Freshers’ CV with Work experience -Importance of Internships

In today's era of liberalization and economic growth, the job search process is becoming more and more competitive and intense. Our advice is that the sooner you start, the better. Sure, you can get a good job without doing an internship, but the experience that you will gain from an internship will ensure that you have an edge over others after you graduate and enter the real job market.

Tanvi Lal, a student of English Literature in Hindu College, Delhi University has just finished an internship with Spring Board Research, which is an IT research company. The experience of working in a corporate set up, learning about customer relations, making phone calls and interacting with people from various parts of the world like Egypt and Morocco are a few of the many reasons which have made this a great leaning experience for her. Gone are the days when an internship was all about running errands like making coffee for your seniors or delivering mails and messages. Today, a number of good jobs in India are available and companies are looking to hire and train, young and talented interns who are enthusiastic and willing to learn and work.

From the initial stages of preparing a professional resume and going for an interview, to the final stages of meeting deadlines and building a network-the experience of working will be a beneficial one. You will learn to conduct yourself in a workplace environment and the opportunity will also provide you a quick glimpse into your future. Going for an internship in the career that you have chosen will be a great idea. This experience will help you to decide on a particular field that you would like to venture into. The process of deciding on your strengths and weaknesses will help you further.

Also, independence and real world experience are important factors which should persuade you to apply for an internship. Working in an office environment-deciding what to wear every morning, conducting yourself throughout the day, meeting and interacting with professionals and people who are experts in their respective fields-all these daily practices will increase your knowledge about the real corporate world. A workplace is a melting pot which comprises of talented individuals from all walks of life. Interacting with different kinds of people and working in a team will improve your communication skills immensely. Besides, the contacts that you will build and the network that you will establish will help you at a later stage in your professional life. You might even get an offer of becoming a permanent employee with the same company after you finish your education!

If you are one of those people who get tense before an exam and can't deal with difficult situations, working in a professional environment will ensure that you learn to deal with a little stress and competition. Meeting deadlines and impressing your boss are going to be the tough jobs that you will have to handle. But the sense of achievement, if you do a good job will be worth it.

Most importantly, remember that internships look great in the 'work experience' section of your CV. In other words, they add immense value to your resume. Future employers would be impressed if you would have done a couple of internships and if they happen to ask you anything about your experience, you will have enough to say and assure them of the fact that you are the right person for the job.

Confidence, self-belief, clarity about your career, contact building and networking-all these and many more are incentives that should influence you and persuade you to take up an internship. It's a good thing if you are paid, but a personal tip would be that if you go for an internship-don't go for the money, go for the experience! Sanmitra Gupta, a graduate in English Literature from Ramjas College, Delhi University says that he joined Rock Street Journal as an internee, in order to gain the experience of working for a magazine. He mentions that money was never a criteria for him.

Be it working as an assistant in a PR agency or writing for a website- any internship in a good organization will ensure that you gain immense experience and evolve into a more confident and professional individual.