Internships essentially offer professional training to students through on-the-job training in fields such as scientific research, finance and marketing. Typically, these programs open up to college students, but high schoolers can access them as well. Though frequently unpaid, companies may opt to offer their interns hourly wages or stipends for their work. As students consider their futures, these jobs can present opportunities not just to taste test their industry of choice, but to gain connections that will lead to future success.
The key point of internships lies in their allowance for student exploration of the industry they hope to join. While no teenager will experience identical training, the experiences they gain can inform the schools they apply to, the careers they chase and ultimately the jobs they attain.
“For some careers, internships are an absolute necessity. For teachers, for example, we have to do student teaching, which essentially is an unpaid internship. You cannot graduate with a teaching degree without that. So while it didn’t benefit me financially, it’s just a necessity. So I think that for internships, the greatest value they have is having something to put on your resume and experience that you can draw from, and you could also find out whether you like or dislike a particular career path based on your experience in that internship,” Advanced Placement (AP) Microeconomics teacher Tara Sisino said.
From a short-term perspective, internships’ immediate financial impacts can vary, with paid internships — about 60% of those available — providing similar income to a job in the service industry. The professional experience and frequently simpler tasks will trade off with the position’s typically finite nature. Still, students gain a chance at landing other jobs through that experience, simply through the connections they build.
As high schoolers begin to plan their college experiences, their worries may spread from which colleges will admit them to how they will pay for their education. For those who seek merit-based scholarships, an internship can open up opportunities to impress colleges. The experience showcases not just passion, but work ethic, and it could set one teenager apart from his or her fellow scholarship applicants.
Wholly, internships open opportunities down the line. As students begin to connect with mentors in professional settings, they aim to impress them. If an internship leaves both parties content with the other’s work, the chance for employment at the company, or even another company with which the intern meets people, increases to around 7 out of 10 employers offering interns full-time jobs. For high school and college students alike, these programs house the future of financial success.
