Considerations For Internship Success
Over the years I’ve worked in various capacities in the Careers/Internships industry, and I have had several students who’ve asked to be considered for particular companies. Many of these requests are for large organisations and global brands.
While it is understandable that you, as a graduate, would like your first experience working in a professional environment to be a good one, considering only big and popular companies can narrow your options severely. It can be a massive disadvantage, depending on what your career goals are.
Here are some things you, as a graduate, should consider when selecting an opportunity that will help you make the most of your internship.
Experience
What experience will you be gaining during your internship? How will this benefit your future career?
Many large organisations are highly specialised, with several departments that focus solely on specific tasks. For example, while doing your internship with a global company, you may be working within the Accounts Payable team.
When you are a part of a small- to medium-sized company though, you could be doing a mixture of tasks such as Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and Payroll. This type of experience would increase your chances for employment after the internship as you would possess overall accounting experience and not just experience in one particular field in accounting.
Research
If you decide to go through the internship program with ECARE, a career consultant will be there to mentor you and help you with skills before you start your internship. Despite this, you need to know what you really want. I have encountered many instances where students request to be put up for Financial Planning or Analyst roles; however, when I ask them what those roles entail, I get a blank stare!
It is really important that you research the types of roles you would like to be considered for. Use Seek.com.au to find out what tasks will be undertaken for different roles. You can also review profiles of the role you want on LinkedIn, and see where those people started their careers. This will give you a great idea of what entry level positions will help you get to your future job.
Trust
Last but not least, trust your career consultant.
Is it really important that you work together with your consultant and create a career plan?
ECARE career consultants have a strong background in Human Resources, Recruitment and Career Development. If your career consultant doesn’t believe that a large organisation is going to help you as much as a small- to medium-sized company in terms of your career goal, it is important that you understand the reason and trust that your consultant is doing the best that they can so you can achieve career success.
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