Here's how you can maximize the benefits of internships for starting your own business.

I always tell my students: if you want to get your foot in the door at the company you desire, internships are the way to go. Be the “I’ve got this” person, willing to do whatever it takes. Focus on executing objectives rather than just being an “idea” person. Execution is key to making a lasting impression. “Idea guys” are a dime a dozen. I hire people that figure out how to get things done!

Internships provide an opportunity to gain insights on the following: 1)Type/nature of work you aspire to pursue - You can only fully experience this when you are “involved” although you may not have much “heavy”responsibilities. Then you can assess whether the type of business, role you are seeking is suitable for you where you can grow and perform in when you embark on a full time career later. 2) Working Culture - If this is your first working experience, this is also the best way to learn people management and soft skills, which unfortunately are not taught as much as it should be in schools. Technical knowledge and hard skills are important but soft skills are critical to help you “survive” and perform in the corporate environment.

The most underrated ways to learn more about something when you’re a university student is to do an internship. It allows you do test drive a career, meet new people on a field and gain transferable skills you’ll need whether you, would like to be an entrepreneur or work in the industry. Many students don’t know that you also can be an “in house” entrepreneur at a company. It just happens to be “cool” to be an entrepreneur now. I remember when I started my entrepreneurial journey with Absolute Internship, being an entrepreneur meant “unemployed” :) ??

Internships offer a firsthand look at how businesses operate. This insight can be instrumental in understanding industry dynamics, company culture, and the day-to-day challenges of running a business. Example: Brian Chesky (Airbnb) Before co-founding Airbnb, Brian Chesky gained valuable insights from his internship at Industrial Design. This experience helped him understand the importance of user-centric design and customer experience, which became central to Airbnb’s success.

"Your network is your net worth." - Porter Gale Internships provide a unique opportunity to build a professional network. The connections you make can offer support, advice, and potential partnerships in the future. Example: Kevin Systrom (Instagram) Kevin Systrom interned at Odeo (which later became Twitter), where he built a network of tech professionals. These connections proved invaluable when he later founded Instagram, helping him secure funding and talent.

Networking is often talked about at the university level and business school. But what’s not often spoken about is how to actually do it from a 20 year old perspective. The way I see it is, too many students look to network and connect with higher ups (eg directors, CEOs). But not many students focus on their classmates, students in other majors. These people are the future managers, directors, entrepreneurs and CEOs. I think that’s one of the most underrated ways to “network” for students. Make friends. Enjoy the process. Be open minded. Keep in touch with people. Remember people’s birthdays. That’s networking for me and have served me very well in my 15 years of entrepreneurship.

Curiosity is key here. As an intern, ask to support different departments if available. Offer to do more than what is asked. Supplement observations with research. For example, if you participate in a meeting and don’t understand something, look it up later. Interns have the fortune of a participating in a long interview (the duration of the internship) which gives them an edge over someone else coming in for a 1 hr interview. #guidedambitions

Being an entrepreneur, you will need to network a lot and internships are the best place to start forming professional relationships. Build a relationship with your co-workers, managers and your intern cohort might be optimal in the future, they may become your clients or partners, and even be your mentor. Be open about your ambition to start a business and ask about other people's positions. Help is often provided to the self-starters, the ones who are excited about what they want. Remember that the contacts you create today will create an ease of operation for your company in the future.

Networking is the lifeblood of entrepreneurship, and internships provide a fertile ground for cultivating meaningful connections. Engage proactively with colleagues, mentors, and industry professionals. Every handshake, coffee chat, and LinkedIn connection has the potential to open doors, spark collaborations, and pave the way for future ventures.

Your network is your door opener. You are more likely to get internship opportunities from someone within your network. Never be afraid to ask people in your network for available opportunities. If you snooze you will lose. The worst that can happen is that you will get a no; but guess what? You might just get a yes. Also, leverage your network to gain access to information about existing internship opportunities within or outside their organisations.

I did my first internship in banking when I was a first year student in Sweden. I’ve always wanted to be a banker. Wear a nice suit, nice watch, nice shoes. I learned throughout my internship that I didn’t want to enter a career in banking, which was an important lesson. But, there were so many things I learned that I’ve benefited so much from in my entrepreneurial journey. The most important one is how to pickup the phone and cold call anyone to pitch myself. We always sell. It doesn’t matter what we do. We sell. To have that opportunity to learn that and especially over the phones without video, without being able to see someone face to face was very challenging yet very rewarding. Every single university student should do internships.

Internships are a great way to acquire practical skills that are crucial for running a business. This can range from technical skills to soft skills like communication and leadership. Example: Elon Musk (Zip2) Before founding SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk gained practical skills through internships and early work experiences. His work at Zip2, an online city guide, taught him about coding, web development, and business operations, which laid the foundation for his later ventures.

Entrepreneurship demands a versatile skill set, and internships offer an unparalleled platform for skill acquisition and refinement. Seize every chance to learn new technologies, master critical tools, and develop essential soft skills such as communication, leadership, and problem-solving. The skills you acquire during internships will serve as invaluable assets on your entrepreneurial journey.

