Nowadays, college days are not just about the theoretical knowledge and classroom study; it is more about practicality and implementing theories into work. This introduces the whole new aspect of internship and externship during the college years.
In today‡s job-hunting atmosphere, a practical experience holds lots of importance. An internship can help you in a smooth transition from the grad student profile to a newly hired employee. This is also the reason why employers seek for candidates holding some previous working experience rather than the freshers.
There is yet another type of work experience concept not many are familiar with. It is called the externship. In this article, let us see the difference between externship and internship.
What Is an Internship?
The internship is an official program offered to the potential students by an employer. Interns either work full-time or part-time depending on the requirement for a certain period of duration. This program is mostly preferred by undergraduates or students appearing graduation degree for gaining practical experience.
The modern concept of an internship is similar to the apprenticeship and can also interchange the terms at times.
Why You Should Do an Internship?
There are many advantages of doing an internship including the most important of gaining working experience. Some of the other important aspects of doing internship are –
Work Experience
By doing an internship, you get some practical experience under your belt. This increases the familiarization with the work environment and makes you better with professional life.
Helps with Connections
When you work under an internship in a company, you will be able to make contacts which will help you later in life. In additions, if the company likes your commitment, then there‡s a chance that the company may call you back after the completion of studies if there‡s any vacancy.
Help You Understand the Field
The working field is far different from the college campus. An internship helps in understanding your industry better and makes you aware of work ethics. It also helps you in understanding if you want to choose the same profession for the rest of your career.
Learn Professional Skills
Employers normally prefer students having a bit of working experience as they are easier to learn full-time employee values when compared to grad school students. You learn time management skills, teamwork, and implementation of theoretical knowledge.
What Is Externship?
It is a less-known type of working experience for college students for a shorter duration, mostly for a week. In this type, the extern usually shadows a well-established professional for previewing their day-to-day activities.
An externship helps in understanding the work ethics and implementation of theories in the environment as per the professionals.
Why You Should Do Externship?
Doing externship helps with the job search after school days. Some more reasons to opt for externships are –
- It helps the employer understand your commitment and enthusiasm for the field you have chosen.
- Act as a stepping stone towards a long-term internship or better a job in the future, especially if the employer loves your enthusiasm and professional skills.
- It will help in building network and contacts with the qualified professionals.
- The externship also helps in collaborating with the professionals and also ask questions related to the field and workflow.
Difference Between Internship and Externship –
There are quite differences when you talk about Externship vs. Internship. Some of them are –
Definition
The internship is a work experience program where you carry out your responsibilities as per the working norms.
Externship is more practical knowledge like shadowing to a professional for a shorter duration of time.
Functions
In an internship, you get to work and carry out all the tasks as per the profile demands. Herein, you will get the experience of the working environment and using all the theories for actual practical knowledge. You will be responsible for getting the job done that is asked from you.
In an externship, you simply have to shadow. You get to learn about all the important day-to-day factors used in a real professional world. It helps in understanding a number of factors and the right way to do it.
Pay
The internship may be paid or unpaid. However, the stats say that nearly 50% of interns are unpaid and works only for the experience they garner.
Externship is mostly unpaid, but some companies can pay you, especially if they are planning to hire you at later stages.
Class Credit
Most of the colleges and universities do not provide class credits, especially if the internships are for shorter terms. Therefore, this can be a seriously expensive affair if you are already unpaid.
Externships normally do not get class credits due to the shorter duration of working scope.
Length
Internships normally extend between a few weeks to months depending on the industry and the scope of profile you are working.
Externships are short duration professional training which normally extends up to a week or more.
Tips for Getting Internship
The internship is very important in today‡s world. Therefore, you should start looking for an internship right during the junior years. It is better when you have more than one summer internship experience. Moreover, the companies start looking for interns in a year advance, so it is better to start applying for an internship for the desired companies right from now. You simply have to drop an email along with the cover letter for internship proposal.
Tips for Getting Externship
Externships are not as famous as internships and are also informal. This means you won‡t end up finding the externships listings on the job portals. You need to talk to your school career advisor related to secure placement of externship. Moreover, you can also turn to the LinkedIn profile for finding a good opportunity.
This is majorly the difference between the internship and externship. You can choose one among two depending on the industry demands and availability. The best thing with both is that you get introduced to the working environment and ethics. This will help with your first job; thanks to the practical experience you have calculated while on internship or externship.
