When you look at your options, choosing between an internship at a large company or a startup seems easy. It’s not just you; most students like to work for big companies with a lot of employees. Who wouldn’t want the names Google, Procter, or Apple on their resume?
But a startup internship offers a lot more than you might have thought. When you first start out in your career, working for smaller companies, especially startups, can give you more chances to learn and grow. For the internship courses online you can attend the internship program in India.
Here are seven good reasons why you should intern at a new company:
What is a new business?
A “startup” can be anything from a single founder with no employees to some of the biggest tech companies in the world. It is a pretty broad term.
A startup, on the other hand, is a company that:
Is in the beginning stages of building a business
Has fewer than three founders and is mostly self-funded or looks to banks or investors for venture capital.
is mostly concerned with growth
Also, startups work a little differently than companies that have been around for a long time. The goal of a startup is to put something new on the market. Multinational corporations (MNCs), on the other hand, are started with the goal of being entrepreneurial and meeting local needs.
Companies like Grammarly, Airtable, LinkedIn, and many more started out as small businesses that were willing to think outside the box. Virtual Internships, our company, is also a new business. Holon IQ named us one of the top 100 EdTech startups in Europe in 2020.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the top seven reasons why thousands of students choose startup internships every year:
Develop an Entrepreneurial Spirit
Most start-ups are made to do something really new and different. So, even if you only help a little, an innovative business can give you the best experience of your career.
Also, when you start looking for a job, you’ll notice that many job descriptions and ads say they prefer applicants who have “experience working in a high-growth business environment,” also known as a startup.
Businesses value startup interns because they know that when you work directly with the founders on projects (which 70% of our interns do), you learn important entrepreneurial skills like taking calculated risks, critical thinking, optimism, leadership, team management, and the persistence to make things happen.
It really is an opportunity to learn.
Unlike MNCs, startups have flat hierarchies and work in smaller teams. This makes it easy for mentors to give each intern the attention they need and help them learn more.
Also, interns at large companies often do menial tasks like getting coffee and entering data, which is a sad fact. Startup interns, on the other hand, work on important projects from the idea stage all the way through planning and execution.
If you have enough experience or do a good job, you might even get to manage or coach a group of other interns.
Let’s You Try on Multiple Hats
If you aren’t sure what career would be best for you, you might want to look into startup internships. As a member of a small team, you will always have to work on different parts of the business. This could mean coming up with a plan for marketing, doing research, making a business plan, or helping to build a website.
Most startups make sure that everyone on the team, including interns, knows what’s going on (something extremely rare in larger organizations).
So, interning at a startup will give you the much-needed chance to work with people from different teams and learn about different career paths.
It’s easier to move up the ranks.
CoffeMug.ai did a survey and found that 74% of senior professionals would rather work for a new company than for a big one. Most people say that it’s because of the salary, the rate of growth, and how easy it is to move up the corporate ladder.
The same goes for interns at startups. At the end of their virtual internship, one out of every four VI interns is offered a job. Also, 70% of our host companies are startups. So, there are a lot of chances that one of our interns will get a full-time job at a startup with a lot of growth.
Make a strong network
One great thing about working at a small startup is that you’ll get to know everyone on a personal level. These contacts can help you build a great professional network that will help you get started in your career.
Also, as the startup grows and turns into a big company, you will make connections with people who can be your mentors or help you get better jobs.
Even if the startup you work for as an intern doesn’t work out, you’ll still have a network of great employers who can help you find your next internship or job after you graduate.
Learn important people skills
In addition to what we said before, interning for a startup is a great way to improve your professional skills while helping the company grow.
It does take a lot of work, and most startups don’t have clear job descriptions for interns like big companies might. But what’s great is that everyone on the team works hard toward the same goal.
Also, most startup employees are told to think of new ways to solve problems and be creative to get the best results. So, if you work hard, a startup can help you gain important hard and soft skills that will help you get better full-time jobs after you graduate.
Get Better Feedback
In a startup, it’s much easier to get quick and useful feedback from your peers and leaders than in a larger company. This is because you will work closely with your team and get to know your seniors better.
When you work on a small team, everyone knows what you’ve done well and what you need to work on. But the feedback you get from startups where you do an internship can help you avoid making the same mistakes.
When you work for a big company, the work of one team member may not have a big effect on the whole company, but your work matters when you work for a startup. Everything you do has an immediate effect on the success of the company, and everyone’s work matters.
Where do you find internships at new businesses?
So there you go, startup internships are now worth the hype. The big question now is how to get an internship at a startup.
With competition getting stronger all the time, it’s hard to get an internship that looks good on your resume and helps you get a job. Don’t worry, we have your back!
Virtual Internships connects people like you who want to do internships from home with innovative companies in over 150 countries.
The best part is that 70% of our virtual interns work with founders or CEOs directly. If you do well in your internship, you may even get a full-time job afterward.
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