Internship

An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time.[1] Once confined to medical graduates, internship is 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 that 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.

For the medical intern, see Internship (medicine).
"Interning" redirects here. For the computer science term, see String interning.

Internships for professional careers are similar in some ways. Similar to internships, apprenticeships transition students from vocational school into the workforce. .[2] 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.[3] Many large corporations, particularly investment banks, have "insights" programs that serve as a pre-internship event numbering a day to a week, either in person or virtually.

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 with the ability to participate in a field of their choice to receive hands-on learning about a particular future career, preparing them for full-time work following graduation.[3][4]

Types

Internships exist in a wide variety of industries and settings. An internship can be paid, unpaid, or partially paid (in the form of a stipend).[5][6] Internships may be part-time or full-time and are usually flexible with students' schedules. A typical internship lasts between one and four months,[7] but can be shorter or longer, depending on the organization involved. The act of job shadowing may also constitute interning.[8]

  • Insights: Many large corporations, particularly investment banks, have "insights" programs that serve as a pre-internship event numbering a day to a week, either in person or virtually.[9][10]
  • Paid internships are common in professional fields including medicine, architecture, science, engineering, law, business (especially accounting and finance), technology, and advertising.[11] Work experience internships usually occur during the second or third year of schooling. This type of internship is to expand an intern's knowledge both in their school studies and also at the company. The intern is expected to bring ideas and knowledge from school into the company.[12]
  • Work research, virtual research (graduation) or dissertation: This is mostly done by students who are in their final year of school. With this kind of internship, a student does research for a particular company.[13] The company can have something that they feel they need to improve, or the student can choose a topic in the company themselves. The results of the research study will be put in a report and often will have to be presented.[13]
  • Unpaid internships are typically through non-profit charities and think tanks which often have unpaid or volunteer positions.[5] State law and state enforcement agencies may impose requirements on unpaid internship programs under Minimum Wage Act. A program must meet criteria to be properly classified as an unpaid internship.
  • Partially-paid internships is when students are paid in the form of a stipend. Stipends are typically a fixed amount of money that is paid out on a regular basis. Usually, interns that are paid with stipends are paid on a set schedule associated with the organization.[5]

Another type of internship growing in popularity is the virtual internship, in which the intern works remotely, and is not physically present at the job location. It provides the capacity to gain job experience without the conventional requirement of being physically present in an office. The internship is conducted via virtual means, such as phone, email, and web communication. Virtual interns generally have the opportunity to work at their own pace.[14]

Internship for a fee

Companies in search of interns often find and place students in mostly unpaid internships, for a fee.[15] These companies charge students to assist with research, promising to refund the fee if no internship is found.[16] The programs vary and aim to provide internship placements at reputable companies. Some companies may also provide controlled housing in a new city, mentorship, support, networking, weekend activities or academic credit.[6]

Some companies specifically fund scholarships and grants for low-income applicants.[5] Critics of internships criticize the practice of requiring certain college credits to be obtained only through unpaid internships.[17] Depending on the cost of the school, this is often seen as an unethical practice, as it requires students to exchange paid-for and often limited tuition credits to work an uncompensated job.[18] Paying for academic credits is a way to ensure students complete the duration of the internship, since they can be held accountable by their academic institution. For example, a student may be awarded academic credit only after their university receives a positive review from the intern's supervisor at the sponsoring organization.[19]

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See also

References
  1. Definition of Internship (as set forth in the Ohio State University Department of Political Science, accessed January 22, 2013
  2. "The difference between Internships and Apprenticeships". internstars.co.uk.
  3. Perlin, Ross (2013). "Internships". Sociology of Work: An Encyclopedia. doi:10.4135/9781452276199.n165. ISBN 9781452205069.
  4. Dailey, Stephanie L. (2016-08-07). "What Happens Before Full-Time Employment? Internships as a Mechanism of Anticipatory Socialization" (PDF). Western Journal of Communication. 80 (4): 453–480. doi:10.1080/10570314.2016.1159727. hdl:2152/24733. ISSN 1057-0314.
  5. "Internship Network". www.internsnetwork.org.uk. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  6. "Unpaid internships face legal, ethical scrutiny" Archived 2012-04-06 at the Wayback Machine, The Bowdoin Orient, Bowdoin College, April 30, 2004
  7. "Internships – Jobs, Reviews, Advice – RateMyPlacement". ratemyplacement.co.uk.
  8. "Job Shadow". FVHCA. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  9. "Insight Programs". Morgan Stanley. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  10. "Goldman Sachs | Student Programs - Insight Series". Goldman Sachs. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  12. "Internship Expectations: What an Internship Is and Is Not - Current Students and Alumni - Career Center - University of Evansville". www.evansville.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  13. "Five principles for research ethics". American Psychological Association. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  14. Virtual internship
  15. Sue Shellenbarger (January 28, 2009). "Do You Want An Internship? It'll Cost You". The Wall Street Journal.
  16. Timothy Noah (January 28, 2009). "Opportunity for Sale; Psst! Wanna buy an internship?".
  17. Yglesias, Matthew (2013-12-04). "Two Cheers for Unpaid Internships". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  18. Discenna, Thomas A. (2016-08-07). "The Discourses of Free Labor: Career Management, Employability, and the Unpaid Intern". Western Journal of Communication. 80 (4): 435–452. doi:10.1080/10570314.2016.1162323. ISSN 1057-0314.
  19. "Unpaid Internships: Unfair and Unethical | The Bottom Line". The Bottom Line. 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2017-11-30.

Further reading
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