What is an Internship?
The prime purpose of internships is to provide interns with a meaningful experience that enhances their employability and skills. An internship should integrate knowledge and theory learned with practical application and skills development in a professional setting. Internships give the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience and make connections in professional fields to those considering their career paths; and provides employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate talent.
An intern is a professional in training and an internship provides carefully structured and monitored work or service experience in which an intern has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what they learn throughout the internship.
There are clear business benefits to a good internship programme, such as gaining new and motivated staff members, bringing new skills and perspectives to an organization and potentially improving productivity. Whether or not an internship is paid or unpaid, the quality of the experience is the most important factor for the intern.