n Badi Nahas Alrowgi, Student, Chemical Engineering Technology Department Yanbu Industrial CollegeInternships are one of the most vital experiences a graduate can have before entering the corporate world. It gives a student a first hand understanding of the business world and an opportunity to make an impact on potential employers. For me, a stint with one of the major event management companies, London-based CWC Group, proved to be a turning point in my life. My graduating school, Yanbu Industrial College gave me the golden opportunity to work as an executive with the CWC Group, who organized the Saudi Downstream Conference on March 8-9, 2011 in Yanbu. After intensive training to receive and deal with delegates, I was placed at the registration desk. It gave me the chance to interact with the top officials and managing directors of several leading petrochemical companies. Not only did I learn a lot about the industry during the conference, I was also offered a job by Natpet, one of the major players in the industry. I believe that the internship experience will not only reflect nicely on my CV, it has also given me the confidence to meet the challenges of a new job. n Abdulaziz Autarji, Student, Mechanical Engineering Technology department, Yanbu Industrial College Internship puts students as well as employers in a win-win situation. Business owners get an early chance to gauge the personality and ability of prospective employees and students get an insight into the work culture of the company where they do the internship. For Yanbu Industrial College students like me, cooperative training or internship after completion of the engineering course is a must. Interns are distinctively hungry to learn and perform to the best of their ability. Sometimes interns bring innovative ideas and a new perspective to make a project successful, helping in eliminating processes that may have become useless. The feedback from an intern about a company can prove to be an on-campus advertisement for a company. Word-of-mouth of fellow students can do wonders for the image of a company. As for the students, the experience of relevant internship prepares them for the tough corporate world they enter after graduating. n Rabiya rakshan Grade 12 student Intl Indian School, Jeddah NO learning can be gained unless theory is practiced. Theory cannot be practiced unless opportunity is offered. An internship is that opportunity, which should be given to students in order to enhance skills required for their prospective careers. The hidden advantage of internships is that it helps to develop communicative skills and work ethics. In this competitive world, internships prepare youngsters to compete with others in their respective fields. Being a commerce student, I would like to get an internship while pursuing a bachelor's degree in Business Management. n Muneeba Talat Student, Bachelor of Commerce Karachi University AS this is an era of intense competition, it is very important to gain work experience while studying. It gives individuals a competitive edge. When I complete my graduation, I know that only a good academic standing will not help me find a job. I therefore accepted the offer of an internship while studying and I hope it can boost my competence and level of experience in this field. n Zeeshan Saleem Grade 12 student Pakistan International School, Jeddah IN my opinion, internships are a great opportunity for us to get valuable work experience while studying. Both prove to be very useful when we finally start our career. I want to be a good professional accountant and prepare myself for a permanent job that I can hopefully start after completing my studies. I am currently working as an intern part time in a company's accounts department. Although it is very difficult to manage the tight working hours with my studies, I am happy to get some valuable work experience before starting my career.
