In the competitive pool of landing your dream job, you need industry experience to outshine others; that is where externships and internships come into play. Now, you might be wondering about the comparison between Externship Vs Internship.
An internship is a long-term role where an individual experiences the ins and outs of a job responsibility. On the other hand, an externship is a short-term role of observing and shadowing a prominent professional. It mainly helps college students for their prominent careers.
To help you strengthen your resume, we have accumulated everything from the definition to the Difference Between Internship And Externship in this blog. So, without any further ado, let’s learn about these terms and how to gain them conveniently.
What is an Internship?
An internship is a training position at a company or firm for at least a multiple of weeks. It acts like a bridge between the college’s education and the first paying job. It allows students to get hands-on learning and industry experience while they are studying or have just graduated. As numerous MNCs and firms enroll students under the summer internships, they get to have practical training.
Other than this, it helps them to explore several career fields before committing to one. The best thing about this position is that, in most cases, one can use its certificate to get extra credit for their degree and for getting the post-degree recommendation letter.
There are both paid and unpaid types of internships, which depend on the job role and company. Moreover, the tasks are assigned by a manager while attending meetings and taking down the minutes.
It is a job position where individuals share the general responsibilities and roles of their colleagues. However, they don’t get solid and decisive tasks because they lack the same level of professional training and experience as others.
All one needs to apply for an internship is a well-written resume, academic transcripts, letters of recommendation, a relevant degree, and writing samples that are specific to the job duties they are applying for.
What are Externships?
Externships are short-term opportunities that last a minimum of a day to a maximum of a couple of weeks. In this, an individual usually shadows a mentor or person of higher authority to learn about their professional workings. Moreover, an individual can combine multiple externships at once.
They act like one of the best ways to gain experience and see if they are interested in pursuing a certain career path. Further, students get to work with the professional in charge, who has years of experience in the industry.
By working with them, individuals get to experience the actual workings and duties from a closer angle, further observing the job role and whether they want to engage or indulge in it. Externs are often responsible for attending staff meetings and events while overseeing different operational tasks.
Other than this, one can easily accumulate various extern training experiences together to ultimately make the decision of what career path to choose. Moreover, there aren’t many qualification requirements, as there isn’t a lot of challenging work done under these externships.
For gaining an externship, one can make use of professional networking strategies and tactics for graduates. This means that they can make use of things like connecting with professionals on LinkedIn, asking lecturers to recommend them to prominent professors, or attending and talking to guest speakers.
Externship Vs Internship: What is the Difference Between an Intern and Extern?
Still confused between the Internship Vs Externship, and wonder What Is A Externship? Don’t worry, to give a better perspective, we have prepared a table comparing the two based on various aspects.
| ASPECT | INTERNSHIP | EXTERNSHIP |
| Definition | Temporary job opportunity. | Job shadowing role. |
| Time period | Few weeks to multiple months. | A day to 8 weeks. |
| Responsibilities | – Performing tasks assigned by top management.
– Taking minutes of meetings and attending them.
– Following the general disciplinary actions.
– Organizing and running events. | – Being a shadow of a professional person.
– Attending events and workplaces.
– Doing various operational tasks.
– Working on small and non-important projects. |
| Qualification requirements | – Well-written resume.
– Letters of recommendation.
– Major relevant to job profile.
– Academic transcripts.
– Writing samples. | – A letter of recommendation.
– Well-written resume and cover letter.
– College professors can help connect. |
| Types | – In-person internships
– Hybrid internships
– Work from home internships | – In-person externships
– Virtual externships |
| When to do it? | Amid and after college. | Amid college. |
| Compensation | Mostly paid. | Mostly unpaid. |
| Credit | Can submit the report to get semester credits. | It can be added to the resume to make it stand out. |
| Advertised | Publicly | Informally or publicly. |
| Example | An individual who has secured an internship at a firm or company. | A student shadowing the professor, where they are just observing. |
Now, you probably have a better understanding of the two terms. Keep reading to find out how one can achieve them in detail!
