Developing professional skills through internship
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20/09/2023
Completing your first internship can be an exciting but nerve-wracking experience that many university students face. The experience, however, is very rewarding and helps close the gap between your academic knowledge and real work experience.
Internships provide students with hands-on experience in their desired career path and grant students the opportunity to develop a wide range of professional skills that they are unable to learn throughout their university degree.
The professional skills learned while completing an internship will be beneficial in helping students stand out on their resumes as a recent graduates and will overall make students more employable within the job market.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Being able to effectively communicate within the workplace is a key skill to have in achieving a successful career, and internships provide students with the opportunity to develop their verbal and written communication skills.
Verbal communication skills are developed by working amongst and interacting with fellow colleagues, supervisors, and clients. Completing daily tasks, and projects, and participating in meetings, interviews, and presentations. Which allows students to learn how to effectively listen and contribute to a discussion and express their ideas.
Students will also become skilled in written communication through sending emails and writing reports and policies, in a professional manner, which are all important tasks within an organisation.
TIME MANAGEMENT
Throughout an internship university students will begin to develop their time management skills as completing an internship places more responsibility on students.
Students will be challenged with learning how to manage their time and determining what processes need to be implemented to help them manage and prioritise important work tasks and deadlines. While completing their internship students will also be attending their lectures, and classes, and working on assignments to meet their due dates.
Although this may be overwhelming, time management is an important professional skill to develop as it will assist students in their desired career path and internships will provide students with the perfect opportunity to develop this skill.
TEAMWORK
Within many workplaces teamwork is a vital aspect of the job. When completing your internship students are provided with the chance to work within a team amongst a variety of people with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and viewpoints.
While working within a team students will learn to be effective team players, students will learn to participate in group discussions, and learn to respect and understand the different ideas and perspectives within your team.
The development of teamwork as a professional skill will help foster a positive environment in your future workplace and allow you to effectively work within a team.
PROBLEM-SOLVING
The professional world can be a very unpredictable place with changes and new opportunities always arising and it is important for people to act quickly and think on their feet.
When completing an internship students can develop their problem-solving skills as they are faced with many challenges and unexpected situations which require students to act quickly and resolve the problem within a timely manner. During an internship, students will learn to be resourceful and come up with solutions that they may not have thought of in the classroom.
The development of problem-solving skills will help students excel in their internships and prepare them for their future careers where they will be faced with a variety of complex situations.
PROFESSIONAL ETIQUETTE AND WORKPLACE CULTURE
The transition from university to the professional world can be overwhelming and a shock to some students. However, completing an internship allows students to dive into a real corporate setting, where they have the opportunity to learn about a company’s workplace culture and develop professional etiquette.
From learning the appropriate dress code to learning how to communicate professionally and in line with the company’s policies and procedures. Students will gain firsthand experience in engaging within a professional environment which will prepare students for when they enter their future careers.
Completing an internship can be an overwhelming but rewarding experience. Internships provide students with an opportunity to experience the professional world and gain professional skills that will help enhance their resume, make them more employable, and overall boost their confidence.
