The Benefits of an Internship

For me, an internship was required. I was a student-writer for Grand Valley’s University Communications my entire senior year of college.  Although, this started as a requirement, after my experience I recommend that everyone have a college internship – even if it’s not required.

Here’s why:

Apply skills from the classroom
You learn a lot in your classes, but an internship will allow you to apply what you’ve learned to real life situations. It’s never too early to put those skills to work and see what you can do.

Get your foot in the door
Interested in a particular company? Try interning there. This will not only allow you to gain experience, but when it comes to applying for a “grown up” job there, those hiring you will already know you and how great you are at your job.

Decide if this is the right path for you
Being interested in a field is one thing, but actually trying it out to see if it’s a good fit is something entirely different. I’ve experienced this first hand and trust me – you want to find out if you actually enjoy what you’re planning on doing the rest of your life. It’s better to find out now rather than later.

Networking
If I had a dollar for every time I said the word networking, I would be rich. But it’s still true – networking will take you places. Meeting not only the people you’re interning for, but their contacts as well will allow you to greatly expand your network for potential jobs in the future.

Valuable work skills
As I said earlier, you already have classroom skills but in a job setting your learning will go beyond that. You will learn the ins and outs of specific jobs that interest you, as well as what exactly employers are looking for.

So get out there, apply for an internship or two, and gain some experience.

Kayla is currently a senior at Grand Valley State University with a major in Advertising and Public Relations. As Media Director, she keeps up to date on the biggest news stories in PR and updates all GrandPR social media and manages our blog. She is currently a student writer for Grand Valley's University Communications and is also a member of the blogging committee for Grand Valley's PRSSA chapter. Kayla plans to graduate in April 2015 and would love to travel, as well as start her career right away.