Basics of Being an Intern
An internship involves working for a company, usually in an underling capacity, often without pay in order to gain real world work experience that will provide you with a better idea of what to expect in your chosen profession. One of the best examples is student teaching in which the culmination of your years of preparation is put to work by spending one to two semesters in real classrooms under the supervision of experienced teachers. While education is probably one of the most notable examples of an internship (the medical profession is also an excellent example of this), many business fields also use internships as a way of helping up and coming talent better prepare for the demands of the real work environment.
Interns generally hold an assistant position for some of the time. This allows them close access to the people in the positions they want to one day hold but also gives them specific job responsibilities they need to complete. This is what makes internships different than simple job shadowing exercises.
Looking for HR Internship Jobs
One of the benefits of trying for an internship in business is that this is one of the fields where interns are frequently paid for their work. That means you may be able to gain valuable work experience while also earning some money. Most of the jobs, however, pay minimum wage or slightly more. In some cases, you may only receive a stipend which is a partial payment meant to help cover your living expenses.
While the paid internships obviously have a special appeal for college students or recent graduates, the non-paid programs are also very valuable, too. A good idea is to do a couple of non-paid internships while you are in college and focus on the paid internships as you get closer to graduation. Remember that the paid internships are going to be more difficult to get so having some previous experience could give you an advantage over the competition.
Remember that you will need to apply for these internships. In that sense, they operate just like any type of job. You must be chosen by the company. That means you’ll need an excellent resume. If your work experience is minimal, boost it up with some volunteering experience that might be relevant. Stress your education and scholastic activities. If you are a leader in your Greek organization or student club, add that to the resume. You need to stand out on your resume if you want to land the best available internships.
Additionally, you should have recommendations from others. Since you are looking for HR internship jobs, consider getting recommendations from professors who have taught you in related courses or from others you have worked with on other internships. This is where those non-paid internships are going to come in handy.
Finding Human Resource Internship Jobs
Now that you have some idea of what to expect from the process and how to be prepared, you can begin the search. There are several ways you can go about finding available internships with solid companies in your field.
First, talk to your school. Most colleges and universities have a department that specializes in helping set up internships with local companies. They often have arrangements with these firms for this purpose. In fact, your school may even offer courses in which an internship is a requirement. That means you’ll be getting college credit and work experience. That’s a definite plus even if you’re not going to be bringing home a paycheck.
Second, attend job seminars. Many major companies send recruiters to college campuses in order to meet and talk to potential future interns. Your school will probably announce these seminars, and you should attend as many as possible. Always dress in business attire and bring along copies of your polished resume to present to recruiters. Sometimes they will conduct interviews on the spot; other times they may contact you at a later date.
Third, you can go to web sites and look for available intern positions within the companies. Most companies today do list their available positions – sometimes including internships – on their web sites. That may be a good option if you already have a few companies in mind for which you would like to intern.
Finally, you can also use the Internet to search for available internship jobs via sites specializing in such positions. Some do exist on the Internet and can be valuable. They allow you to limit your search to certain geographical areas and fields so you don’t have to waste a lot of time digging through sites on your own for possible intern positions.
