June 7, 2015, by Jennifer Scott

4 reasons I’m for summer internships

While other students are off travelling this summer, I’ll be staying in Nottingham, saving my trips for weekends and the end of summer and opting to work instead. Last year, I worked as a Social Media Manager and really enjoyed it, so this year I’m testing the water with PR. I’m excited to start my internship tomorrow and thought I’d share the reasons I’m all for interning!

Not having to make all the tea

In my experience (and a not-quite-representative survey of those around me) summer internships generally don’t involve constantly making tea for the office or spending days photocopying, assumptions that are often made. Thanks to our long summers, you’re there long enough to get the hang of things and work on projects. Last summer definitely felt more like a ‘proper’ job than just helping out a bit.

People!

Interning in an area you enjoy is a great way to find people with similar interests to you. I made some lovely friends and had plenty of fun with the people I met interning last year. If you intern through the Nottingham Internships Scheme, they even organise an event for you to meet with other interns, making it a pretty sociable experience.

Last year's internship event at Pitcher and Piano!

Last year’s internship event at Pitcher & Piano!

Money, money, money

Fairly self-explanatory – when you’re a bit poor after spending almost all of your student loan at student lock-in events and on ‘this coursework is too stressful’ meals out and takeaway pizzas, a bit of extra cash is a mega bonus. Even if it is all spent on lunch break shopping the day the money hits my account. Oops.

Experience

Not just that awesome CV boosting stuff, but for yourself too. If you’re unsure whether a job’s right for you, spending a summer getting to know the ropes is always helpful. You might find that you hate spreadsheets and love creative work. Or surprise yourself with the opposite. Don’t know until you try!

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