How Short-Term Internships Provide Long-Term Benefits

Guy and I just wrapped up a three week internship. He came to Panama to participate in a summer internship during his last year of school before graduation.

As an alum of Northeastern University, I have personally benefited from the internship experience. Northeastern is well known for it’s cooperative education program, where students participate in co-op work semesters as a way to explore their job interests and identify potential career options.

During one of my first co-op assignments, I interned at the corporate headquarters of a large department store and thought I was going to die. My job was to complete accounting ledgers all day. The position, while it looked engaging from the outside, was clearly not a good fit for me. Without that job experience, I wouldn’t have known how much aversion I had to that type of work.

In contrast, my last co-op assignment was as Art Director of a summer Girl Scout camp. I loved this experience more than any other because the Camp Director gave me the autonomy to create my own program complete with a budget. During this internship I learned just how much I enjoy developing programs and inspiring others in creative expression and the art.

The different real-world work experiences I experienced through internship was incredibly helpful in my final career choice. It provided me with a real-world understanding of what I was and wasn’t interested in doing for a career.

During the short time that Guy and I worked together, he participated in a number of initiatives and learn new skills that he can take with him into the competitive job market.

5 BENEFITS TO SHORT-TERM INTERNSHIPS

Internships are one of the best ways to have real exposure to job options that directly inform future career decisions.

Internships provide context for how classroom knowledge applies in the workplace.

Internships provide valuable work experience that affords real accomplishments for resume building and online profiles.

Internships put skills into action and offers opportunities for supervisors to see strengths that can be shared through a formal reference or letter of recommendation.

And perhaps most important of all, internships offer insight into whether or not an industry or specific type of work is right for you.

I’m a believer that the best careers are the ones that ignite passion within us. An excellent way to check this out is to participate in a short-term internship that explores your area of interest from a real-world perspective. Good Luck.