Abstract:
An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of
time. Once confined to medical graduates, the term is now used for a wide range of placements
in businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies. They are typically undertaken
by students and graduates looking to gain relevant skills and experience in a particular field.
Employers benefit from these placements because they often recruit employees from their best
interns, who have known capabilities, thus saving time and money in the long run. Internships
are usually arranged by third-party organizations which recruit interns on behalf of industry
groups. Rules vary from country to country about when interns should be regarded as
employees. The system can be open to exploitation by unscrupulous employers.
Internships for professional careers are similar in some ways, but not as rigorous
as apprenticeships for professions, trade, and vocational jobs. The lack of standardization and
oversight leaves the term "internship" open to broad interpretation. Interns may be high school
students, college and university students, or post-graduate adults. These positions may be paid
or unpaid and are temporary.
Typically, an internship consists of an exchange of services for experience between the intern
and the organization. Internships are used to determine if the intern still has an interest in that
field after the real-life experience. In addition, an internship can be used to create a
professional network that can assist with letters of recommendation or lead to future
employment opportunities. The benefit of bringing an intern into full-time employment is that
they are already familiar with the company, their position, and they typically need little to no
training. Internships provide current college students the ability to participate in a field of their
choice to receive hands on learning about a particular future career, preparing them for fulltime work following graduation.
