Internship

An internship is a period of work

experience offered by an organisation for a
limited period of time.[1] Once confined to
medical graduates, the term is now used
for a wide range of placements within
businesses, non-profit organisations 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 organisations which 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.

Internships for professional careers are

similar in some ways, but not as rigorous
as apprenticeships for professions, trade,
and vocational jobs.[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]

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 and 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 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]

Paid internships are common in

professional fields including medicine,
architecture, science, engineering, law,
business (especially accounting and
finance), technology, and advertising.[9]
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.[10]
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.[11] The company
can have something that they feel they
need to improve, or the student can
choose a topic within the company
themselves. The results of the research
study will be put in a report and often
will have to be presented.[11]
Unpaid internships are typically through
non-profit charities and think tanks
which often have unpaid or volunteer
positions.[5]
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.[12]

Internship for a fee

Companies in search of interns often find
and place students in mostly unpaid
internships, for a fee.[13] These companies
charge students to assist with research,
promising to refund the fee if no internship
is found.[14] 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, and/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.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17]

See also
Curricular Practical Training (for
international students)
Experiential education
Externship
Sub-internship
Practicum
Postdoctoral researcher
Service-learning
Skintern
 Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work
Day

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. Internships.
doi:10.4135/9781452276199.n165 .
4. Dailey, Stephanie L. (2016-08-07). "What
Happens Before Full-Time Employment?
Internships as a Mechanism of Anticipatory
Socialization" . Western Journal of
Communication. 80 (4): 453–480.
doi:10.1080/10570314.2016.1159727 .
ISSN 1057-0314 .
5. "Internship Network" .
www.internsnetwork.org.uk. Retrieved
2017-11-30.
6. "Unpaid internships face legal, ethical
scrutiny" , 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.
10. "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.
11. "Five principles for research ethics" .
American Psychological Association.
Retrieved 2017-11-30.
12. Virtual internship
13. Sue Shellenbarger (January 28, 2009).
"Do You Want An Internship? It'll Cost You" .
The Wall Street Journal.
14. Timothy Noah (January 28, 2009).
"Opportunity for Sale; Psst! Wanna buy an
internship?" .
15. Yglesias, Matthew (2013-12-04). "Two
Cheers for Unpaid Internships" . Slate.
ISSN 1091-2339 . Retrieved 2017-11-30.
16. 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 .
17. "Unpaid Internships: Unfair and
Unethical | The Bottom Line" . The Bottom
Line. 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2017-11-30.

Further reading
Lucas, Clay, "Unpaid internship: code for
modern-day exploitation?" , The Sydney
Morning Herald, Sydney, Australia, April
11, 2012
Perlin, Ross, Intern nation : how to earn
nothing and learn little in the brave new
economy , 1st ed., Brooklyn, NY : Verso
Books, 2011. ISBN 978-1-84467-686-6
Conlin, Michelle, "Intern Abuse?" ,
Bloomberg Businessweek, May 5, 2009
IITians shun fat paychecks to start their
own ventures, inspired by success of IIT
alumni startups
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