De todas as competências que entendo serem necessárias para gerir um negócio ou a própria vida, eu destaco a GEst?o do Tempo, vemos diariamente pessoas falando "Eu n?o tenho/tive tempo", pois bem, o tempo é a maior riqueza que temos, e muitas vezes pessoas o desperdi?am com tarefas inúteis ou que demandam mais tempo, justamente pela falta de planejamento. Por essa raz?o é importante que todos saibam fazer uma gest?o de tempo adequada, antes de querer desenvolver qualquer outra competência.

Internships often place you in close proximity to experienced professionals who can offer guidance and mentorship. Building a relationship with a mentor can provide long-term benefits and support. Example: Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook) Sheryl Sandberg interned at the World Bank, where she was mentored by economist Larry Summers. This mentorship helped her navigate her career, eventually leading to her role as COO of Facebook and authoring the influential book "Lean In."

One who seeks for mentorship stands a good chance to succeed as a learner and transform the same to future learners. Mentorship inculcates the organisational values, the principles and helps one get hold of them while learning how to work together.

So many students want to seek out mentors. I was one of them. I started to read a lot of books instead as I didn’t have the connections that many of my classmates had. I started to read a lot of autobiographies when I was a student and intern. I learned a lot. I found my closest mentors via books and that’s where most of the business wisdom I’ve learned comes from. I believe more students should read more autobiographies - there is so much business gold nuggets to be learned.

Mentorship is a cornerstone of success in entrepreneurship, and internships provide a unique opportunity to learn from seasoned professionals. Identify mentors who inspire you, seek their guidance, and leverage their wisdom to navigate challenges and seize opportunities. A mentor's insights and advice can be the compass that guides you through the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.

C'est ce qu'on appel l'effet pygmalion ;) Par exemple,?si un enseignant a de grandes attentes à l'égard d'un élève, ce dernier est susceptible de travailler plus dur en classe. Inversement, un patron qui n'a pas confiance en un travailleur aura pour effet d'amener cette personne à fournir des performances inférieures à ses propres capacités...

Internships offer a low-risk environment to test and validate entrepreneurial ideas. Harness the resources and support available to you to prototype, experiment, and iterate on your concepts. Embrace failure as a stepping stone to success, and use feedback to refine your ideas and strategies. The lessons learned from testing ideas during internships can shape the trajectory of your entrepreneurial endeavors.

Internships are for the intern and the employer to benefit. The employer wants a new perspective. They are exchanging their time, thought leadership, expertise, etc. to get something in return: 1. Less time working on repetitive tasks. 2. A generation’s perspective 3. A do-er An intern may be able to develop a better process when giving menial tasks and become the hero of the team. Interning, like most things in life, are about giving more than you receive so you end up getting more than you planned.

Internships provide a relatively low-risk environment to test and refine your business ideas. Observing how companies handle innovation and problem-solving can inspire and inform your entrepreneurial efforts. Example: Evan Spiegel (Snapchat) While interning at a biomedical company, Evan Spiegel learned about user experience and product design. He tested his idea of ephemeral messaging with friends and classmates, which eventually evolved into Snapchat.

With the hope of building a helpful habit of reflection, I have students maintain a weekly learning journal during their internship to make notes on what they accomplished and what they learned from those accomplishments. Pausing to think through the week and write down tasks undertaken and lessons learned from the week's activities helps us deepen our learning and helps us remember those experiences.

I hired over 300 interns over the 20+years I ran my organization. I always told new interns to take a week to actively observe everything we were doing and then tell me what they would like to learn that would both add value to the organization as well as increase their skills.

I encourage students to consider three actions before the intern hiring season begins: 1. Identify at least 10 organizations you’d like to work with and request one or two-day shadowing opportunities. Ask to shadow when important meetings are scheduled (virtual or in-person). You may learn if this is a place you want to consider for an internship. 2. Be clear on what experience is coveted for your ideal full-time position and seek internships that add to those capabilities. Don’t know? Reach out and ask the potential hiring manager or human resource lead. 3. Do your research on the organization and the industry, in addition to those interviewing you. Craft your interview questions as if you were considering hiring the company or person.

Internships are giving you a valuable insight in a business and it′s your attitude to learn as much as you can from every person in the company from low to high. Find out what they do, why they do it, ask questions and learn

Pas plus tard que ce matin, un client entrepreneur hésitait entre 2 stagiaires, ce qui a fait la différence entrée les 2 !? La proactiviteé de l'une et sa propre ambition d'un jour construire son Entreprise.

I think a combination of the opportunities listed above such as gain insights or reflect more often our key to leveraging resources, such as internships. The key to starting up a business is all about how to manage your time and focus on what is the most important thing which is signing a problem with solving and figuring out how to solve it such a way that people will pay you enough money to build a business off of it. Hopefully, the problem you are solving and we are solving it is a larger enough market to grow nearly infinitely, Leveraging internships is away for you to, focus your attention and time on much more high value items while also giving valuable and practical work experience for the intern.