Internships are the easiest way to acquire the necessary skills for the career which interests you. What should the goals for your internship be, what are companies looking for in an intern answered here.
Short Term Goals for Internship
The short term goals for your internship should be gaining understanding, acquiring new skills and developing competency.
- Key basic understanding and fundamental knowledge of doing a job
- Skills – exposure to new technologies, methodologies and tools
- Develop competency in using them
The key thing to ask yourself is – Is this Internship suited for me and is it what I want to do in my life?
What are the objectives of an Internship?
Usually when you go for an internship, you do not have any experience and the internship is going to be the stepping stone for your next job. When you are planning for an internship you need to have a clarity as to what is the career you are interested in.
Think about the focus in your life and what is it you really want to do. Once that it clear, look for jobs that are available that you can learn while doing the internship.
For example: You want to become a marketing executive or a marketing manager. When you take up an internship you will definitely be looking for an internship in the marketing department, trying to do the things you want to do as a marketing manager.
A marketing manager will deal with vendors, analyse the marketing budget. As an
Your key goals will be to develop
- Knowledge – includes the key fundamental principles, environment, industry, type of people in this industry and processes
- Skills – the actual job, doing the tasks and developing necessary skills such as negotiating with vendors
- Understanding – Understanding and gaining an appreciation of the job
An internship will allow you to develop knowledge, skills and an overall understanding of the job and an appreciation of what it accomplishes as well as its significance.
What are Personal Learning Objectives?
Personal Learning Objectives tend to fall into 2 areas: Skills and Knowledge.
Knowledge
An internship allows you to gain a basic knowledge of the job.
- What is the kind of knowledge required?
- To what extent is this knowledge required?
- What are some sources where I can gain this knowledge?
In an internship you are actually doing the work, which requires knowledge.
For
Your tasks might include
- Develop Powerpoint presentations
- Edit Content
- Hand out Assessment sheets to participants
- Perform small training activities
Personal Learning Objective for a Training Intern
Gain an understanding of what else you are require to learn if you want to become an effective trainer.
- Certifications
- Degrees
Skills
As a trainers assistant you might have to learn a few skills such as
- handling a crowd
- assessing people
- public speaking
Having a glimpse of what is required can help you focus your energies into developing those skills.
When should you do an Internship?
There are three primary reasons when you should consider applying for an internship.
- No Experience – With no real world ( on the job) experience you might find it difficult to get your first break into the career of your choice. You can apply for an internship (either paid or unpaid), companies always appreciate extra help as interns help do the fieldwork and all the monotonous tasks eagerly. You can use the experience you gain in your resume.
- Key Skills – The internship should have the Key skills and tasks which are required in the actual job. It is advisable not to take up an internship just for the sake of visiting an office and then giving attendance. You must actually perform well at the job, even if it is difficult and requires a lot of effort. This is a good break for you, and it is actually good that you are made to work hard, as it is learning which will help you out later.
- Career Change – Switching careers
is not easy as the issue of experience might be of concern. In an interview when you speak you should be able to speak as a person having sufficient knowledge and come across as a convincing or perfect candidate for the job. For this, you require learning on the field actually doing the job. When you are looking for a career change an internship can help you gain the basics, apply your skills and also build up contacts, networking. In many instances, companies realise that the intern they have might just the perfect candidate for an opening they have and actually offer a permanent position.
Look for companies which are known and have a reputation in your area of interest. When you add such an internship experience in your resume it is immediately conveyed that you are a quality candidate.
Internships can be a stepping stone in getting a career change.
What do they look for in an Intern?
An intern comes into the company without any experience at all. Companies are very conscious about who they offer internships to, especially if the company is well known brand. They want to understand a few things about a prospective intern before they offer him the position
- Basic Skills – Does the Intern possess the basic skills, knowledge and qualification to learn to attempt the job.
- Social Skills – Do they have the necessary social skills to fit in with the company.
- Willingness to Learn – Companies will never hire someone without a willingness to learn. This comes across in the way they speak, the way they perform in the interview. You must be able to convey through your words and action that you are willing to learn. After
all an internship is not taken up based on salary, money isn’t the focus. Employers know this and they are looking for candidates who are willing to put in the effort.
What should I put on my internship resume? Do I need a Resume for Internship?
You do need a resume for internship. Keep in mind that creating a resume is a skill in itself which needs to be developed. The earlier start creating a resume the better you will get at creating a resume which speaks volumes for you and lands you the perfect job.
For an internship it is possible that you get an internship through a reference. Even then you need to have a document you give to the person who is going to hire you as an intern.
Include a summary of what your skills are, your background information.
Even if you have no experience this is how you can craft a great resume for your internship. Key things to include in your resume
Sample Internship Resume Format
- Objective – What is your objective of doing the internship / in what area? Why do you want to do the Internship? How is it going to help your career goal?
- Summary of Profile – Summary of key Skills and experiences and any qualifications. List out additional skills and knowledge that would be needed for this internship.
- Education – College and field of Study. What makes you qualified to do this and also to pursue your career?
- Experience – If you have no experience, link the projects you have done in School and college that are relevant to the Internship. Highlight the skills you have used and which might be helpful for carrying out the tasks required in the internship.
- Contact Details
- References
If you have no projects to show, you can also list experiences as a volunteer. If you were involved in some community activities, groups, clubs, you can share relevant skills in your resume.
These should highlight and show the abilities and inclination towards activities that the job might require.
Is Age a Criteria for Internship?
Internships seem to be given to younger people who are ready to start a new career. The entire aspect of being too old for an internship fades away if the reasons for doing the internship are clear to the emplyer
Employers might hire an older person as an intern if they fulfil the following criteria
- A Strong Passion for learning the job and understanding the Industry
- Willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done
- A pleasant affable nature that will help them get along with others much younger than them, so that the younger people do not feel intimidated.
- Lack of consciousness about age
Is it possible to get an Internship after 40? Of course yes, provided you have clear reasons, you need to show the passion, you need to be willing to learn, your ego should be suppressed, you should be willing to take orders from people younger than you. You should be able to get along with everybody well.