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Internship: Chance or Exploitation?

Definition, Explanation	Tips, Checklist
Articles

Definition, Explanation

An internship is a good way to get to know occupations, branches and companies during school and university and during or after an apprenticeship. Goals are to get an inside impression, to expand theoretical knowledge by praxis and to experience the every-day work. The salaries in internships are low, and sometimes zero. It can be, though, the steppingstone to getting your favourite job, i.e. being further employed, afterwards, in a fulltime job.

Social insurance is compulsory, for interns, in case the internship is not part of studies- or examination-regulations nor belongs to a first academic graduation.

Lately, internships are under a cloud of critique, for in many cases employers do not treat it any longer as a way to get aquainted with each other but rather as a way to appoint low-paid personnel for normal jobs. This is aggravated by increasing unemployment. Sometimes new employments are totally replaced by limited-time internships. These are one kind of so-called precarious work.

Tips, Checklist

• For applying for an internship, prepare yourself as much and well as for a real job
• Pick an internship that matches and benefits your education and intended future occupation
• Try to be assigned challenging and responsible tasks
• Internships below 4 weeks would be too short to really learn something and work on your own responsibility. Internships, in turn, that are offered for 1 year or longer are likely to be an employment-substitute with light rights and payment
• Do many internships, especially in your education and training phase, to get to know as many companies and occupations and jobs as possible
• Have them tell you one specific company person to talk to for having answered questions you might have
• Have them pay you a fair amount of money that is usual in the line of business

Articles

• How to Turn an Internship into a Job; BusinessWeek, July 16, 2009
• U.S. Companies That Hire The Most Interns; Forbes.com, July 7, 2009
• Dos And Don'ts Of Post-Grad Internships; Brazen Careerist, March 17, 2009

Last update: 01/24/2010