Benefits And Disadvantages Of Internship Experiences

Advantages of Internships

Discuss about the Internship-Benefits and Disadvantages for Internship Experiences.

Internships are where the upper learning matches employments. They enable the learners to acquire practical experience doing work in a corporation as well learning at the universities. An internship is basically a part or even unpaid work positioning, in which one wish to acquire on the work training and gain experience, which will be helpful for the future employment (Beard, 2007). The internships offer actual profession as well as the educative advantages to the undergraduate as well as the graduate level students. The conditions and condition can differ , most many a time internships possess an excellent effects on the academic results .The intention of this discussion in the paper, it will identify a literature review of how various writers identify a number of advantages of the internship for the university students (Budgen and Gamroth, 2008). Some of these advantages are it is for a short time, it gets the student the right mindset, and it can add on the value to the CV work experience to the student. Moreover, there is a need to identify the benefits and the disadvantages it has brought to the students more so explaining on the WIL program of Deakin University on how it creates on the opportunities for the students.

Various writers identify a number of advantages and disadvantages of internships for the university graduates. One of this advantage is that it is for a short term. The internship period essentially is short and the students can gain a lot of experience on the work (Lee, 2009). It will help them to find out on all the possibilities and gain on experience, which one would not forget. The internship helps the graduate to look into the professions and the organization that they hope to work for in the future for a short span of time. Another advantage is that it gets the students the right set mindset. In reality, the university is not a real world (Lee, 2015). Sadly for many people the real world is getting up in the morning at 7am and getting home at 7pm and only having only 25 days paid holiday in a year (Beard, 2007). The internship gives the student experience in regards to the work duties on a real perspective away from the norm of the school setting where only learning takes place (O’Connor and Bodicoat, 2015). Another advantage it add valuable experience on the CV of the student (Gault, Redington and Schlager, 2010). The job duties undertaken on a particular internship may add weight to the CV of the students, which will be beneficial for a job prospective in the future. Nonetheless, there are various disadvantages of internship for the students. Some of the them are it can be seen as a slave labor, there may be never a possibility of being offered a job at the end, and one may feel disrespected especially when the permanent employees may not bother to know you well, as you are only seen as temporal addition to the team.

Disadvantages of Internships

There are numerous benefits of paid or unpaid internships for university graduate. Two of these are the students can make industry contacts and the experience they gain can narrow down on the list of the potential careers (Beard, 2007). On the creating on the business connections, it is generally claimed often, it is not about that which you understand but alternatively, who you know. It is very important to learn how to carry out on the needed duties for a specific task; having an outstanding set of the contacts in business behind you may be essential in assisting one in searching for as well as securing an employment after graduating. Internship is certainly one a great way to brand away from the college program into the business you are learning after which you can develop on the directory of contact. The internship are often a win-to-win scenario. They are able to assist one determine if a certain profession is or may be not best for them after which you can winnow down the list of the profession you are enthusiastic about as well as discovered the one , you are going to be joyful at . In case one fails to benefit from their internship experience then, at least, it will have assisted someone to decide on a certain region is not to suit your needs. You should not quit but instead constantly attempt a different internship in another company, function or perhaps another area and check if it is far better (O’Connor and Bodicoat, 2015). In each experience , it will help you make up your mind and consequently change on your chosen career course .Work Integrated learning programs have been developed by Deakin University and RMIT University and appear to create opportunities for the students. It is thus important to know what WIL is and the opportunities it has created (Gault, Redington and Schlager, 2010). WIL is a term, which is given to an activity that integrate the academic learning with its application in the workplace through combination of the theory with practice as the part of the enrolled program of the study. It has made an important contribution to the work of the graduate work and readiness in the industry (Silva, Lopes, Costa, Seabra, Melo, Brito and Dias, 2015). The WIL program has offered various opportunities for the students some of which are placement in the industry through the school practical placements programs in the school. The program has offered the students industry projects that are aimed at providing a practical organizational problem solving projects to work in conjunction with a particular industry. Another opportunity it provide is that it is a simulation in a particular subject (Divine, Linrud, Miller and Wilson, 2007). Through the program, a real world situation is replicated in the teaching environment of the RMT. Moreover, they can take various forms depending on the academic discipline that is being taught. According to Deakin University the program, they offer aims at making a positive difference in Australia and throughout the world. They have a progressive and a flexible approach that helps to create graduates who are successful. Besides, the university has reported the highest overall in terms of satisfaction among the Victorian Universities for the last 6 years (Budgen and Gamroth, 2008). Deakin University provides opportunities through recognizing, and provision of innovative technologies to the students to get hand practical when teaching different academic disciplines.

Benefits of Paid or Unpaid Internships

In conclusion, it has been found out that they are various benefits and disadvantage of internships for the university graduates. On the advantages, the internship takes a short term, it can get the students the right change mindset, and it add on valuable experience on the CV of the student and it can become beneficial especially when the student is looking for prospect employer in the future. Besides, there are numerous benefits of the unpaid internship for the university graduate some of these are; the student can make industry contact and the experience they gain can narrow down on the list of the potential careers. Nonetheless, there have been disadvantages that have been identified in regards to the internship for the university graduate some of these are; internship can be seen as a slave labor. Additionally there may be no possibilities of being offered a job at the end of the internship and one may feel disrespected especially when the permanent employees may not bother to know one, as they see them as a temporal addition to the team. Work integrated learning programs from both Deakin University and RMIT University has been identified to provide opportunities to the students through placement in the industry, provision of the practical organizational problems solving projects and simulations in various disciplines. In this writers opinion, internship has provided more benefits to the university graduates than the disadvantages it has brought, in that it provide practical experience on the work, and helps one to establish contact in a particular industry for future references when searching for a job.

References

Beard, D., 2007. Assessment of internship experiences and accounting core competencies. Accounting Education: an international journal, pp. 16(2), pp.207-220.

Budgen, C. and Gamroth, L, 2008. An overview of practice education models. Nurse Education Today, pp. 28(3), pp.273-283.

Divine , R.L., Linrud, J.K., Miller, R.H. and Wilson, J.H, 2007. Required internship programs in marketing: Benefits, challenges and determinants of fit. Marketing Education Review, pp. 17(2), pp.45-52.

Gault, J., Redington, J. and Schlager, T, 2010. Undergraduate business internships and career success: are they related?. Journal of marketing journal , pp. 22(1), pp.45-53.

Lee, J., 2015. Getting the Most Out of Industry Internships. In Preparing Youths for the Workplace (pp. 101-109). 

Lee, Y., 2009. The sustainability of university-industry research collaboration: An emperical assessment. The journal of Techology Transfer, pp. 25(2), pp.111-133.

O’Connor, H. and Bodicoat, M., 2015. Exploitation or opportunity? Student perceptions of internships in enhancing employability skills. British Journal of Sociology of Education, pp.1-12. 

Silva, P., Lopes, B., Costa, M., Seabra, D., Melo, A.I., Brito, E. and Dias, G.P., 2015. Stairway to employment? Internships in higher education. Higher Education, pp.1-19.