with an increasing number of students opting for internships over shortterm courses and summer schools employers across sectors are coming up with a range of programmes ruchi kumar reports an unstable global economy is soon creating a competitive space for specialisations qualifications and especially experience the proverb the early bird catches the worm has never been so befitting opting for an early internship in fact has come to the rescue of many helping them to pick up the much needed 21century skills explains swati salunkhe career counsellor internships not only provide students with an insight into the real world of work but also complements their learning allowing them to even earn at the same time adding to that karthikeyan vijayakumar founder of twenty19 an organisation that helps aspirantinterns find potential employers points out that while students need practical orientation employers across industries are facing a talent crunch and are more open to training novices in our experience employers consider internships as their key to gain access to fresh talentprime motivators with a range of new opportunities available students too have started looking for trainee jobs early in their academic careers kanika joshi a third year law student at pravin gandhi college of law who just completed her internship at crawford bayley law firm says even though it is mandatory in our course for students to complete a 20week apprenticeship over a fiveyear period most of us are happy to do it since it helps us pick up the ropes of the trade filing petitions logic of arguing etc which are not part of the regular law school curriculum internships complement regular academics it is a great way for students to gain professional experience without waiting for graduation explains magdalena zadarnowska director intrax internships a usbased organisation that connects qualified candidates from around the world with internships in the us and other major economic centres across the world yash dedhia pursuing bachelors of design at symbiosis institute of india elaborates despite being a second year student i have had the privilege of working with clients such as diesel airtel and f1 while interning with an advertising agency i not only gained field experience but also managed to build a strong portfolio internships also push students into realworld situations internships were once predominantly pursued by students at the graduate level however more and more students today are pursuing internships while doing their undergraduate studies adds zadarnowska adding to that vijayakumar points out that a stipend of course is a strong motivation but a majority of students take up internships for exposure and to pick up skills they prefer realworld exposure over added academic qualifications similarly employers nowadays value students with prior experience the opportunity of eventually being absorbed into the company one interns with is also a major incentive for some students apart from that trends such as virtual internships and internships abroad are also gaining momentum zadarnowska elaborates there is growing interest in international internships to acquire