5 Types of internships to Avoid
We know that several colleges have made it compulsory, for students to complete at least one internship during their curriculum. But beware! there are several types of internships to avoid. Students often get frustrated when they do not find a suitable internship and start applying to non-relevant internships.
These close to fraud internships are of no value and provide no benefit to the students. Also, these waste your valuable time. Instead of doing these internships, you can utilize your time in learning up a new skill or working on a project.
Let us see what are these internships:
You might have often come across internships that say ‘Campus Ambassador’. The truth is, in most of these internships, you are expected to promote a business or an event in your college and spread awareness among your friends. Sometimes, you are also expected to put up posters in your campus and promote the brand/event on your social media handles.
These works are often accompanied by no stipend or a performance-based stipend. You may get some additional goodies and certificates, but the main point is that there are no new skills to learn and only the company is benefitted.
Unless you are very sure of your job description and daily work, do not apply to these so-called social media marketing and digital marketing internships. Most of these companies expect you to put up Instagram stories, send WhatsApp messages, and put up Facebook posts to promote their products and services. These companies provide no value to the interns. There is nothing to learn and no new skills to gain and still, many interns fall victim to them.
A real social media marketing company will mostly not ask you to promote on your own social media accounts. Instead, it involves handling the social media accounts of the company and improving their reach. Similarly, a real digital marketing company will ask you to improve the SEO, optimize content, set up paid ads and campaigns, etc.
There are many companies that claim that they are marketing or need business development interns, but they expect their interns to cold call a number of people in the day and convert them into customers. This is also accompanied by cold-emailing and messaging to random people. Although these companies may slightly help you with your communication skills, they have heavy targets, very low stipend, and provide no training.
In your early career, you should avoid these internships and look for the ones that help you in your skill development. These type of internships take up a lot of your time and not worth it.
Immediately reject working with a company if it asks for money in any form, be it a security deposit, laptop costs, or any other reason. No company asks for money from its employees in any form. The biggest mistakes interns make is giving them the asked money and expect a reply. These companies are mostly fraudulent. They collect money from many interns by befooling them and often send them fake offer letters.
Before saying yes to an internship offer, it is often suggested to do a google search about that company and check its reputation on websites like Glassdoor, Ambitionbox, etc. Sometimes, you find some reviews written by frustrated interns who have been cheated by the company, had a poor experience or had issues with the stipend. These reviews are a warning signal and you should avoid working with the companies with a poor online reputation. It is also one of the types of internships to avoid.
So, the message is clear: Avoid fake internships in your career.
Let us see what are these internships:
1. Campus Ambassador Internships
These works are often accompanied by no stipend or a performance-based stipend. You may get some additional goodies and certificates, but the main point is that there are no new skills to learn and only the company is benefitted.
2. Promotions internships (disguised with words like digital marketing/social media marketing)
Unless you are very sure of your job description and daily work, do not apply to these so-called social media marketing and digital marketing internships. Most of these companies expect you to put up Instagram stories, send WhatsApp messages, and put up Facebook posts to promote their products and services. These companies provide no value to the interns. There is nothing to learn and no new skills to gain and still, many interns fall victim to them.
A real social media marketing company will mostly not ask you to promote on your own social media accounts. Instead, it involves handling the social media accounts of the company and improving their reach. Similarly, a real digital marketing company will ask you to improve the SEO, optimize content, set up paid ads and campaigns, etc.
3. Telecalling internships (disguised with fancy words like marketing/business development)
There are many companies that claim that they are marketing or need business development interns, but they expect their interns to cold call a number of people in the day and convert them into customers. This is also accompanied by cold-emailing and messaging to random people. Although these companies may slightly help you with your communication skills, they have heavy targets, very low stipend, and provide no training.
In your early career, you should avoid these internships and look for the ones that help you in your skill development. These type of internships take up a lot of your time and not worth it.
4. Companies asking for money
Immediately reject working with a company if it asks for money in any form, be it a security deposit, laptop costs, or any other reason. No company asks for money from its employees in any form. The biggest mistakes interns make is giving them the asked money and expect a reply. These companies are mostly fraudulent. They collect money from many interns by befooling them and often send them fake offer letters.
5. Companies with a bad reputation
Before saying yes to an internship offer, it is often suggested to do a google search about that company and check its reputation on websites like Glassdoor, Ambitionbox, etc. Sometimes, you find some reviews written by frustrated interns who have been cheated by the company, had a poor experience or had issues with the stipend. These reviews are a warning signal and you should avoid working with the companies with a poor online reputation. It is also one of the types of internships to avoid.
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So, the message is clear: Avoid fake internships in your career.
BONUS: Checklist
✅Check for the following things after you apply for an internship.
Always ask for an offer letter before you start working.
✅Search about the company and read the reviews posted by interns and customers.
Let me know about your internship experience in the comment section!