Internships are among the most valuable endeavors for young people planning to enter the workforce. There are myriad reasons to consider an internship, most importantly that they provide a pathway to a career. The construction industry offers so many opportunities to find and explore your passion through internships.
An intern is a student or trainee who works with a company to gain skills and experience. Construction offers a range of internships to consider from office to jobsite.
In the office, construction interns may work within departments of interest or those that align with their degree or training. These positions could include marketing, government relations, purchasing, human resources, accounting, risk management and more. Read more about some construction jobs that may not immediately pop to mind in an article about “Five construction jobs you might not think about.”
On the jobsite, construction internships can include working with project managers or superintendents to assist them with daily needs, including administrative tasks, preparation for internal or client meetings, documentation and management of policies, permits and other necessary paperwork.
Specialized internships, which are called apprenticeships, generally pair apprentices with a skilled tradesperson to learn a trade such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical, HVAC and more. Apprentices also are often hired as full-time staff with pay and benefits.
Construction internships can help you join an industry or company that otherwise can seem difficult to enter. For example, internships help overcome a lack of training or experience that will be needed for full-time jobs.
TechJury has some fascinating statistics about internships, including that completing an internship gives individuals an 85% increased chance of employment and 16% more job offers! With those metrics of success, it’s worth strongly considering pursuing an internship.
In addition to discovering a career path, getting invaluable real-world experience and gaining access to industries and companies that may not hire you at your current level of experience and training, internships offer some other important benefits to consider.
Completing an internship is a great resume builder, expanding your experience, breadth of knowledge and skills – all of which companies are looking for in candidates to hire.
Internships also help you expand your network. You’ll likely gain friends and mentors while interning who can continue to guide you after your internship is complete and serve as references in your job search.
Internships help you learn how to work and communicate in a different setting. If you’ve spent the last several years in high school and college surrounded by people your own age, it may be a great opportunity to learn how to work with people from different generations or who communicate differently than you. You also can learn what behaviors need to change for a work versus school environment.
Many companies, like us at Christman, offer paid internships, so you can earn money while exploring a career and gaining skills. In fact, according to TechJury, more than 60% of interns are paid.
For all of these positive reasons for pursing construction internships, perhaps this TechJury statistic is the most powerful for those who fully commit their best to internships: 85% of employers offer jobs to interns who are successful.