4 Important Questions To Ask Yourself Before Accepting An Internship

By Kibet Tobias
In previous years, getting a university degree was a guarantee that you would  get a good job immediately after school.
But today things have changed. Having a degree doesn’t necessarily mean you will get a job or even an opportunity in your field of interest.
Why? The number of graduates keeps on increasing every year and for this reason, most employers are looking for something unique that will make you a more competitive candidate in today’s job market other than your degree.
And one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd is to get relevant experience you will need to enter a particular field. This is where the internship comes in.
To get you started, here are 4 very important questions to ask yourself before accepting any internship.
1. Are you going to learn from this experience?
The most important aim of an internship is to help you gain some relevant work experience in your profession.
However, not all the internships offer the experience needed to your field. So before you accept that internship, ask yourself; how valuable is the experience you’ll get from it?
Any experience is important to your professional career but that doesn’t mean you should take any offer.
Recently I was talking to a friend who asked me to recommend her for a communication position. I asked her if she had any experience in that role, and she said that she has worked as an administrative intern in a public relations firm for one year.
Yes, she is a communications graduate but looking at her previous admin experience, she might not be qualified for the new role because the responsibilities are too different.
Ensure that, whatever you’re going to do, you’re learning something beneficial to your future career.

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2. What kinds of responsibilities will I have at this internship?
This is a very important question even before you attend an interview.
What will you do on a day to day basis at your internship? Does the job description fit what you always wanted to do after school?
Don’t just take an internship for the sake of it, but find out if this opportunity is going to actually help you move your career forward.
Let’s say you are communication professional, and you get an admin internship at a local media company. The roles here might not be exactly what you expected, but you enjoy working in the media industry.
This will limit your future opportunities, because this role is not offering you hands-on experience in anything related to communication. You are just working in the media industry.
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3. Is there any compensation?
Most companies in Kenya offer unpaid internships to fresh graduates while others offer paid internship programs.
There are those organizations which indicate in their advertisement that the intern will be entitled to a “stipend”. Therefore, you need to find out how much the stipend will be.
Many people don’t want to take “unpaid internships,” but in most cases, the role will at least offer you some valuable experience that goes toward your future career.
But can you afford to take an unpaid position? Will, it costs more than it pays? Will you be able to take on the extra expense of an unpaid internship?
If you are not, then you should definitely consider other options which offer the best compensation for your time.
4. What are your other options?
Getting an internship as a fresh graduate can be very exciting because of the current competitive job market.
So much so that you might quickly accept it before you weigh your other options. If you have been applying to different companies, chances are you have some other promising interviews lined up. Or maybe you have attended a number of them.
So it is good that you figure out and pick the best fit from the list of offers you get.
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Conclusion
Having said that, it is important to note that interning is a great way to gain experience. You can learn so much and meet so many beneficial connections during your internship. However, before you consider starting an internship, ask yourself some of these questions.
Remember the right internship can be your foot in the door of your chosen industry when you are looking for a full-time job.
Check out the latest internships in Kenya
The writer is a communication assistant at Career Point Kenya. Email tobias@www.careerpointkenya.co.ke