Why You Should Pay To Do An Internship
Paid internships, nonprofit internships, internships for credit, summer internships; there are many types of internships to pursue worldwide.
Moreover, frequently applying on the internet feels like randomly throwing thousands of CVs in a deep black hole.
If this is not enough, let's face the fact that companies don't always answer to the applicants, and if they do, they may not let you profit from your experience - to be more clear, the typical intern who makes coffee and photocopies.
To be even more specific, looking for an internship - possibly the one which suits your profile and desires - most of the time can be a very hard task.
That's why Internship Service Providers come in handy. Here's a list of the reasons why you should pay to do an internship.
IT'S AN INVESTMENT FOR YOUR FUTURE CAREER
First of all, let's keep in mind that not all internships are paid internships. But, as Amber Shiflett says, "The truth is, although not all internships pay in cash, they do pay in other ways".
In fact, internships are an investment for your future career for many reasons: the first one is learning a job and therefore know its strengths and weaknesses before entering the company as an employee.
Internships also allow you to collect experience for future interviews, because after your first professional interview you'll learn few important tips: the appropriate body language, how to correctly answer to questions, as well as asking the right questions.
The more you ask, the more you seem interested in the job position and the company, and the more likely you will pass the interview successfully.
Moreover, internships are an important chance to learn how to behave with work colleagues and how to be (a better) team player.
It's fundamental to learn the correct register to use at work since it differs from person to person, and from your boss to your colleague.
Also learning to work in a group, sharing opinions and accepting constructive criticism, all these experiences help you to mature yourself professionally.
Last but not least, internships enrich your CV, which is useful for future job positions you will apply for since it shows that you have gained work experience and shows your willingness to work.
There are indeed many other reasons why internships (both paid internships and not) are an investment for your future career, if you want to know further reasons, then go have a look at Dennis' blog "5 Reasons Why An Internship Is Important For Your Future Career".
IT'S DIFFICULT FOR STUDENTS TO FIND WORK
Now that we better know what are the benefits of doing an internship, it's time to face the hard truth: it's difficult for students to find work.
According to the Heartland Monitor Poll, Ronald Brownstein from The Atlantic says: "Young and old (respondents) converge on one key point: Preponderant majorities of both groups said they believe it is harder for young people today to get started in life than it was for earlier generations. (...)
Big majorities in both groups believe those "just getting started in life" face a tougher climb than earlier generations in reaching such signpost achievements as securing a good-paying job, starting a family, managing debt, and finding affordable housing."
The reasons why it's so difficult nowadays to find a job it's not just because of the loop "for finding a job you need experience, for having experience you need a job", or because young aspiring professionals don't really know how to do an interview, or how to behave in a work environment.
Using Suzanne Lucas words, from CBSNews: "Companies often look for a "perfect fit" that doesn't exist. With unemployment being high, many employers expect that the perfect candidate will just show up at their door.
The problem is, it's rare to find a person who's exactly right, with all the relevant skills. " Interviewers generally have "bias", which means they already have their ideal applicant in their mind.
So while interviewing, they try to figure out if you correspond to their "dream applicant" or not. It's hard to astonish interviewers, but with the help of internship service providers, those barriers disappear, since they will be in charge of contacting the company and make you appealing to the firm.
As a result, the hiring process becomes smoother and faster.
BENEFITS OF AN INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Let's clarify a bit more what an Internship Service Provider is: Ooreka, a French website of experts from different sectors who answer to the community questions, says that internship service providers can be useful for internships abroad.
This is due to the fact you will have someone in the country of your destination who will find your internship, and also will manage your accommodation and will support you during all the steps you are going to face.
But that's not all. Internship service providers can open doors to quality positions that may not be easy to find on your own, and once the internship is found (sometimes even paid internships), they will assist you constantly in many ways.
A customized internship placement will provide the following:
24/7 Emergency Assistance
Someone will always be available to help, even in case you get in trouble or if you have questions about your stay; you have someone to contact at any time for any reason.
Visa Assistance
Internship Service Providers help you get the right type of visa which corresponds to your situation, besides assisting you with any document you need.
CV/Résumé Enhancement
It may sound bizarre, but nowadays there still are people who don't know how to correctly write a CV or a résumé. Here is where Internship Service Providers help you improve your CV or résumé in order to make it more appealing to organizations.
Networking Events
You have the chance to take part in exclusive networking events where it's possible to improve your communication skills and also develop relationships with professionals. This will also bring potential future job offers or, in any case, they can turn into useful contacts.
