Intern

Who Is an Intern?

An intern is a worker or trainee who would be accepted into an organization for a limited time to gain practical experience in a particular area. Internships are organized programs that are meant to offer an opportunity for practical training and to bring interns closer to the real work environments and here they get a chance to apply the knowledge they got from college studies. Interns may be hired full-time or part-time for a fixed period, from a couple of weeks to several months, depending on the host organization and the specific type of internship. They frequently get involved in different types of jobs, projects, and tasks under the supervision of more experienced professionals, which then helps them gain various important skills, networking options and a better vision about the career they are planning to build. An internship acts like a ladder between academic education and professional employment, thus helping students develop their professional skills and allowing them to make a career after graduation.

Example

Sarah, a junior year marketing major in a nearby college, snagged a summer marketing internship with one of the most famous ad agencies. During her internship, Sarah was part of the agency's creative team. Thus, she helped in brainstorming sessions, did market research, and composed social media content for client campaigns. Sarah observed first-hand the seasoned professionals developing marketing strategies and executing advertising campaigns due to this mentorship. She attended customer meetings, participated in customer pitches, and mastered business-grade software tools that helped analyze marketing data. By graduation, Sarah had improved her marketing abilities and built professional contacts within the industry. On the last day of her internship, Sarah was highly commended by her supervisor. She was also offered to work with the agency part-time to cover the academic year, making an ideal entry-level into the marketing career path for her.