BY JOSHUA WATILA
When I was about to graduate I
had to do an internship in order to fulfill the requirement for a degree -that
ka piece of paper you that gave you sleepless nights reading for exams and cats
or on the flipside worrying about not having read. Getting it was not easy and
I remember calling in favours from several people who ended up disappointing me.
I was desperate to get a placement and was willing to work anywhere.
I’ve had several discussions with friends of
mine about their experiences during internships and most of the time they
aren't positive. Well, I finally got an internship and grabbed it without
thinking twice. Just like my friends, it wasn’t a good experience. Since then, I
graduated and I’m currently job hunting, I have become a serial intern bidding
my time while hoping for the perfect opportunity so I've racked up quite a few internships
under my belt.
For the most part I hated being
an intern, waking up to go to the office was a bother. There were always two
extremes, sometimes your boss would send you on a hopeless errand because he/she
was obliged to keep you busy or other times you would be bombarded with work
that’s not relevant to you by other staff who were just too lazy to do it
themselves. I dreaded progress report meetings because I always had an excuse
as to why a certain assignment was not done.
Well, I finally landed an
internship that matters. The workload is massive and the stipend is measly but
the type of work is very interesting and relevant to me. I can finally say that
I’m learning a lot and enjoying what I do. Moreover, my boss believes in
empowering me to make decisions that actually affect the organization. When I’m
not at work I find myself constantly researching so as to get better at my job.
It matters where you go for an internship because it sets a tone for the rest
of your working life. Be sure to choose the right one, understand what you are
looking for from the very beginning, network with the right people and put
yourself out there!
Follw me : @joshuawatila