Q16-14. What specific characteristics would you look for in an internship?

Internships are known for giving students the opportunity to apply their learning and
knowledges into a real environment. Internships greatly increase the chances of a student to get
employment after graduation. Practical experiences encourage a fresh graduate to get a job.
Therefore, students should choose their internship wisely so that they can improve and make
themselves valuable in the job market in the future.

In my opinion, there are some characteristics that I look for in an internship. Firstly, I
would look for internship which provide access to training. Since interns still lack of practical
experience in real world environment, it is a good chance for them to gain experience through
the training provided. Training that provided in the company may be different from what they
have learnt from the colleges or universities. It is more practical and provided chances to interns
to think about how to connect all the theoretical knowledges that they learnt in colleges into the
real environment. As the intern becomes trained, this may lead to rise in responsibility of
assignments. This means that they can involve in projects that the company is running on that
time. Contribution to the company allows the intern to feel like a part of the team.

Next, the second characteristic that I would look for is whether the company provide
adequate work environment to the interns. Workspace can be said as a basic thing that a company
should provide to their employee regardless they are senior workers or interns. Interns should
receive the equal respect and empathy they deserve at the workplace. They should be provided
with the required workspace and other equipment needed to do the job. For example, table, chair,
computer, stationery and so on.

Being fresh and eager to learn, most interns may be interested in acquiring any experience
that is relevant to their field, so did I. By choosing such an internship, we can get in touch with
the practical work related to our major in social practice, enhance our understanding, cultivate
and exercise our ability to analyze and solve practical problems independently by using the basic
theories, basic skills and professional knowledge we have learned comprehensively. Of course,
choosing the internship work related to our major can also enable us to study our professional
knowledge in a deeper level and verify our professional theoretical knowledge through our own
practical experience. Such professional learning will be more realistic than when we were in school.
 On the other hand, many people find internships depending on the nature and
characteristics of their work, such as to find the internships that help you complete your
graduation thesis, their graduation thesis will generally be discussed with their internship
experience and problems found in their internship. Some internships are designed to help college
students complete their graduation thesis, they introduced their internship experience into their
papers as material for the article.

Lastly, I would look for internship which near to my residential area. They do not want to
change their lifestyle for internship. They mainly choose their own convenience, and then
internship. They all want to find a good internship, which is defined as: less work, more money,
close to home. But that's not necessarily a good choice.