By Nabila Owens

Some of us were fortunate enough to score internships at the beginning of our careers, and it’s always been the norm for white-collar job candidates in particular, to have an internship or two prior to entering the workforce.  I am assuming in the good old days people could pick and choose, but after the recent market crash, many companies simply could not afford to have a lot of interns, and the recent ramble that’s been catching on like wild fire about how “internships are evil” trend only caused internship programs to become more obsolete. After all, the negative publicity on internships are not making it any easier to get one, which only adds more pressure on entering the job market in this economy. So unless you are the heir to a multi-corporation, or well endowed with infinite connections, you are bound to compete for internships and entry level positions right out of college. Unemployment even among college grads is currently estimated at 4%, so for many of us the only way to get our foot in the door is via a good old internship.

It’s fair to say that people are motivated by different things, so in order to understand why taking on an internship was a turning point in my life we have to go back to the beginning. Most of the little customer service experience I had was acquired while growing up around my family and helping out over the years at my family’s shop, which is nothing like working in a business setting. I knew then that if I remained in an environment that was unrelated to my chosen area of training I would not obtain the experience I needed to get my career started, as it would only delay the process.

Plus, what would happen to me if the family business was to fail? I could not afford to only have that as experience listed on my resume. I saw then that the experience I got through a working in a mom & pop type of operational environment cannot be compared to the experience acquired in a corporate environment through an internship. So, I was brave enough to go out on my own and leave all I knew behind me, in order to pursue my calling and start from scratch; and if it wasn’t for the chance I had through an internship at NPD Global this would have never happened. Everything I learned along the way led me to that moment, so it’s safe to say that taking on an internship was not only the beginning of my career, but ultimately the beginning of my life.

Also, I happen to be of the many business school graduates who entered the job market during the post 2008 market crash era, so realistically speaking, my chosen field was saturated with entry level workers due to the lack of vacant positions, and unemployment was at an all-time high since the great depression, even for college graduates. Needless to say, I found myself in a position where I had to try and attempt to enter a job market with a degree in my hands, but little or no experience to compete with candidates who had the same educational background as me but with more experience. As mentioned earlier, despite having one of my concentrations in Human Resources Management with the completion of extensive courses in the particular subject, I had little experience in the actual HR field.

Upon graduation, I had the opportunity to meet Michelle Furyaka through my Aunt Joyce Padilha. Michelle is the Executive Vice-President of NPD Global, an Information Technology Staffing and Recruiting firm with offices in Continental America and India. During my interview process, she took the time to tell me about her company and the industry, and I had the opportunity to find out more about NPD Global’s mission statement. It was also a good chance for her to see if I would be a fit in the culture of the company.

To make up for my lack of experience, my goal was to compensate with initiative and determination and the willingness to learn. My mind was set on seizing this opportunity, and luckily they welcomed me in and thought I’d be a great fit. In spite of of my lack of experience in the field, they took the time to invest in me as a professional to teach me a trade that cannot be taught in the classroom, but only with experience. NPD Global welcomed me with an inviting and learning environment that my college classes did not possess. This was done through the internship program NPD Global, and throughout my internship I was gradually molded into the professional I am today. Due to my internship experience, I was able to enhance my skill set and abilities in the sector I was formally trained for, and it was a key factor that ultimately changed the course of my professional life.

While many will not hesitate to jump on the bandwagon and coin internships as exploitive means for corporations to utilize inexpensive means of labor, I bet you will hear more stories of people like me who find internship programs to be a blessing. Scoring an internship in your chosen area is the ultimate way to get inside track to your competitive field, which again, may alter the direction of your career and life for the better. I can honestly say this because it happened to me! Think about it: How cost effective is it short-term wise to take a chance on an entry level candidate when they could’ve hired another candidate who’s a bit pricier, but with the same degree plus experience? Of course the idea is that as time goes on, I will be able to provide a lot more for my employers as a token of my appreciation in return for taking a chance on me, but during my internship days I was the one who really benefited, acquired experience and an extra edge on the job market through my internship program.

I can imagine what you may be thinking at this point: Why should one succumb oneself to taking on an internship after all the years and money invested in school? The truth is that attaining academic success is great, but it is not necessarily equivalent to attaining professional success, and a good way to find out about attaining professional success is by looking for positive internships opportunities, like I had at NPD Global. If you are interested in how my story turned out at NPD Global I cannot give you an ending, simply because it never did. After my internship program I was hired for a full-time position, and I have been an employee at NPD Global for about a year now!

I believe Internships can be looked at as great life altering opportunities as a result of my positive experience, despite of the negative movement against it. How else can one learn a trade without the pressure of being so senior to have to deliver on day one, and enough of a newbie where the whole process is nothing but a learning opportunity? I think Napoleon Hill said it best: “One of the tricks of opportunity is that it has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, and often comes disguised in the form of misfortune or temporary defeat. Perhaps this is why so many fail to recognize opportunity.”  Not that my internship at NPD Global was ever some type of misfortune. It was in fact quite the opposite, and I am grateful I have a positive life changing internship story to tell… So after hearing about successful internship stories like mine, I bet it can be quite surprising to see the kind of effort interest groups will make to coin internships as a negative misfortune.