Stand Out from the Graduate Crowd
University is always championed as a good idea, perhaps even a necessity for young people, who finish school and then need to go into ‘something' afterwards. There are those who choose to move straight into the workforce, attracted by pure earning power, even though university can offer earning potential. Last century, this was a lot simpler - university graduates were far fewer in number, and on leaving with a degree of any kind, finding a job was more assured, with a wealth of graduate programmes and positions. Like many things this decade, this is now far from the case. There are too many applicant to universities, too many meaningless course titles, and mainly, worse of all, there are now very few job positions in the job market for fresh graduates. There is now no guarantee at all that a job will be waiting, which means that graduates need to be more creative, more flexible, and ready to change their goals and mindsets to adapt to the ‘real world'. Without a job, an internship is seen as the most logical move to make. Some companies will find and place students in internships for a fee; such internships are mostly unpaid. In some cases companies charge to assist with a search, promising to refund their fees if no internship is found. What is included in such paid programs varies by company. Overall, the advantages are that they provide internship placements at reputable companies provide controlled housing in a new city, mentorship and support throughout the summer, networking, weekend activities in some programs, and sometimes academic credit. Another form of paying for internships is through charity auctions, where a company with an internship will select a charity to get the proceeds of the auction. In some cases, companies have created internships simply to help charities. Beyond fee based programs, there has also been criticism against companies requiring college credit in exchange for eligibility to obtain an internship. 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 in order to work an uncompensated job. Even if the school does not require credit to be received for an internship, companies often will require credit to be received so that they cannot be accused of giving the intern nothing. But in the case of most schools—though some do reserve internship credits that will not take away from your normal tuition's worth of credits—the student is taking a risk and a loss in their pursuit of possible future employment. So what if an internship is difficult to find? Yet more creativity is needed. The most obvious option is to use the power of the internet. What this means is that you do not need to rely on obvious choices and other people to do things that you can list on your CV, to show you aptitude and ability. Believe it or not, one option is to make a free website. This will give you the power to start a new scheme - perhaps for charity, or volunteer work, or to document wrong-doing or reward those in the right. How to make your own website is the first question, but it is not hard to find a free website builder. With that part done, then perhaps world travels, personal hobbies, charitable schemes and more can be documented online, ready for a potential employer to see - and far more unique than just another CV with an internship on it.
About the Author
John Meadow
Article Writer
Jimdo - Pages to the People.
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