Mitzi Ilagan | Negosentro.com
Who else here thinks that internship means preparing a cup of coffee for your boss and buying to-go meals at a fastfood for your superiors? If not most, some gets the notion that internship only means being a slave, with you being ordered around in a workplace, that you only have to fill the gaps of what other employees couldn’t do. Well, one must one expect that when you are on your internship, what you should do is what your head would say. But that does not necessarily mean that it means lousy work.
In the Philippine setting, most college curricula require internship before graduation. Students choose the companies where they would want to be interns, but that doesn’t mean that if you want it, you could get it. Sometimes, even after sending an inquiry or an e-mail for application to your dream company, you may not a response immediately, or ever. You must not give up with that, because it may mean that that isn’t meant for you. Some companies are in the lookout for interns all-year round, so might as well be patient enough to go through the websites, advertisements and leads.
Another major thing that students consider is compensation. As it has not yet been suggested to become a law, companies which offer internship aren’t always paid. What applicants should think is that sometimes, the best internnships aren’t paid. There are some which comes with perks and extra activities. You may experience one thing that you may not in the other company. You may meet people in this one organization that you may not in your other options. May it be a large corporation or a start-up, you would always get chances of expanding your network and leads so make sure that you shouldn’t miss them. Do not be shy to introduce yourself and to gather more contacts for future reference.
During an internship, it may not be easy for an employer to trust you with tasks that are too difficult to handle. But if you show them that you can do things, that you deserve to be in their company, then they could give you tasks that you yourself did not believe that you could do. Never be afraid to ask questions when a task is given to you, and never think that what you are doing is too small because you have to prove that you are flexible enough to do both difficult and small tasks. You chose that workplace, so you’d have to do what your heads would say. Attitude counts, because aside from evaluations, it would reflect on how you would act when you’re already in the real world. One must act and treat others professionally in the workplace, but camaraderie is always allowed, just see to it that you are acting accordingly at the right place and time.
Most importantly, internships would give you the best experiences. You would get to feel how it is working after college as you interact with the employees around you. You’d get to observe and be aware of the culture, etiquette and jargon that they are using. You’d get to have first-hand experiences on your chosen field and the interaction with the people you’ll deal with in the future. Basically, an internship would make you ready for your future job. Always remember that internship matters, because in the end, it will be both you, the student and the employer who will benefit from that experience.
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