[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]By taking professional internships, students relate their acquired knowledge in the university to daily work and tasks. This type of opportunity helps students to recognize the job they will like to perform full-time in the future after graduation. Taking internships is the best way to get exposure in a real job that will let a person learn about the tasks related to a position in an organization. Interning is an opportunity for getting feedback from a person who works daily in your desired field. Unquestionably, professional internships allow students to gain experience in solving real-job situations with the knowledge they have learned with their professors. Learning is the starting point to be a great professional, but taking those skills into the workforce and applying them is proof of someone’s efforts to succeed.
One of the primary purposes of interning is to observe others performing their job roles to learn essential skills that you will use in the future. Getting the most information and knowledge as possible must be a priority when taking an internship. Therefore, asking questions and keeping flexible are keys to succeed during this work-based learning experience. Internships provide students the building blocks to guide their professional paths. Employers appreciate these type of experiences because students get such outstanding skills. The workplace is in steady demand for soft skills such as communication, leadership, problem-solving, and teamwork. Hence, interning in an organization allows students to grow personally and professionally.
Keiser University – Latin American Campus has the Career Services Department, which focuses on helping students to become better professionals by organizing workshops and even helping them to apply to internships. This department is always announcing internships in different organizations throughout Nicaragua to enable our students to join the workforce. Career Services provides assistance in arranging internships, resume writing, cover letters, interview skills, and promoting on-campus interviews and field trips as part of the job search process.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”12302″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]The Career and Services department points out the advantages of taking an internship such as to gain work experience and lifelong learning skills, to be able to experience a prospective career path, to apply methods and theories learned in classes, and to gain confidence in your abilities.
“We already know that an internship will make candidates more competitive in the job market for obvious and not so obvious reasons. Nevertheless, the true value of an internship lies on the opportunity to explore your career and discover your vocation, which usually takes time. In my experience, one of the most common mistakes that graduates (who never took an internship) make is that they apply to jobs based on the title, company’s reputation and salary, which are not necessarily bad things, but they do not guarantee success and fulfillment in the long term.My recommendation to students is to take as many internships as possible. An internship helps future graduates to understand their role in a given position, to learn from experts in the industry, and even to identify those tasks they do not want to perform in the future. All of this is what truly means to become more competitive: to know what you want and do not want in life, and fight for it.” – Ms. Nubia Granja, Director of Career Services Department.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Internships make candidates more competitive in the job market, and that is why internship opportunities are becoming an essential element of the college experience for all students. There is no doubt that internships give students an edge over other candidates when applying to a job because of their expertise and skills. By an excellent performance during an internship, people will have a great impression on their supervisors that will result in a great reference letter or job offer. Besides, this experience leads the person to have the possibility to attend meeting and events. The knowledge students get during an internship will last a lifetime. Interning is such an excellent opportunity to gain connections, references, job opportunities, and even a professional mentor. Indeed, the intern will gain personal confidence and teamwork skills. By learning how to interact professionally with other people allows the intern to get creative in a team to innovate and build a better organization. Internships are resume boosters; therefore, do not graduate with at least one internship in your resume because they are investments in your future.
Despite the fear, unfamiliar situation, doubts, and challenges that a student may face in a professional internship. Adriana Vicente, who is a freshman student at Keiser University, knows that her internship is a once-in-a-life opportunity in which she is learning and enjoying at the same time.
“I know why I am working on the projects assigned to me and what the goals of those projects are. I am happy I decided to take on this opportunity designed to challenge me and make me learn new things while having the support of all the people who work here. I am sure I will walk out of Rancho Santana with a new set of skills I did not have when I walked in.
I believe that the essential part of an internship is when we learn something that we would not discover anywhere else. College, as tiring and challenging as that can sometimes be, will never fully show you how the work life is. You develop skills in an academic setting that need to be put to practice and refined in a real workplace. I think Rancho Santana’s internship will help me with that. As a freshman student, I still have much to learn about the transition of being a college student to a professional. However, practice is the key to succeed in any project that anyone might undertake. That is why I am hoping my experience here allows me to develop the tools and abilities necessaries for the next steps of my academic and professional career. I am willing to learn everything Rancho Santana is going to teach me, and from what I have seen so far, I know that will be even more than I expected.” – Adriana Vicente, Sustainability Intern at Rancho Santana.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]As well as Miss Vicente, Gerson Rodriguez, who is a software engineering student at Keiser University, is other of our students that is interning at Rancho Santana.
“I came here with the desire to go beyond my limits and prepare myself for the future. As known, many companies want people with at least one year or two of work experience, and there is no better way to start building my employment history with an internationally recognized company as Rancho Santana is. I was afraid in the first days of my internship, as it’s normal in a person who has never work in real work before. The team of Rancho Santana received me with open arms with nice people and made me feel comfortable and secure of myself. I have to work on some projects like photography, videos, marketing research projects, to build a new website. I think that all of these projects will be beneficial in a personal and a professional way. Indeed, this new experience will help me to understand how an international company works internally. Also, to understand how to make a good strategy inside the market and strengthen my current skills over this area. To emphasize, we never stop learning, and this is a great opportunity where I can demonstrate the best of myself.”
– Gerson Rodriguez, Marketing and Interior Design Intern at Rancho Santana.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”12294″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
