4 Crucial Skills You Learn During a Summer Internship

Internships may be necessary or voluntary, depending on your particular situation, but they’re definitely important. View your summer internship as a learning opportunity through which you’ll learn core skills needed for leadership.

Here are four common skills you’ll learn during an internship:

Professionalism
Yes, professionalism is indeed a skill and one that you’ll learn all about during an internship. Whether you’re interning at an NGO, a corporate office, or an organization that requires fieldwork, you’ll be expected to display professionalism. It may seem tricky initially, especially if you’re not used to being in professional environments. However, this is one skill you’ll be glad you picked up on long after the internship ends.

Internships teach you the importance of work ethics. You learn how to behave like a professional and become more cognizant of your surroundings. You also learn about the organization’s norms and work culture, which gives you an insight into how things are done in the industry at a professional level.

Time Management
Let’s be very clear: there’s no room for missed deadlines and last-minute panic-induced work at internships. As relaxed as your internship environment may be, you’ll need to stay on top of your work at all times. This means no coming to work late, skipping days, or leaving everything till the last minute and missing deadlines.

Internships are good opportunities to work on your time management skills. They help you become more efficient, punctual, and productive, teaching you the importance of doing things timely.

Teamwork
Interning at an organization will teach you the true meaning of teamwork. Your internship experience wouldn’t be like working on a typical college project where. There’s no room for neglecting responsibilities or free-riding when it comes to an internship. You’ll be required to be fully present and engaged and will have to collaborate with various individuals for the tasks you’re assigned.

Even if you happen to be the only intern at the organization, you’ll still have to collaborate with your supervisors and inter-departmental teams for different tasks. This will teach you how to be a better team player.

Communication
Finally, a summer internship is a great way to improve your communication skills. There’s no denying the significance of effective communication. You need it for pretty much every aspect of your life, be it personal or professional.

Through an internship, you can learn how to communicate with different team members in a professional setting. From learning how to properly write emails and conduct presentations to enhancing your conversational skills by engaging in work and non-work-related topics with your peers, you can do it all.

YWAF provides leadership development and growth opportunities for young individuals. We offer comprehensive workshops, mentoring, and networking opportunities to help the youth gain crucial soft skills to become better leaders!