I've had internships in both healthcare and hospitality, the biggest lesson I learned from both industry's is you get out what you put in. With encouragement, I found that my supervisors were willing to have me work on different projects because I asked to be included. When I didn't ask, I was stuck doing the same projects.Regarding bosses, I only had one terrible intern supervisor. In retrospect, it's probably because he didn't know better as he was fairly young. I really made sure during the interview that I clicked in some way with my other bosses after that as they can make or break your experience.
im a graphic design major and ive had four internships and i graduate in a few months (scary). i think that if you can get one you should and youll get the most out of your internship if you're really proactive (even in internships i hated i got access to a skillshare account and taught myself a bunch of new stuff on the clock).
also internships adjacent to your field can be just as rewarding! cast a wide net i think because you really never know~
I’ve had 5 internships. They gave me exposure to different working environments, different areas of the field / industries I was interested in and expanded my network. Some internships were great and actually helped me learn, others were shitty situations where I had to pick up the company director’s dry cleaning and take out rubbish 😒 Best thing about internships? They help you discover what jobs or areas of XYZ you like / don’t like, so that clarity made all the internships (including 4 unpaid sadly) worth it for me
I have had roughly 8 internships since the end of high school up till post-grad while I was job hunting. Most of them were related to the fashion industry in some way, from online magazines to styling to trend forecasting.
Each internship taught me what I really wanted to pursue my career in and what I definitely want to stay away from/admire from afar. I definitely learned the work that goes into each section of the industry and for that it was worthwhile.
i really second clicking with your boss Sheree. and it's one area where you have to go with gut feeling since you usually have a short time to measure them up.
im wrapping up my first internship at the end of this month. i intuitively turned down most opportunities my bigger student city offered, despite the possibility of building connections. instead i interned at a nutritionist's office in my hometown of 30k population. my boss confessed to me today that she'll be sad to see me go.
i knew a big city would possibly offer more opportunity, but that opportunity would likely be impersonal. it is what you make it, but i somehow wanted something more. and i guess i got it. i worked a lot with kids (my boss did a lot of summer events where she teaches kids nutrition through book characters and arts&crafts) and reaaally got propelled out of my comfort zone. i pride myself in my tech knowledge and my efficiency at multitasking, and my boss immediately picked up on that and (lovingly) threw me in the deep sea; challenged me to interact with clients and especially the kids over making food plans.
i had a lot of doubts about this choice when i initially made it but im walking away with none. if you're in a position where you can dive into something that isn't what you consider yourself to be good at, go for it. more often than not, we're capable of much more than we give ourselves credit for.