14 Jul Law Student Internships: Maximizing Your Experience
I’m currently doing my LLB second year at the North West University of in Mahikeng. During the June 2017 school holidays I did a short internship/vacation work at BWD Advertising at the end of the internship I was asked to write a blog on the topic “How To Get Value Out Of An Internship Program As A Law Student”, here goes.
An internship allows us as law students the opportunity to apply our knowledge and skills in a professional setting/environment while we are still in university. It helps us know the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behavior in the workplace.
This program assist student to work to their best ability to take a step closer to their dream careers and gain more knowledge as to what is needed from them in the workplace and their improvement. Internship programs must be done with dedication and determination for one to achieve their goals. It is the only place where one is allowed to make mistakes and learn from them in order to become better at what they are doing or what they are planning to do in the near future.
In order to get value from an internship one must be prepared and willing to learn and be able to conduct oneself in an acceptable and appropriate manner in the workplace. One must dress according to the dress code in the environment, be ethical and professional in the workplace. It will also help to dress appropriately so that the colleagues and clients can take you seriously because dress code is very important as a law student so that you must be taken seriously.
As a law student one is expected to be professional, ethical and to abide by the rules and regulations at all times. When one is in the internship programs they become exposed to the procedures they have to follow and abide, therefore one gains experience and also gains practical knowledge by following those procedures. When one is given something to do, it must be done with excitement and wholeheartedly and where one does not understand they must ask so that one can be able to do the task easily with more understanding which will help increase your self-confidence.
It is very important again to be polite all the time and interact with other people in the workplace, as it will make the staying there and the job easy for oneself and everybody else. I would conclude by saying that as an intern it is best to just be yourself and strive to succeed with passion in everything because the difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do.
Name: Vuyelwa Gosa
Institution: North West University – Mahikeng
Year: Second Year
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vuyelwa.gosa.1