Things to Know During the Internship

As Istanbul Gelisim University, we want our students to make the best use of their internship periods in order to reinforce the experiences they have gained during their education and training periods and the theoretical knowledge they have learned in the lessons.
Internship is a great opportunity for students to reinforce the knowledge they have learned during the semester in a professional business environment. We can say that internship is the most important step among the decisions we will make in order to meet the professional business environment and shape our steps for the future. It also helps to improve your social skills and meet experts in our field. So much so that it may cause you to decide whether or not to pursue your profession and even change your educational journey.

So, are we aware of what we need to know before making the necessary decisions for internship?
To maximize your chances of finding your dream internship, there are a few key points to consider. Let's list them for you;

1.  What does internship mean to you? What are our expectations?

Internship is one of the most important opportunities for students to get to know themselves. The student meets his professional working life through internship and realizes many points about himself here. Therefore, before starting the internship, it is useful to know exactly what our expectations are about the internship. The answer to why we want to do an internship should be to improve and realize youself, far from being a compulsory internship. In this way, we will have taken the first strong step of our career, which we wish to be in the future. We should see the responsibilities that will come with the internship as an opportunity for our career rather than a burden or a necessity. The internship gives you strong references, job opportunity for the future and the chance to consolidate education. In short, do not hesitate to take advantage of this opportunity to get an idea about professional life.

2. Why Curriculum Vitae? Entrance ticket to professional life

The first thing you should do after taking the internship decision is to create your entrance ticket to professional life. It's the first thing employers look for information about you. The better you define yourself, the stronger your statement will be. For this reason, take the time to create a resume specifically and seek help from someone with more experience if needed. Never include untrue information in your resume and make sure to refer to an expert (could be your teacher) who will support you in the best way possible.

3. Are the limited expressions of the resume enough to describe you?

If your answer is no, there is one more thing you can do; Motivation letter/ cover letter. This article should be short and simple. You can talk about your education life, experiences, knowledge and skills, and even your personal characteristics. You can also explain the problematic internship period and insurance conditions determined by your university here. One of the most important information you should include in your motivation letter is why you want to work with that company/restaurant/hotel. Make this clear so that the person reading your letter will not hesitate to accept you. The motivation letter is also an opportunity to break the perception of the experienced employee that many employers seek.

4. What about internship places, how should we determine them?

There are many ways to find the most suitable internship places for you. Our friends, family and teachers take the first place. Do not hesitate to ask anyone in your area who can help you determine the most suitable workplace for you. It may be a good idea to consider the advice of experienced friends.
Or you can use social networks. Checking the special web pages that publish job and internship opportunities and sending a resume is the most practical way to evaluate the opportunities.
You can contact the company/restaurant/hotel or employer directly. All you have to do is to obtain contact addresses from their official sites and create a request for an interview. Do not hesitate to submit a resume and cover letter, especially to human resources. For the internship, which will be your first step in your career planning, it is necessary to choose the companies that will add valuable information to you. For this, it would be a wise decision to contact the most suitable business for you directly.

5. Is it good to be an early bird?

For internships, which are generally held in the summer months, businesses start intern interviews as of January. For this reason, you take the first step for the competition that may occur in the places you think will be the best for you. It also provides you with ease in your workload when it is time to make internship interviews in advance. If you are late in choosing an internship place, do not be afraid and do not hesitate to interview the companies.

6. What responsibilities do we expect from students who will do internships to fulfill as Istanbul Gelisim University?

Determine the company where you will do your internship and submit the internship location to the approval of the Department/Program Head or the Internship Coordinator. In order to start your internship process, an internship form must be filled. You can find the internship form at https://myo.gelisim.edu.tr/ by following the steps Student> Form and Documents> Summer Internship Form. Things to consider when filling out the internship form; There must be 30 business days between the start date and the end date. Public holidays and public holidays should be counted by subtracting them. While determining the start-end dates, it should be calculated according to the number of weekly working days of the internship place.
The form will be filled in completely by the intern and sent to myostaj@gelisim.edu.tr e-mail address. The internship application form must be sent to the specified e-mail address at the latest 10 days before the determined internship start date.
The insurance procedures of the students whose application form is approved by Istanbul Gelisim University are started. (Except for students who are accepted for internship from abroad and benefit from Erasmus Internship Mobility).
Report your internship activities to the internship notebook on a daily basis and have each page of this notebook approved by the workplace supervisor at the end of the internship. Have it approved by the Dean, Head of the Department, Faculty Member of the Department and the Internship authority. Submit your internship notebook to your internship coordinator.

Lecturer Kader PARLAK