Has anyone here done an internship before?

How was it?

Did it give you gain experience in the field that you were going for?

Were you able to make connections with people to help get a career/ better position further down the road ?

What should I expect during an internship?

Normally you start off easy; meeting the team (in case you have one), get acclimatized to the way they work, get used to what will be expected of you. Depending on what your area is, you might get someone assigned to you and you either shadow them for a few days and see how things are done or they will shadow you to check how well you work. After a week or so, you're normally left to do things on your own but in most internships you can still ask for help.

If you're willing to put the effort in you normally gain quite a bit of experience; as for contacts it depends on what you're doing and how you go about it. If you mainly work with clients, your boss might not be very happy to see you exchanging cards with them, for example =P

(Just think it's worth noting that this is MY experience; there's no guarantee that you will go through the same)

Alright thanks for the input, I'm always willing to go that extra mile out of my comfort zone to just get a little recognition. I'll keep that in mind about the card exchanging thing.

@renegadesteve: What I meant with that was that some bosses see that sort of thing as a "I'm not going to stay here but at least I'll nab some clients before I leave". You'll get a feel for it once you're actually there; it's not something to be overly concerned about it though =)

i'm doing one right now. the experience and the advice I am getting from the employees is a lot better then the information I learned in college. very good mentors and I would recommend it to anyone.

Internships, assuming you choose one that is good, can provide excellent experience in your field. Internships can help the individual go from having a theoretical knowledge of a topic into having a working knowledge of said topic. Internships not only provide experience and a better resume but it can very often provide a sample experience of a field to help one decide whether or not to make it into a career.

As for myself, I have done three internships at various churches in the past and am looking at the possibility of soon doing something just one step above. Basically, there is a possibility I might soon become what would be the equivalent to a volunteer associate pastor.

It was a part of my graduation requirements. I had a cool one, though. I was the assistant to the talent buyer at this big rock/music venue. Meeting all the international bands/managers/agents.

Well definitely don't hand out business cards. Also don't try to do too much just be you. Learn what you can. Follow instructions and listen to what the bosses say. Don't step over anyone's shoes, don't ask too many questions, and lay low. Think of an internship as a probationary period for when you might get hired at another place. The first 90 days are really important. Here are a few of my golden rules.

1. Don't ask too many questions unless you are training and they tell you to ask.

2. Don't step on anyone's shoes.

3. Never talk about anyone in the workplace, and never snitch on anyone. Leave them to themselves and if they are doing something stupid they will just hurt themselves so don't even worry about it.

4. Lay low. Avoid being a topic of conversation for the employees. This isn't a time to stand out, you're not getting a raise.

5. Achieve your goals. If you need to stay at a certain place and do certain quotas to stay hired after the probationary 90 days then focus on that.

6. Attendance, be early, never be late and if you can't avoid it call, and absolutely never be absent.

I'm working as an intern (web developer) now while finishing my last semester of school. I've learned more in the last 4 months than pretty much my entire computer science education.

They offered me a full time job after I graduate, but the salary they offered is really low for this field. They don't have much of a budget either, so I can't negotiate for a higher salary. Too bad because I really enjoy it.

Leave it to the millenials to not only think a $100,000 student loan would pay off, but would then fall for the low/no pay internship scam. Basically they are going to work you like a dog, treat you like shit, and if you are dumb enough to last the entire internship and you're not hired full time, don't bother including it on your resume. A parole officer would be a better reference.

Before internships, what a person did was interview for a job they were somewhat qualified for, and if successful in wowing them, were offered a starting wage based job, with health care, retirement, and a sense of job security. But because a large group have fallen for the internship scam, we have a generation of career internist and temps. Why would a company hire full time, when a generation is willing to work for peanuts.

Have you ever been an intern?

I'm also about to do an internship. My field of study (marine biology) is very hard to get into and despite me having a 1st class Bachelor's and a Master's degree my lack of experience outside of my courses is proving to be a real stumbling block. Hopefully this 4 and a half month long internship with a marine mammal research company will provide me with useful contacts and most importantly give me some necessary experience that may help me look for work after it's completion.

I was usually late, trashed from the night before, and could barely function, but somehow they passed me through lol. Generally they can lead to jobs...so best be in good shape to perform and be "personable".