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What is the place of internships in our resumes? At the bottom, since we usually hide internships after work experience and education and often position them adjacent to hobbies and language skills, as if they are something non-essential and odd. 

According to one study by Ernst&Young, this unfortunate reality doesn’t take into account the value of an internship in building one’s hard and soft skills, as well as paving the way for a future career. In this article, we will fix this discrepancy by paying internships the justified tribute they deserve.

Internships are known for their long-term implications for career development. This is why we begin by discussing the long-term benefits of internships.

Expanding professional network

As an intern, you are surrounded by a professional team that can teach you a lot. To extract the most out of this experience, try to get to know everyone, communicate frequently, and seek as much information as possible. 

For example, Ernst Young employees with prior mentorship experience recommend making a list of interesting people with their contact details, including their phone numbers and emails. Who knows, maybe in a few years, the people you met during your internship will become your colleagues, partners, or simply those who will give you employment advice.

Work experience and future employment options

Work experience is one of the most important reasons everyone should go for an internship. It is a great way to test all the theories that we were taught at college or university.

Companies spend their energy and resources on training interns. They want to “screen” potential employees, find the best talents, and maybe hire them in the future (or straight away). It’s a win-win situation – the company gets a trained employee who can be trusted, while the employee gets a tried-and-tested job.

Short-Term Benefits for Your Studies and Self-Esteem

Even though the short-term advantages of internship are evident, they are often overlooked and seriously underestimated. Is it fair? Let’s find out. 

Building confidence and stepping up your soft skills

Soft skills are also valuable for your future professional life and career preparation. The top soft skills that a good internship can help you develop are:

• communication;
• adaptability;
• teamwork;
• resilience.  

These intangible practical skills will help you overcome your future work challenges.

Starting a graduate degree or entering a top university

Practical, real-world experience is a highly sought-after point in one’s resume for academic admission committees. Advanced and postgraduate degree programs, such as a Ph.D. or an MBA, “respect” candidates’ prior hands-on experience in the relevant academic or scientific field. Considering that it is tough to work full-time while studying, experience from internships is usually more than enough for that purpose.

The Bottom Line

Internships are unfairly underestimated elements in our education. Even HR recruitment specialists often neglect to read and evaluate an internship experience in a candidate’s CV, which is a pity. In reality, internships play a pivotal role in forming one’s hard and soft skills, as well as expanding professional networks. They are particularly valuable for graduates and young specialists who are just entering their professional career path.