Why an internship might be the perfect first step for you – Kate

If you are daunted by the sheer terror of entering the job industry, whether as a graduate or someone looking to steer their career into a new direction, you may want to consider the benefits that a work experience or internship role could present to you.
There is a plethora of job sectors to consider, and within that hundreds of compelling job roles, which when presented to you in one huge mass is nothing less than intimidating.
For a graduate straight out of university, there are no words more stomach-churning than:
“so what do you want to do now?”
“what is your next step?”
“why aren’t you in a full-time position yet? You graduated two whole days ago!!!”
As much as graduating overloads you with these questions, instead of batting it off with the same vague summary of ‘I don’t know yet’, why not quell the fear of the unknown and sample something in the form of an internship? I left university after studying a BA in English Literature; a degree that I absolutely adored in terms of content and the skills I gained, but for what it is, a degree that doesn’t set you down a singular career path as perhaps other degrees might.
I chose my degree for my love of literature, but furthermore for its versatility, setting me up with comprehensive reading, writing and communication skills that I could apply to any job I’m interested in.
On leaving, I made the decision that in whatever way possible, I wanted to gain some valuable experience and the most obvious option for me was through an internship scheme.
If you have ever considered an industry but have worried that you don’t have the direct skillset required, an internship is ideal in order to give you that entry level opportunity to learn a bit about a company, what the job entails, to dip your toe in the water and see what you make of it.
There are thousands of internship and work experience roles available all year round, and in the most nauseatingly motherly phrasing: ‘how do you know you don’t like it until you try it?’
The best advice I can give, is to expand your searches past one industry, apply for lots of opportunities that peak your interests and see! It’s easy to forget that one company’s role isn’t the blueprint for every position for example.
However, to get some experience first-hand and see if its something you enjoy is invaluable. Work experience is perfect for hundreds of job roles and is the best way to better understand what it is you want to do, you might surprise yourself and enjoy something you would never have considered before.
Consider:
– What do I enjoy doing?
– What are my key strengths?
– What would I be interested in learning?
– Where can I look to try this out?