What is an Internship?

An internship serves as a position to help you get valuable experience. Often acts as a pathway into a specific industry or career trajectory. Companies may hire graduates or final-year students for a predetermined period. While compensation for this opportunity may or may not be provided, the primary aim is for interns to gain experience. Students typically apply for internship opportunities during their undergraduate or graduate studies. Students may work in this role part-time or full-time for one or more months. It is common for students to undertake an internship during a semester or quarter while their classes may continue simultaneously.

There are many benefits of an internship, including helping you to gain valuable work experience and fulfill college requirements. Some internships also allow students to receive credits for their courses upon completion. Internships can introduce you to the various elements of full-time employment, help you explore your unique interests and determine your career goals. It may even give you relevant experiences that you can add to your resume.

Why Are Internships Important?

There is no simple answer to this question, as the reasons for pursuing (or offering) an internship vary dramatically from one person to the next. From the student’s perspective, internships capture an intangible aspect of higher learning that is often lacking in classrooms and textbooks: the value of real-world experience. While this can be conveyed, to some extent, with class projects, case studies, and clinical observation, nothing quite compares to the experience of being immersed in a fast-paced work environment.

For employers, internships provide a powerful recruitment opportunity. Through these programs, organizations can capture fresh talent and shape a new generation of hardworking employees. The risk of taking on an intern is minimal, as employers only commit to working with interns for a few short months. If they are pleased with the intern’s performance, employers can make a greater commitment while streamlining the recruitment, hiring, and onboarding processes.

What Are the Benefits of Internships for Students?

It is common to wonder about the benefits of internships for students. Especially if it is worth it, taking the time out of an all-consuming degree programme to pursue an internship, here are the top 10 benefits of internships for students to help you make this decision faster:

Explore a whole new world

Look for an internship or job that fits your skill level and offers you opportunities to grow, and explore the importance of internships for students – this is usually the first step to getting an internship. As you work through this skill development period, you can make connections and create experiences that could pay off in the long run. Internships can also help with making lifelong friends or learning techniques you’d never find elsewhere! Exploring and getting new experiences is also one of the many advantages of internships for students. So, don’t be afraid to hone those skill sets with practice and dedication.

Help you choose the right career

You’ll find many benefits and advantages of internships for students, and this is one of them. For instance, they are often used as a launching pad for gaining experience and skills. They can also help you determine what work isn’t right for you. Whether it’s the atmosphere in the office, the expectation of your role, or even a particular company culture that doesn’t align with your values – exploring an internship is an opportunity to learn more about yourself and why certain environments might not be suitable for your chosen career path.

Explore your career path

One of the reasons why internships are highly valued is because they allow you to delve into your potential and career aspirations. Engaging in internship research gives you the chance to discover which job suits you best and also provides industry experience. As you gain knowledge about your chosen career it brings clarity. Helps you define your goals. This is why internships are considered one of the best opportunities for students.

Boost your self-assurance

Another advantage of internships for students is that they contribute to building confidence. The transition period between college and full-time employment can be filled with emotions, such as excitement, anxiety, hope and ambition. One effective way to navigate this transition while gaining experience in your desired field is, through participating in an internship program designed for students. By engaging in an internship, you have the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge you have acquired within a real-world context thereby reducing some of the pressure associated with finding a job. These factors significantly elevate the importance and benefits of internships for students.

Expand your network

You may have wondered why internships hold significance among your peers. This can be attributed to the advantages that these opportunities offer to students. Networking with professionals in your industry is an opportunity to connect and establish relationships. By building connections with experts, in your chosen field you can gain advice and guidance as you embark on your journey. Plus, setting yourself up with a strong network of contacts gives that extra edge to open more doors and opportunities in your field. Networking is one of the best advantages of internships for students which help you gather many experiences. Hope your doubts about the importance of internships for students are clear!

Gain experience in your field of interest

You will value the importance of an internship more visibility once you can gain relevant work experience before starting a job. Whether you are taking an offline or online internship, the benefits of internships for students are abundant. Taking on an internship or work experience opportunity while studying can provide a deeper understanding of the industry and open up possibilities for future roles. You could craft your own practice, gain insight into different work cultures or even contribute to a memorable project. Making work experience work for you should always be one of your career goals! This is also an internship advantage for students.

Discover new interests

In addition to this, we give such importance to internships because you can discover new talents and interests during an internship, receive feedback from experienced professionals, a network for future opportunities, and even improve your career outcomes. It’s definitely worth looking into the importance and advantages of internships for students if you are looking for a solid way to learn more about yourself and the type of career that might suit you best.

