Guy and I just wrapped up a three week internship. He came to Panama to participate in a summer internship during his last year of school before graduation.
As an alum of Northeastern University, I have personally benefited from the internship experience. Northeastern is well known for it’s cooperative education program, where students participate in co-op work semesters as a way to explore their job interests and identify potential career options.
During one of my first co-op assignments, I interned at the corporate headquarters of a large department store and thought I was going to die. My job was to complete accounting ledgers all day. The position, while it looked engaging from the outside, was clearly not a good fit for me. Without that job experience, I wouldn’t have known how much aversion I had to that type of work.
In contrast, my last co-op assignment was as Art Director of a summer Girl Scout camp. I loved this experience more than any other because the Camp Director gave me the autonomy to create my own program complete with a budget. During this internship I learned just how much I enjoy developing programs and inspiring others in creative expression and the art.
The different real-world work experiences I experienced through internship was incredibly helpful in my final career choice. It provided me with a real-world understanding of what I was and wasn’t interested in doing for a career.
During the short time that Guy and I worked together, he participated in a number of initiatives and learn new skills that he can take with him into the competitive job market.
— Guy S.
5 BENEFITS TO SHORT-TERM INTERNSHIPS
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Internships are one of the best ways to have real exposure to job options that directly inform future career decisions.
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Internships provide context for how classroom knowledge applies in the workplace.
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Internships provide valuable work experience that affords real accomplishments for resume building and online profiles.
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Internships put skills into action and offers opportunities for supervisors to see strengths that can be shared through a formal reference or letter of recommendation.
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And perhaps most important of all, internships offer insight into whether or not an industry or specific type of work is right for you.
I’m a believer that the best careers are the ones that ignite passion within us. An excellent way to check this out is to participate in a short-term internship that explores your area of interest from a real-world perspective. Good Luck.