Fully Furnished Accommodation
You are not familiar with the country you are going to do your internship? No worries, the internship service providers will help you find the accommodation you prefer, fully furnished.
Domestic SIM Card
Providing you with a sim card helps you being immediately available to your family and friends thanks to the internet connection, also allows you to be in contact with your coworkers, besides all the other advantages that a sim card provides.
Language & Culture Courses
Internship service providers also offer language and culture courses, in order to allow you to fully immerse in the new culture, you will be, besides understanding better what surrounds you and facilitate communication with the locals.
Gym Passes & Trips To Visit The Country
Exactly, you will also be provided of gym passes, so that you can always keep in shape, along with organized trips to visit the country, because in addition to the internship experience, you will also get the chance to visit a new country and culture.
The services offered differs from internship service provider to internship service provider, but they all are more than reliable and effective.
A reliable internship service provider can't guarantee that you get a job, but it'll work to help you find the position that's best for you. But more importantly, they will keep your best interests in mind.
DRAWBACKS OF NOT USING AN INTERNSHIP SERVICE PROVIDER
If the contents that have been discussed until now are not enough convincing, then let's explore the drawbacks of not using an internship service provider.
On the internet, we can find anything, and this obviously includes internships. There are many offers on different websites, and sometimes this can be confusing.
For sure the offers are unlimited, but are they all proper internship offers? Now let's say you found a few paid internships on a job site.
You send your CV, and then you wait for someone to answer. But unfortunately, this first step can take a lot of time, since there is not a person behind a computer waiting for someone to send a curriculum.
Firms, in fact, just check all the applicants' requests they receive once in a while, and there's a very small possibility that you will manage to get to the next step - namely the interview - because as what was just said, you will have to face many competitors.
And if your CV is not attractive enough, you will probably get cut. So basically the first problem is that it takes a lot of time to receive an answer from companies - sometimes you never even get an answer - and as a consequence, the process turns to be frustrating.
Let's imagine you have been lucky and after a certain period, someone answers you. You pass the interview successfully, sign all the documents and then leave to experience your hard-won internship.
But, once you start, you realize that the tasks you have to accomplish are far away from what you had imagined. You feel you don't receive enough responsibility, your work is unsatisfactory, not enough challenging.
In the worst scenario, your job consists in bringing coffee to your coworkers and making thousands of photocopies. On top of that, you don't even have somebody to help you, so you are stuck in that frustrating situation.
Another problem can be that, if you do your internship out of your "comfort zone" - maybe in countries that are far away from your culture - you may find yourself lost, without a reference point to hold on to.
As a consequence, even the most simple actions can become a hard task. Finding an accommodation, getting the correct type of visa, making friends, and so on, all these can turn into real challenges.
Now, this is a hypothetical situation which includes the worst inconvenience that can occur while finding and doing an internship, but wouldn't it be easier to have someone to rely on, during your enriching opportunity - aka internship?
WHY PAY FOR EDUCATION, AND NOT FOR EXPERIENCING AN INTERNSHIP?
When it comes to paying for experiencing an internship, people usually are reluctant, because they think it is insane/bizarre/daft paying for free working. (or Paying to intern abroad is a turn-off for many people, but going through an internship provider can sometimes actually help you have a better value experience).
Let's reflect on something: an average person passes around 15 years at school, paying fees and taxes to get an education and to be prepared to enter the real world in the near future.
But everyone at least once in their life has heard the sentence "forget all you learned at school because it will be useless for work".
That's why internship service providers exist: they do not offer just an internship - as we discussed right above - , they also offer other services and real preparation on the field for your future career.
In the Sydney Morning Herald, Michael Koziol says "Students and graduates are forking out $1000 to undertake unpaid internships with a one in 64 success rate of picking up a full-time job and which don't even take place at the company's office.
But the firms involved insist they are simply providing the training universities have failed to deliver to prepare graduates for the real working world."
Paid internships or not, an internship is an important step of somebody's path to the adult world, just as much as school.
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? START YOUR INTERNSHIP IN ASIA!
Are you now ready to experience the internship of your life? Get (good and proper) work experience with an internship abroad.
If you are not satisfied yet and want to know more about your internship in Asia, then go check our blog "What You Should Know About Your Summer Internship In Asia"!
Forget about all the inconvenience that can occur while looking for an internship.
Make your life easier and start your internship in Asia with Asia Internship Program.
Simply click Apply Now! and fill out the form to begin the application progress.