What I Learned From My Internship Experience

Internships are one of the best ways you can experience the workforce without all the extra responsibilities or commitments. It’s a perfect way to get a glimpse of a certain industry. It also equips you with the necessary skills needed in the future. Internships are definitely a learning experience! Here are the top three things you can learn in your internship experience!

Your strengths and weaknesses

As you immerse yourself in an unfamiliar environment with standards higher than usual, you discover so much more about yourself. This may be how you overcome your shyness, how you warm up to people, or even how well you work with others. It’s through experiencing new things that you identify strong qualities as well as qualities to improve on.

For instance, being assigned to a team during an internship may either teach you that you work better with others or better alone. Whatever it may be, it’s okay. You also begin to identify how you approach problems and how you make the most of a situation. It’s important to learn your strengths and weaknesses so you can highlight what you’re good at and improve on what you’re not.

By knowing ourselves and our capabilities, we maximize the learning opportunity in front of us.

Asking for help

You will be with professionals who have been in the field way longer than you have been in school. Most have probably even graduated before you were born. These people are very experienced, skilled, and wise.

However, it doesn’t mean they’re unapproachable. Internships are a great way to learn firsthand from employers in the industry. You witness their day-to-day tasks and activities and what kind of role they play in the team. Do not hesitate to ask questions or for help when needed. They will be more than willing to share lessons they have learned in the past. After all, they have been in your shoes once.

What truly is or isn’t for you

At the end of the day, internships can only teach you so many skills or valuable experiences. What truly sticks is whether or not you see yourself in that field years from now. If the internship made you realize this is where you want to be post-graduation, then great! Establish networks to stay connected with the people you worked with.

However, if the internship experience changed your mind about the path you were set upon, that’s okay, too! Internships don’t set your career in stone. Maybe that’s what’s so good about them.  You have a wide array of opportunities and resources to understand what goals you truly have for yourself. On the bright side, you garnered the necessary skills and a great story to tell once you land in your preferred field already.

There are many things you can take from an internship. From learning more about yourself and how you work with people to learning how to communicate, to understanding the goals and plans you have laid out for yourself. All the takeaways make the experience so worth it and fulfilling.

We definitely encourage you to apply to internships that interest you. Do not be afraid to test the waters. Want to learn more about finding internships as a senior high school student? Read our Job Hunting or All About Senior High sections on the Edukasyon.ph blog to learn more about the many opportunities available for you!