Upon graduation, the period of searching for a job begins. For this process not to be endless and painful, you should start working on your resume when still studying. It does not imply choosing the best font or photo that makes you look better than others. You should work on yourself to have something worthy to include in CV. Working as an intern as much as possible is probably the best way to do it. It is a great opportunity to observe the professionals and learn from them, gain experience as well as acquire knowledge and skills, which are indispensable for a future career. If you still think why, well… experience and connections, that is why.
Reason One: Experience
Not a single company will ever hire an international student who did not apply for internship and has zero experience in marketing. Even if you have excellent knowledge and perfect grades, it does not mean that you can apply what you know to real-life situations. Without such an ability, you have no chances. Moreover, while studying, there are always professors beside you. No matter how strict they might seem, they are ready to explain and guide as well as allow retaking a test. At work, there will be no one to tell you what to do step-by-step, let redo the task, or say, “I am sure you will cope better next time.” Working as an intern, you will be able to become independent and rely less on someone’s help. In addition, it is better to make your first mistakes during an internship rather than the first job. Internship, therefore, is the time of trials and errors, from which you should definitely profit in order to eventually become a desired employee in any company.
Reason Two: Networking
The more people you know, the easier it will be to move up the career ladder. Internship is a great opportunity to meet new people and build a good rapport. First, you will work in the office with many marketing professionals and have a supervisor. Second, you may participate in meetings with clients and cooperate with the practitioners from other departments, for example, PR managers and communication managers. Finally, it is likely that you will be invited to different conferences and corporate events, which will give you a chance to meet industry professionals and marketing gurus. All of these new acquaintances are the possibilities to ask for recommendations after graduation, arrange an interview or find out about the vacancies in other marketing agencies, and even meet your future employer. So, try to meet as many people as you can and develop professional relationships with them.
Which Internship Is a Right One and How to Find It
As of now, you should understand why an internship is needed and probably feel urged to find one as soon as possible. To proceed, you need to know what to look for and how it can be done. The fact that you are a student without experience should not be the reason to apply for any internship you come across. It should meet certain criteria, which are as follows:
- Search for internships that last at least 8 weeks and have a full-time schedule if possible. In case you have no much spare time during the school year, there is an option of summer internships.
- Find out who is going to be your supervisor. It should be a person who can share own experience and knowledge as well as assist in developing professional skills. Choose an internship from which you can actually benefit.
- Ask about the duties of an intern. The best option would be the one where you will be tasked with marketing-related responsibilities mostly, for instance, marketing research, data collection and analysis, etc.
The first way to find an appropriate internship is to visit a career advisor or officer who works at your school. There is a high likelihood that he/she has several variants to offer. In addition, you may discuss the matter with the alumni or professors who surely have extensive connections and may recommend you to some marketing agency or at least give a piece of advice. Another approach is to visit the websites of different companies, where the vacancies are always posted in the careers section, or those that particularly specialize in accumulating information about internships in the local area or states nearby. The thorough and constant search will definitely lead to a positive result. {t_essay_1} An internship is capable of tremendously increasing your chances to get a job while its absence in your resume will completely destroy them. Not to let the second scenario unfold, urgently search for the place where it is possible to gain experience and knowledge, become independent, meet new people, and get an advantage over other graduates on the labor market. The opportunities are numerous, and you will be able to seize and profit from them once the appropriate attitude is adopted.
