The following post is from Meg T. who interned with Reynolds this summer.

Summer internships are an important part of your college career. They give you experience and exposure to different kinds of jobs, while building a foundation for your professional career. While internships usually are not required to complete your degree program, here are five reasons you should consider a summer internship:

Improve Professionalism

Internships help you learn new ways of adapting to different situations. While working on one project, another urgent project might come up. You’ll have to manage the change in priorities.

Get a Taste of the Real World

Forget the afternoon naps, classes that don’t start until noon, and Fridays off. Working an eight-hour day gives you a taste of the “real world.” And forget staying up to the wee hours. In fact, I fell asleep at 8:30 p.m. every night my first week on the job.

Being in a professional environment will give you insight and understanding of the work world before you fully submerge yourself after graduation. Participating in an internship gives you a sneak peek of the job you think you want and if it really is the path you want to follow. And sometimes you find out that a job is not for you. That’s okay. That is part of what an internship is about. It is better to find out you’re not made for the corporate world before you dive in full time.

Make Mistakes

As an intern, no one expects you to be perfect. Don’t be afraid to accept a challenging assignment. An internship is a learning opportunity. It is the time to ask questions and make mistakes. Interns usually are in a position where they can learn through trial and error.

Meet New People

An internship will expose you to a variety of new people. It gives you a group of people to interact with other than your peers at school. Your coworkers can give you insight on the working world that your college friends cannot.

Gain Experience

Having an internship prior to graduation gives you practical experience you can apply to your job post-graduation. Presentations, analyzing sales numbers, or completing company-wide projects are all examples of how you might make a contribution to the company. Hiring managers like to see you have taken initiative to gain experience before graduation and you are serious about your work.

Internships help provide experience and insight for the incoming generation of associates. It’s today’s students, like those participating in internship programs, who will become the next computer scientists, information technology specialists, marketing professionals, and organizational leaders at companies like Reynolds.

Participating in an internship was the best decision I have ever made.