I started giving proper thought to my career during my second year at University. The buzz towards the end of that period was CRAZY, and getting an internship was all everyone seemed to talk about. The energy was amazing, everybody wanted to get into big firms, especially the investment banks. I would be having lunch, walking along the corridors, working in the computer labs and it was the same – Goldman Sachs this, JP Morgan that, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas…..my head almost exploded at a point because that’s all I would hear about.

I wasn’t particularly bothered about getting an internship because I had gained a considerable amount of part-time work experience up until that time, and I also had a very well-paying summer job coming up at Edexcel (now Pearson Education UK). I had really enjoyed doing the job the previous summer because of the LARGE number of Nigerian students working there. It was serious fun and there must have been at least 100 of us young Nigerians at some point....

Read the rest of the story here - http://skillsonthehouse.com/6-reasons-you-should-seriously-consider-an-internship/

The link isn't working

Thanks Sifo, sorry about that - I've put in the correct link

sifo:
The link isn't working

GenoMI:
I started giving proper thought to my career during my second year at University. The buzz towards the end of that period was CRAZY, and getting an internship was all everyone seemed to talk about. The energy was amazing, everybody wanted to get into big firms, especially the investment banks. I would be having lunch, walking along the corridors, working in the computer labs and it was the same – Goldman Sachs this, JP Morgan that, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas…..my head almost exploded at a point because that’s all I would hear about.

I wasn’t particularly bothered about getting an internship because I had gained a considerable amount of part-time work experience up until that time, and I also had a very well-paying summer job coming up at Edexcel (now Pearson Education UK). I had really enjoyed doing the job the previous summer because of the LARGE number of Nigerian students working there. It was serious fun and there must have been at least 100 of us young Nigerians at some point....

Read the rest of the story here - http:///1QQijoB...

the link is not working. by the way, I think you're doing a great job,

@topic I did everything within my power to get a place for internship after I graduated from school, unfortunately I wasn't successful (even when I offered to work for free). The kind of responses I got were very disheartening. I encountered a lady that asked me whether fresh (pre-nysc) graduates go for internship and went ahead to tell me its not done anywhere (authoritatively) its not easy getting the required working experience to launch a career. the Nigerian labour market is f-ed up!

Hi @coollabaman, thanks, pls check out the link, I updated it

Meanwhile, please don't be discouraged by 1 or 2 people out there who don't think to give young people credit for taking the initiative and stepping up to the plate, I think you did fantastically well (If I listened to all the people who told me not to bother with Skills On The House, you and I wouldn't even be having this conversation, LOL).

I'm wondering though, was there anything else stopping them from taking you on board? Were you able to communicate the value you can bring to the table as an intern, as opposed to maybe talking about what you can get out of the experience? At the end of my post, I provide the address to a new and growing site where you can look up internships in Naija companies...Please check it out

coollabman:



the link is not working. by the way, I think you're doing a great job,

@topic I did everything within my power to get a place for internship after I graduated from school, unfortunately I wasn't successful (even when I offered to work for free). The kind of responses I got were very disheartening. I encountered a lady that asked me whether fresh (pre-nysc) graduates go for internship and went ahead to tell me its not done anywhere (authoritatively) its not easy getting the required working experience to launch a career. the Nigerian labour market is f-ed up!

GenoMI:
Hi @coollabaman, thanks, pls check out the link, I updated it

Meanwhile, please don't be discouraged by 1 or 2 people out there who don't think to give young people credit for taking the initiative and stepping up to the plate, I think you did fantastically well (If I listened to all the people who told me not to bother with Skills On The House, you and I wouldn't even be having this conversation, LOL).

I'm wondering though, was there anything else stopping them from taking you on board? Were you able to communicate the value you can bring to the table as an intern, as opposed to maybe talking about what you can get out of the experience? At the end of my post, I provide the address to a new and growing site where you can look up internships in Naija companies...Please check it out

from the little info I got from the ones currently on my contact list (one even shares the same first name and surname with me), they were impressed by my initiative but still told me no because of policy issues in their respective firms, while some told me to come back after Nysc and a few told me to pay.
judging from their response nothing at all was wrong with my application.

Hmm that's strange - why would anybody ask you to PAY to intern with them? Totally unacceptable.

With regards to policy, I guess there isn't much anyone can do if a company has such policies. But there are some companies that accept interns, including where I currently work (they just took in a pre-NYSC intern, and this is the 3rd one since I joined a year ago). So there is hope, keep going at it.

I think we also have a long way to go as a country in terms of getting companies to adopt the culture of internships as in done in other parts of the world.

coollabman:


from the little info I got from the ones currently on my contact list (one even shares the same first name and surname with me), they were impressed by my initiative but still told me no because of policy issues in their respective firms, while some told me to come back after Nysc and a few told me to pay.
judging from their response nothing at all was wrong with my application.

GenoMI:
Hmm that's strange - why would anybody ask you to PAY to intern with them? Totally unacceptable.


With regards to policy, I guess there isn't much anyone can do if a company has such policies. But there are some companies that accept interns, including where I currently work (they just took in a pre-NYSC intern, and this is the 3rd one since I joined a year ago). So there is hope, keep going at it.

I think we also have a long way to go as a country in terms of getting companies to adopt the culture of internships as in done in other parts of the world.

@bolded! you'd be surprised the amount I was asked to cough out. the firm is a laboratory that offers clinical diagnostic services (I won't mention names). peeps that studied microbiology/biochemistry would understand this trend of paying to get biomedical trainee positions and internship.

For real Wonders will never end, only in this our Nigeria. God help us.

coollabman:



@bolded! you'd be surprised the amount I was asked to cough out. the firm is a laboratory that offers clinical diagnostic services (I won't mention names). peeps that studied microbiology/biochemistry would understand this trend of paying to get biomedical trainee positions and internship.