It's that time of the year when students up and down the country are discovering whether they have an internship or not.
A lot of conversations are taking place where we cross the boundary between interest, to pure nosiness and then even a little into the grounds of jealousy. Why? Because someone has told you that so and so has got an internship and you've found yourself desperately applying for some or covering up the fact you've not heard back from that company you applied to months ago yet... Does it really matter?
Well quite blatantly, no.
For many careers, an internship is complete unnecessary. These careers might seem really obvious, i.e. Doctor, Teacher, Director, Manager, anything you've generally not heard internships being promoted for.
However, for many other careers an internship may also be completely unnecessary. For instance, it is not essential to have completed an internship to get a career in finance or in human resources, though these are common internships that are undertaken every year. But, equally, several other people who did not take those internships get themselves onto the career ladder in those sectors and are successful.
For some people, you may not have considered applying, and for those of you, it isn't too late.
For some others, you might have just not got on to the internship you wanted.
This isn't the end of the world! So you know a few people who have got an internship - don't be jealous of them, you can't compare yourself to other people forever, because as well all know life can be unpredictable.
Find something else to do this Summer.
Use this time to apply for work experience, equally as valuable, (and often with a much easier application process)! If you apply for a small, local, company, it is likely that you will be given more responsibility and will have much more to talk about when it comes to graduation.
If you don't fancy this, there is no harm in just having your regular summer job. You're showing you are dedicated and haven't been sat around on your time off!
More appealingly, why not go travelling? It sounds expensive but it doesn't have to be! There are many options available to you, why not try inter-railing, Camp America, volunteering or any other number of opportunities. If you're not sure how to get involved, you can of course try an internet search engine, but why not ask your Careers department, or around your friends? You might just find the inspiration you need to not waste this Summer after all...