Action Plan to Gain Internships and Externships in a Company
There isn’t any specific way to achieve an internship or externship; however, we have prepared an action plan that can assist individuals in gaining these jobs at their dream companies.
| INTERNSHIP | EXTERNSHIP |
| 1. Make use of strategies to do better in college. | 1. Build strong connections within the college network. |
| 2. Participate in different projects and assignments. | 2. Check for extern availability at the college career center. |
| 3. Prepare a cover letter and resume. | 3. Search online for opportunities. |
| 4. Make a LinkedIn profile and upload relevant information. | 4. Target specific firms and professionals to follow. |
| 5. Ask college professors for recommendations. | 5. Attend multiple events related to the industry. |
| 6. Research companies in the industry. | 6. Update the resume with skills and experiences. |
| 7. Send out the resume to different organizations. | 7. Write a cover letter that conveys a professional interest. |
| 8. Follow up on the applications. | 8. Send out the applications. |
| 9. Practice common and thoughtful questions for the interview. | 9. Reach out directly to professors and top management. |
| 10. Take the interview with confidence. | 10. Keep following up for availability. |
| 11. Be patient and frequently check on the process. | |
By following the above-mentioned steps, individuals can easily connect to any company or individual.
Also Read: 47 Professional Bio Examples and Some Amazing Bio Templates For You
Efficient Ways for Employers to Connect with Interns and Externs
Companies are as eager to hire interns and externs as students are to work in them. For this reason, at frequent intervals, top organizations do the following activities to hire new people.
- Posting about an internship opportunity on LinkedIn.
- Allowing candidates to apply through the website’s careers page.
- Reaching out to the university portal for hiring selections.
- Getting in contact with the college’s career centers.
- Asking professors of prominent institutions to send the best candidates.
- Attending on-campus career fairs to have a face-to-face interaction.
- Requesting the internal stakeholders, like the employees, for referrals.
As we said above, major organizations around the globe look forward to hiring externs and interns for their teams. But why? To find out the answer to this query, scroll ahead!
Reasons for Employers to Hire Interns and Externs
In this part, we have mentioned how top management benefits from hiring interns and externs.
- They are very cost-effective and productive.
- Takes the excessive workload off the existing employees.
- These individuals are often open to learning more things.
- Companies can check candidates’ potential before hiring them full-time.
- Brings the wave of the latest ideas and insights to the discussion floor.
- Allows managers to check if an existing employee is ready to be a mentor.
Other than this, the organization has a significantly positive impact on its image and reputation for community engagement.
Benefits of Externship Vs Internship as Job Roles
In case some of you are still conflicted about whether to choose an externship vs. internship, we recommend looking at the benefits these different yet similar job roles offer.
| INTERNSHIP | EXTERNSHIP |
| Getting hands-on experience to learn professional skills. | Exploring options to choose a career path. |
| Allows for enhanced technical training. | Happens in a short duration, from a day to a few months. |
| Offer an abundance of prominent knowledge. | Can be clubbed with other externships. |
| Increasing their personal connections and network. | Observing the tasks and responsibilities of an individual. |
| One can get promoted to a fixed position. | Quick way to gain experience. |
| Enhances the resume and work portfolio. | Can be done anytime during graduation. |
Internships have more potential in them; however, one can easily combine multiple internships in a semester, so the choice between internship vs. externship is an individual decision.
Tips to Make Use of When Applying for Internships and Externships
It’s always beneficial to look at the tips for applying to jobs rather than going unprepared for the interview. Keeping this in mind, we have set forth a few tips and tricks that can increase the chances of acceptance.
- Alter your resume as per the specific needs of the job position.
- Highlight and emphasize key skills and projects.
- Include all the academic achievements and honors.
- Make sure the skill set matches the job requirements.
- Express eagerness to work at a certain organization in the cover letter.
- Ensure there aren’t any grammatical errors in the content.
- Reach out to professors and friends with industry networks.
- Update your LinkedIn profile every once in a while.
Other than this, prepare and practice interview questions about the company in advance.
Wrapping Up
In terms of differentiating Externship Vs Internship, the most appropriate internship definition would be that it’s the best role to gain industry experience before graduating from university. Whereas, externships are the observations and shadow work with a prominent professional, which allows an individual to see if the career path is of interest to them or not.
We suggest that one can start with externships and then join internships to have both experiences on their resume. However, this entirely depends on a person’s choice whether they want to pursue an externship or internship.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ans: It depends on the job role and company whether they offer money for this position; however, most externships are unpaid.
Ans: Externships usually involve observing and shadowing a professional to gain field knowledge and a career path.
Ans: Not really; externships do not count as employment, as one does not do any work in specific work.
Ans: Internships are typically paid, while externships are unpaid. Meanwhile, some organizations also offer unpaid internships and paid externships.
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