With people of all ages and professional levels looking for employment in today's job market, finding ways to stand out from the competition is a must. One way to accomplish this is by gaining experience through an internship. Internships are a useful tool for any college student or recent grad, for they not only give you experience you can put on your resume, but they can also help you to gain a better understanding of your own likes and dislikes in terms of a potential career path. And those are only a couple of the benefits!
Still not convinced that internships are important? Then check out these 18 insights from English majors on the importance of internships:
1. "The reality of the 'real world' is that employers will be looking for internships and/or work experience on your resume when you graduate."
Click here to read the complete interview with Hayley Crowell Curry, Account Executive in TV & Digital Advertising Sales.
2. "If I could go back, I would definitely have taken many more internships..."
Click here to read the complete interview with Chelsea Phipps, Community Management Lead at a Social Media Marketing Agency.
3. "The job was a great resume builder, but more than that, it was a great experience toward learning what I liked and didn't like about editing."
Click here to read the complete interview with Anna Wenner, Editor at Hallmark Cards, Inc.
4. "If I'd done more internships either during school or during breaks, I could have felt more sure about what sort of job I was (and perhaps just as important, wasn't) looking for."
5. "...It was really the newspaper internships that got my foot in the door."
Click here to read the complete interview with Angela Nixon, Speechwriter.
6. "...My advice is to not limit yourself to one specific career path and to be open to new experiences...because you never know where those other paths might lead."
7. "Sometimes internships are valuable because they help you figure out what you don't want to do with your career."
8. "My internships at my local newspaper were definitely important in my career."
9. "It wasn't my dream job by a long shot, but it gave me the experience I needed to get a job after graduate school."
10. "Try different types of internships to help you figure out what path you want to take for your profession."
Click here to read the complete interview with Rachel Tallis, Technical Writer & Project Manager.
11. "Each of these internships provided me with knowledge of the business world and showed me how many options I had as a Professional Writing major."
12. "Any experience and extra skills you have will make your resume stand out more."
Click here to read the complete interview with Becca Wallace, Content Manager.
13. "If I could give my younger self advice, it would have been to pursue more internships to get a better feel for the type of work I really wanted to do."
Click here to read the complete interview with Sumiko Martinez, Community Outreach Officer.
14. "This experience contributed to my decision to pursue a masters and pursue teaching at a college level as a career."
Click here to read the complete interview with Sara Strickland, Adjunct Faculty & Content & SEO Strategist.
15. "In hindsight, I should have done more off-campus internships early and as often as possible."
Click here to read the complete interview with Rhonda Crowder, Writer, Editor, Journalist.
16. "This year of my life allowed me to see what worked and what didn't work in terms of writing for a purpose."
Click here to read the complete interview with Meg Goforth-Ward, Adjunct Writing Instructor & Communications Specialist.
17. "Whatever your interest are, there's likely a number of websites, publications, and organizations devoted toward them."
Click here to read the complete interview with Abigail Fleming, Production Editor.
