Internships in London

Stepping out into the world of work can be daunting for young professionals at the start of their careers. You’ll soon find yourself in a highly competitive job market full of peers with the same level of experience as you, and you’ll all be jostling for a limited number of roles.

The best way of boosting your prospects, and standing out from the crowd, is through work experience. This is a way of demonstrating to employers that you’re serious about the job and you’ve got the relevant industry experience you need to hit the ground running.

But there are plenty of internships available on the market, all offering good experience in a relevant sector. How can you determine the best option for you?

Cultural Experiences

Broadly speaking, all internships will offer good work experience. So you’ll want to turn your mind to the extra benefits you stand to gain from your internship. And if you choose to intern abroad or in a city other than your own, you’ll have the chance to spend your free time soaking up an entirely new culture.

From trips to urban exploration, there’s nothing quite like learning what exactly makes a new city tick. Discover ancient history and modern pop culture; enrich yourself as you meet new people and exchange thoughts and ideas. There’s nothing like diving into a new city to spur on your personal development. Free from your traditional support structure, it’s up to you to make the most of things.

Whether it’s through historical excursions, new food, or music and entertainment, you’ll complete your internship with a new perspective on things. Your newfound confidence will benefit you hugely in your professional career. By thriving in a new city, working closely with a diverse team made up of people from different cultures and backgrounds, you’ll demonstrate to future employers that you can thrive anywhere.

A Great Community

Another thing that separates a good internship from a great internship is the community you’ll join. While you will be navigating the work of your internship on your own, a great internship will place you within a community of interns just like you, all living and working in the same city. Your fellow interns will be a source of support, friendship, and advice throughout your program.

While they might be working for different firms and across different industries, you’ll be united by your shared experience. Across dinners, trips, and impromptu meet-ups, you’ll build strong relationships while exploring your city. Interns who experience a good community support program often make friends for life, staying in contact long after their internships have ended. And professionally, having your own pocketbook of international contacts is never a bad thing!

Pastoral Support

As well as a grassroots community, a vital part of a great internship is the pastoral support available to you. Some internship programs offer career guidance and tutelage on top of the work you undertake with your firm. By having the chance to set out goals, review your progress, and take a longer view of things, you’ll get far more out of your internship and become a more well-rounded candidate in the meantime. Drawing on professional insight to set out your expectations and plan out your future can make all the difference when it comes to achieving your dream job.

Some internships also offer skills training programs, helping their interns prepare for their challenging workloads with the guidance of professional skills coaches and inspirational speakers. Whether it’s effective leadership, team skills, or professional confidence, you can apply what you’ve learned to your internship – and your future career.

Conclusion

There are many internships out there for aspiring young professionals to take advantage of. Internships are a great way of taking a risk-free dip into your industry. You can discover whether the role, firm and even sector are right for you, all while building your own network of professional contacts. And you’ll be able to draw on relevant examples when interviewing for future roles.

But you don’t just want a standard, no-frills internship if you really want to get ahead. Some programs go the extra mile to ensure their interns have a full package of support that will see them through their internship and into their future careers. And when it comes to your career, that extra support can make all the difference and turn a good internship into a great one.

Beyond Academy offers a fantastic range of internships across fourteen international destinations, including London, Barcelona, and New York. In addition to work experience, they provide a wide array of extra support for their interns. From community dinners to career guidance and skills masterclasses, their internships are designed to leave you ready to take on the world of work.

So if you’d like to find out more about what Beyond Academy has to offer, why not contact them and start planning the internship of a lifetime?