Let’s face it: in this economy, you need every edge possible to get your foot in the door and land a good job. College students everywhere are graduating from school, with nowhere to go. Jobs are scarce and employers are looking to pay less than what they would have before the economic mess began. So what’s the best way for a college kid to market himself or herself?
Internships! A student who is still in school has an opportunity to earn course credit for real-world experience in their field of study. Employers love the idea of free labor. The secret is, to find one who understands the goal of an internship. An intern is not supposed to spend his or her time getting coffee and making photocopies. Sure, that may come with the territory, but it should be secondary, or tertiary to things that have a direct bearing on one’s future. A true ecommerce internship offers value to a student. It fosters a learning environment where skills are honed in a way not possible in the classroom. To find the right one, questions should be asked during the interview process to weed out those firms just looking for free labor on things that no one wants to do.
From an employer perspective, the goal is to see a return on investment for any employee. In the case of an intern, that investment is time. So, figure that the amount of training you get will be a percentage of the work-product you must deliver to make it worth the employer’s while to train you.
With this experience under your belt, you begin to build your resume and if you do a good job, many ecommerce companies will be glad to serve as referrals for future fulltime jobs you apply to. It’s a small price to pay in a win-win, symbiotic relationship between intern and employer.
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