The concept of internship or work placement has been integrated as part of the curriculum in tertiary education for decades. This has been particularly compulsory in the professional field of study. In the professional field such as teaching, business or medicine, this concept plays a significant part in educational and professional success for most students. There are many benefits for students to be in the internship during their college or university degree.

Mostly we seem to think that internship will give students practical knowledge of what really happens in the workplace and what they should be prepared for in their full-time job. Giving the fact that learning from others will never be better than get your hands on experience. This is absolutely working. Most students would learn more or be able to identify their skill gaps during their internships. Personally, I think the internship should take place during the 3rd year of student course where students have been studying and gathering as much knowledge from their course as possible. The idea would be for their (internship)employers to get benefit from students, vice versa. Then after internship, students should be able to come back to class and discuss with their teachers what they would find more useful or beneficial to learn more in order to help them succeeding in their future career.

While I support the timing of third year internship for university course, there is an issue that concerns me as well. From my experiences, I found that after internship, many students come to realize that this is not really the job that they want to do in their future. The idea becomes clearer about what they really have to deal with or work on. Yes, that means they think they might have chosen the wrong field of study! Certainly, to find out now is better than later. That's another benefit of internship, I believe. Choosing field of study (which leads to your future career) when you are 18 years old is absolutely hard. I am not sure how many people really knows what they want when they are 18. This is an obvious issue in some societies where young people is expected to enter university study directly after high school.

Therefore, internship is absolutely important for most students. At least they can be more realistic about their career and they can use their internship experience to help them in their career decision making. It is not only about learning, but also about exploring your own self.

Learn more about this author, Sirirat Chaunkamnerdkarn.
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