Learn new skills

Your professors and mentors may have stressed the importance of internships for students, particularly because of the many benefits they provide. For instance, you will definitely learn a lot of skills while on the job. Learning skill sets can be a powerful way to further our careers or increase the amazing array of abilities we already possess. Taking on a task that may seem difficult might be the perfect opportunity to develop ourselves professionally and create a skill set that stands out. Learning new skills is also one of the many advantages of internships for students.

Gain an edge when applying for jobs

Internships, such as the ones provided by CIT Offices highlight the significance and advantages of internships for students. They present a chance to acquire experience and cultivate skills that can give you an edge in the job market. Internships enhance your resume, and they also equip you with industry specific knowledge, as well as leadership and teamwork abilities that employers highly value – all of which underscore the importance of internships for students.

Strengthen your resume

One of the perks of internships for students is the ability to incorporate valuable experiences gained during the internship. Not only can you list your internship responsibilities and projects under your work experience section on your resume. It also allows you to better define your career goals. In some cases, you might even earn credit for interning, which can help ensure graduation (or potentially graduating ahead of schedule!).

Internships bring forth advantages for students. They provide real world exposure while enabling individuals to develop skills and forge professional connections.

Internships play a role in helping students discover career options and make well informed choices about their future. In general internships are a part of an education and have significant advantages for students, in terms of academic growth and professional development.

Professional internship is a compulsory subject for Bachelor and Master programs. The student cannot graduate without completing the internship.

Internship is a course designed to provide students with opportunities to gain work experience in real world situations, to practice critical thinking, to solve real problems, to develop design and innovation skills.

Internship goals are:

• Enable the student to see implemented in practice the theoretical knowledge that has taken the auditorium. For this purpose, it is necessary for the institution or the position where students make internships, to be as close and connected to their program of study.
• To promote the student to develop skills in his work environment and to give him the possibility of preparing for the market, to interact with professionals, and to help in job positions.
• To see the internship as a good possibility to gain experience and to be more oriented in the market.
• To create facilities in the market and gain experience through internship.

As a Higher Educational Institution, CIT has agreements with the best and biggest, public and private institutions and companies in Albania in order to offer students a large internship and job opportunities.

The organization and the evaluation of internship is a responsibility of the following structures:

1.The Department, which:

• Designs the internship development program and the schedule of the sessions;
• Selects the instructors/academic supervisors who will guide and monitor closely the students during the internship process;
• Selects and contacts in collaboration with Students’ Affair and Career Office the institutions where internship team visits will take place;
• Oversees and monitors the sessions by assigning an instructor/academic supervisor responsible for each program of study;
• Oversees and monitors students’ internship visits;
• Distributes and collects the documents related to professional internship for each student;
• Proposes the composition of the Internship Evaluation Panel, which makes the final evaluation with grades and points with regard to students’ achievements during the internship period.

2. Students’ Affairs and Career Office, by providing due information, assistance, and opportunities to students regarding the professional internship and/or practice at partner institutions and beyond.

3. The Rector Office/Deans is/are responsible for signing the agreements with public and private institutions and companies

Hours Required

The minimum requirement of hours worked during the internship is 120 hrs. for undergraduate students and 300 hrs. for graduate students.

Attendance Policy for Internship

• Attendance of internship sessions is mandatory at the rate of 75%.
• Students are required to make up any missed hours or days during their internships.
• It is the student’s responsibility to contact the site supervisor and head of department if they are absent and to arrange make-up time. 
• Students are not allowed to miss more than four consecutive days during their internship period.
• In case of such an occurrence, the student is evaluated with “FNA” (Failure for Non Attendance) by the academic supervisor. 

Evaluation Policy of the Internship 

• The internship evaluation is done by a panel established by the Faculty.
• The panel is composed of the academic supervisor, head of the department, and one or two other instructors from the department.
• The evaluation of the internship is done in accordance with the evaluation table/components of the two cycles of studies.
• The Evaluation forms to be completed by the academic supervisor and the student are available in the Internship Handbook in the following link https://cit.edu.al/student

 About Internship

• Internship is organized, supervised from the Dean Of faculty, Head Of Department in cooperation with the Third Unit CIRD.
• Like a forming and educational activity, it is obligatory and a necessary condition to finish to graduate. Students who do not finish the internship can not defend the diploma thesis.
• Students who do not realize the internship in the assigned time frame, will have the possibility to do it instead of paying twice the normal fee as compared to paying the normal fee in the next academic year.