How Many Internships are Enough?

The idea of “enough” has puzzled sociologists and capitalists both for a long time. The author attempts to delve into this abstract topic, albeit concerning internships only. Further, this text concerns undergraduate students only and excludes law & medical courses. The industry knowledge of the author is limited in these two particular fields.

Ideally, you should have at least one good internship on your resume. As part of the curriculum, engineering students are mandated to pursue one internship. On a lighter note, it says that you kept yourself busy and involved and didn’t while away your time. A good profile and a reputed organization name make your resume stand apart.

Summer breaks, or winter breaks (if they are long enough) are the best time to complete an internship. The reason being that full-time internships are valued much more than part-time ones. You may feel bad seeing your friends binge-watching while you are chugging away through your one-month holiday. Once you have settled in, the internship experience will be rewarding in itself.

Some college students cover their resumes with many sub-standard internships. Most of them are part-time at this or that startup. This is not particularly advised. A thumb rule here, the number of internships on your resume should be equal to your course duration in years minus one. For instance, if you are a B.Com. Hons. student, two internships will suffice. And the best time to get them would be in the summer breaks immediately after your even semester exams. You should deploy your precious time during the semester towards your course curriculum, preparation for any future exams you are targeting, or placement preparation, as the case may be.

Doing sub-standard internships in the hope of getting a good one doesn’t work either. On the contrary, it restricts the radius of your competency orbit. It is perfectly fine to have even one decent internship if you are keeping yourself busy with maintaining a strong GPA. Many students appearing for CAT, GMAT or GATE spend their last year semester breaks completing their institute classes or prep-material. It is a reasonable approach and should be followed ideally.