If you are a student or a recent graduate who is considering engaging with an engineering internship, you might be asking yourself whether or not it is worthwhile. As you no doubt understand, this is a competitive and tough industry to get involved in, and there are many different directions you can take it that will land you in different places down the road.
Your early decisions are going to be crucial in determining what kind of experience you get and what variety of roles you will be able to quickly get into in your later career. While you can always go back and learn new things to expand your skillset, most people find it most comfortable to focus on one proficiency from the start and continue to snowball their expertise to get higher-paying roles in the field.
The following will examine 3 reasons that engineering internships are worthwhile.
1. Valuable experience
The most apparent utility of engaging with engineering internships is that they will give you valuable on-the-job experience in your field. This is more important in the world of mechanics since there is a significant practical component to the work you do that you simply can’t get a full grasp of with study alone.
Even the best degree and qualifications won’t fully be preparing you for the real thing. There are a lot of unforeseen problems that you, as a budding mechanic, will need to find ways to overcome and you can only truly appreciate these things by actually being on-site and dealing with it as it develops.
No amount of practice or simulated scenarios can prepare you for the real job world as much as an engineering internship can. Getting practical on-the-job experience is the quickest way to gain valuable knowledge on how to actually do the job you are training for.
In this type of industry, practical experience is just as if not more valuable than theoretical knowledge. The best employees are those who can merge both and deliver outstanding results to the firms they work for, specifically by innovating, where others cannot.
2. Finding a potential mentor
Another great advantage of looking for engineering internships is that you could potentially get a great mentor to assist you through your placement and throughout the rest of your career. This is a kind of teacher who sees a little of themselves in you and wants to help you get early success in the same way they did by helping you learn valuable lessons that will assist you and stop you from having a declining career.
Mentors can be hard to find so even in engineering internships you may not always get one, but it is one of the best environments that give you the best chance of finding someone suitable for this purpose. The best thing is to let it occur naturally, as a good mentor will gravitate towards you and seek to give you their advice because they like you.
Another benefit of mentors is that they can connect you with other jobs after your engineering internship is concluded. They will have the clout to vouch for your experience, and this can go a long way in putting you ahead of other applicants when job seeking.
3. Gaining employment
Engineering internships also give you the chance to look for a job from the firm you do your placement with. While this is never guaranteed, many firms will like to hire from young people doing placements as they will be familiar with how the company operates without needing to be paid a full wage during this proto training stage.