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- You’ll get hands-on experience
- It’s a chance to build soft skills
- You can develop your resume
- You’ll learn to take feedback
- You can discover what you really like
Thinking about pursuing an internship this year? It’s a great idea for a whole host of reasons and according to a recent poll from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 39% of employers intend to hire more interns than last year.
Many large and established companies already have programs in place to help recent graduates, as well as those who are currently studying and looking for summer placements. Professional services firms such as PwC, Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG and EY all support entry-level careers, as do a host of tech firms which include Microsoft, Meta and Intel, for example.
In the fields of banking, insurance and fintech too, internships are well supported: Citi, Mastercard and Morgan Stanley are just three of the many firms students can look to for graduate opportunities.
While internships are of great benefit to companies because younger workers have different perspectives and ideas and are eager to prove themselves, what can an internship placement or program offer you?
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You’ll get hands-on experience
You’ll have theoretical knowledge from your college course, but working in an office environment with career professionals will not only give you hands-on experience, but will also have the benefit of giving you access to colleagues with a wide range of knowledge and talent––and you can learn a lot from them as well as build your network for the future. This all helps to prepare you for what to expect from a career in your field, and will help to increase confidence in your work.
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It’s a chance to build soft skills
Often underestimated, soft skills are hugely important to cultivate in order to develop relationships, ensure outcomes and underpin a successful career. Where your hard skills will be things such as your ability to write code, for example, soft skills include people, communication listening, time management, problem-solving and leadership skills.
Gallup says that “Soft skill development is increasingly gaining attention” and, “A thriving workplace is home to employees with soft skills.” One of the very best ways to finesse these career essentials is in the workplace.
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You can develop your resume
An internship represents an excellent opportunity to add some real life, solid work experience to your resume. Applying for jobs post-graduation can sometimes feel like a bit of a Catch-22: companies want you to have some professional experience––but how are you going to get that without having done some sort of placement?
If you’re applying for a job and it comes down to you and one other candidate, and you’re the one with the internship on your resume, you’ll have a clear leg up on the competition.
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You’ll learn to take feedback
No one loves getting feedback, but it is an essential part of the professional workplace process. Understanding how an office environment works by participating in meetings, mentoring sessions, completing tasks on schedule and receiving feedback from your managers are all vital aspects of work. These will not only prepare you for your career to come, but will also help you to improve and hone your skills.
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You can discover what you really like
College is a time of exploration and discovery, and you’ll cover a lot of theory and concepts in your classes. An internship offers you the chance to find out if you actually want to pursue your chosen discipline as a career. Do you enjoy it, and can you see yourself committing to a job in the sector? Through a work placement, you may find that there are other aspects you enjoy more.
If you’re looking to apply for an internship now, we’re taking a look at three below––and there are plenty more to discover on the GradCafe Job Board.
Enterprise Account Engineer Intern, Premium Support, Amazon Web Services, Inc., Herndon
This internship will suit a penultimate-year student working towards a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a computer science field who is interested in jump-starting a career as an Enterprise Account Engineer. You will receive deep-dive training in modern infrastructure design and management and partner across AWS teams to help customers craft highly scalable, flexible and resilient cloud architectures that address customer business problems. You’ll need a basic understanding of computing, storage, networking, and scripting, as well as experience with at least one functional scripting language (Perl, Python, Ruby, shell scripting).
Intern, Morgan Stanley, Pasadena
Working in the wealth management area of Morgan Stanley, this Internship role will allow you to gain industry and organizational knowledge through daily business interactions and job assignments. Over a maximum duration of ten months, you’ll also develop business, financial and analytical skills needed for a career in global wealth management and financial services and provide marketing and sales support to branches and their teams. Additionally, you’ll perform market research and gain exposure to wealth management business, products, services and clients’ financial needs. To apply, you will need a high school diploma, but being in a pursuit of a college degree is preferable. Effective communication and interpersonal skills (both written and verbal), the ability to work on a team and strong analytical skills and ability to interpret are also required.
Research Intern – GSL, Microsoft, Madison
Research Internships at Microsoft provide a dynamic environment for research careers with a network of world-class research labs led by globally-recognized scientists and engineers. Interns put inquiry and theory into practice. Alongside fellow doctoral candidates and some of the world’s best researchers, interns learn, collaborate, and network for life. During the 12-week internship, students are paired with mentors and expected to collaborate with other interns and researchers, present findings, and contribute to the vibrant life of the community.
Discover hundreds more just-out-of-college job opportunities via the GradCafe Job Board
Kirstie works for our job board partner, Jobbio. Based in Dublin, she has been a writer and editor
across print and digital platforms for over 15 years.
