancy accordingly.
Alongside working together to create these opportunities, approaching an intern at such an early stage of university enables a student to:
- Get the lower leveled tasks out of the way early on in their experience. This includes filing, photocopying and the usual but essential mind-numbing task that all employees must experience at the very beginning of their career!
- Get used to the working environment in real time and with real people
- Communicate effectively with all types of people from all walks of life and education types.
- Begin building up a vital CV, adding essential skills which have evidence to back them up with.
- Begin making valuable contacts and leads in their chosen industry.
