“Does An Internship With Top Companies Guarantee Job Search Success?” HR Advices

By Florence Mukunya,

The other day I overheard some graduates from a local university complain how hard it is to get internships with some of the big firms that we have around, they even wished there was a formula for landing such internships. Their argument was that if one got an internships with the big companies like PwC, Safaricom Kenya, Nation Media Group and such companies there was higher chance of being recognized more when looking for jobs unlike when you intern for what they termed as ‘small unrecognizable companies

Mercy Mwenda* says ,  “I just graduated with a degree in Business Administration and am looking for internship. My concern is whether I should concentrate in requesting for internship in the big companies or in the medium sized companies. My take is that I should target the big companies because I feel the big name of the company will sell my papers once am out there looking for jobs. What’s your take and advice on this?”

Is there such a formula really? And does getting to intern in such big companies give you an advantage over other graduates who did their internships in small size companies?

Flexi Personnel HR Officer Ms.Caroline Njoroge says that such a formula does not exist and you might find that smaller companies offer better experience than companies with big names.

“Actually working in a small company places the intern in a better position. You will find that small companies do not necessary have complex organizational structure which means that the intern gets to work in all the department available making the particular person all rounded unlike in a big companies where you find that the intern will be positioned in one department with one particular duty to perform every day until probably when the internship is over.”

On whether working in a big company gives one an edge over those that have done their internships in smaller companies, Ms Njoroge says that it’s highly unlikely.

“Not exactly, the name of the company and the size does not matter what matters is the competence and qualification of the particular person.”

Ms. Njoroge also advice graduates looking for internships not to be choosy.

“Grab what you find as long as it’s in your field of career don’t enclose yourself in that thought that the bigger the company name the better the experience or knowledge you will get.”

Kevin Kerosi a HR Consultant with Rose Avenue Consultant is also of the feeling that there is no formula for getting an attachment in the big companies but he feels differently on the experience.

“When looking for internship what one needs is basically experience and getting internship in the big companies offers wide exposure into the industry as the company may be dealing internationally.”

“ I also feel that the interns who go to the big companies have no edge over the ones who go for internships in the small companies, the growth of the particular person when he/she was in the company is what matters,” adds Mr. Kerosi

Graduates who are looking for internships are advised not to dwell so much on the size of the company because at the end of the day it’s what you achieve while in the internship period that matters and that there is no particular formula for getting those internships in the big companies all one has to do is apply through the various ways that the particular company use to hire, this can easily be gotten from the company’s web site.

Which company offered you your first internship experience and has it affected your job search in any way?

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