We are sure you might have heard a lot about these two words Internship and Externship. Little do we know how these two terms are different from each other than what we have heard about.
Internships and externships provide you with professional experience but we are not aware of how this will affect your career and which one will be the best for you.
In this post, you will learn about Internships vs Externships at a fundamental level. We will discuss how each of these terms differs in different aspects like duties, duration period, credibility, etc. After reading this post, we are sure that you will clearly understand what will be best suited for you.
Externship vs Internship: In a Nutshell
Externships in short-term professional experiences in which you will imitate or shadow the work of a working professional for a period ranging from one day to a week.
On the other hand, an Internship is a way to gain professional experience by working in an organization and completing tasks, projects, and chores individually or with the core team. Internships last from over three months to 6 months.
Below is a quick overview of the difference between an internship vs externship!
| Internship | Externship |
| A professional way to experience the industry from a closer perspective and put your skills and knowledge to practical application. | A professional way to experience a particular individual’s job role and shadow their work to understand a company’s operations. |
| The internship period lasts from 3 months to 6 months. | The Externship period lasts from 1 day to 8 days. |
| The majority of internships provide interns with stipends. | Externships are not paid, and externs do not receive stipends. |
| Internships are more commonly advertised and showcased in universities. | Externships are very rarely advertised in universities and are less common. |
| Inters are often involved in the core functioning of the company and get room to explore themselves. | Externs are not given a free hand to explore themselves as they are expected to do what a particular individual or group does. |
What is an Internship?
An internship is a way of acquiring professional industrial experience wherein the intern works with an organization or a company to enhance their core skills and understand the industry’s supply and demand chain. Many students opt for internships during their summer breaks, or some choose to intern during college (this may be subjective based on the academic regulations).
According to data collected by NACE, i.e., the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the class of the year 2021 received around 0.83 job offers per student on the completion of their graduation. Additionally, it has been noted that students with internship experience tend to have a higher chance of securing a job in their respective domain as compared to the one that doesn’t have one.
Duties to Perform as an Intern
As an intern working for an organization, you are expected to understand how the organization functions professionally. The roles and responsibilities of an intern are very well described and distant.
Here is the list of duties that an intern will need to perform during their tenure:
- Working on companies’ ongoing projects and assisting the core professionals in achieving their targets.
- Brainstorming and working with other team members and coming up with innovative ideas to produce value for the project.
- Formulating reports, drafts, and policies for tasks and projects the company is working on.
- Networking and approaching new/ or existing clients to expand your reach and nurture existing ones.
Duration in an Internship
The tenure of an internship, in most cases, is decided by the university, which lasts for a semester, but this can depend upon several factors that might make your period less than six months. Factors like ongoing projects, new projects with shorter deadlines, amends in internal company policies, timelines not aligning, and various other factors.
The sweet spot for an intern to build a relevant experience that can be presented on their resume ranges from 3 months to 6 months. Less than this would be acceptable too, but gaining professional experience in the industry takes about three months.
What is an Externship?
An externship is a way to gain professional experience by working in an organization or a company. Still, the catch here is that externs are not given a free hand to participate in the primary functioning of the company. The externs replicate the seniors’ or field professionals’ tasks to learn more about their domain.
Unlike Internships, Externships do not get paid for their work until and unless an extern is working in a medical field. Apart from that, the tenure of an internship is way shorter than that of an internship which ranges from one day to one week.
Duties in an Externship
You are expected to know everything about your industry or field in an Externship. All you need to be aware of is the basic terms and principles of the industry so that you can make your analysis out of the externship. An extern will have very or no job duties in a company apart from shadowing the work. Here is a list of essential tasks that an extern will perform in their course of externship:
- Replicate the work of the professionals to understand what the industry demands and how it will be used.
- Get an opportunity to network with field professionals to discuss the scope and relevance of the industry.
- Will explore a career field and experience a day in professional life on the ground.
Duration of Externships
The duration of an externship is not always more than one week. This is decided by the company that you have approached. The reason is that a week is more than enough to draw out an analysis of a particular industry and make a conclusion.
Though Externships are still valuable and can be an added benefit for your resume to stand because it reflects that you have done something in your field rather than choosing to do nothing.
Externship vs Internship : College Credits
Various Internships and Externships are organized and provided by the universities to the students, which may or may not give you credits for it. However, long-term internships are more likely to get credits than short-term internships and externships.
Even if your college is not giving you any credits for the internships/externships you have done, we would highly recommend you to still go for these opportunities. The reason behind this is that you will get to witness your desired industry from a closer perspective and will widen your approach towards it.
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Externship vs Internship: Final Thoughts
Externship and Internship are both equally advantageous for getting professional experience. Each of these has there own usefulness and significance to it. It all boils down to what you are looking for.
An internship can give you a sustainable and on-ground experience to push your skills. An Externship can give you an insight into what a day or life looks like while in a particular position.
We hope we have helped you understand the differences between Externship and Internship. In the comment sections below, let us know what of these things you would be opting for and why.
FAQs
An Externship is an excellent way of gaining on-ground experience in the field that you intend to work in, and Yes, Externships do add value to your resumes as they will show that you have a piece of considerable knowledge about your area.
No, Internships are not considered equal to a job because, in an internship, your duties are limited to a certain extent. Still, you have no constraints for innovation and responsibilities in a job.
Externships can be completed during winter or spring breaks because they might run from one day to a whole week. This benefit is that you will get an opportunity to assemble as many externships as you want to yield better results.
Paid internships against unpaid internships are hard to find. You may find an internship in a reputed company, but you are not going to get paid for the work. In the early stages of your career, you must focus on gaining experience and knowledge.
An apprenticeship is a way of earning professional experience, working in the industry, completing your graduation, and getting paid. Along with their job, an apprentice dedicates 20% of their time to college and university tasks and assignments.