In this day and age, having a degree or diploma (you are more than a piece of paper) alone will not cut it. Employers are looking for industry experience from employees before considering them a potential candidate for the job. And trust me – they’re not just looking for one work experience, but several to truly understand your potential.
How do I know this? I’ve experienced it firsthand. Taking a diploma in Singapore Polytechnic, I was given the opportunity to intern at a highly renowned media company in Singapore. I put on multiple hats in my stint there, I was a writer, videographer, video editor and fashion stylist. The internship added tons of experience into my resume and I was even called on to be a freelance writer after!
I thought that this experience would be enough for me to land a job with a future employer, but I was wrong. Several employers needed me to have more relevant experience in the working world before they wanted to hire me for gigs and projects. Being aware of this, I quickly decided to pick internships and freelance gigs in different media sectors to grow my scope and hone my skills.
Having this additional experience proved to be worthwhile to me, after stacking up these new experiences. I would get significantly more call backs and offers on jobs I applied to.
Internships provided the practical and real-world experience that my school and exams did not prepare me for. It helped me understand how the industry truly worked and gave me the contacts that needed to kickstart my career.
If you’re still looking for some motivation to pick up an internship, here’s 3 reasons why you need one now.
1. Grow Your Network
Taking on an internship can help you grow your professional network and here are some tips to get started in networking. You can meet your new boss, colleagues or gain contacts for future projects you might need advice or help in. Apart from growing your professional contacts, it’s also a great place to meet like-minded people and create new friendships.
My internship was a great stepping stone for me in my freelance journey. I was able to display my potential in writing online articles well and managed to get offered a long-term stint with the company. Some of my friends managed to land a full-time job in the company that they interned for.
Meeting and experiencing life in the working world, opens up new job opportunities that you would’ve missed without taking on an internship.
2. Develop Industry-related Skills
When you enter an internship, you won’t just be given one task. You can expect to wear several hats and test different aspects of the field. This will allow you to broaden your scope and pick up new skills that can make you more hirable in the future.
Working at my internships, I was exposed to production, videography, photography and social media managing. These areas are not my forte as a writer. In school I was trained to write for various platforms, but these internships taught me how to communicate my ideas in ways apart from writing. With these new skills that I picked up, I was more employable when I applied for jobs and went for interviews.
Similarly, when you start your internship, you will be given the opportunity to try tasks that go beyond your traditional job scope. Use this as an opportunity to discover new interests and talents – for all you know, you might resonate with a job scope completely different from the one you’ve studied for!
3. Gain a Higher Chance at Being Hired
Employers tend to privilege employees with work experience as compared to someone who is solely book smart. So, if you’re looking for a better chance at standing out amongst a hungry crowd of job applicants, try to rake up as much industry-related experience as you can.
Taking on internships and freelance gigs helped me see a significant difference in the number of job offers I received. Employers were curious about my previous job experience and were impressed that I have a several media-related skills to value add to the company.
Taking on internships make you more valuable than the average job-seeker and allows you to know the ins and outs of the industry you intend to work for.
Check out our career guidance page for more useful lifestyle and career tips!
