At university, students are often encouraged to pursue internships or work experiences closely aligned with their field of study.
Gaining real-world experience in a relevant business setting seems like an ideal way to prepare for a career.
From a business perspective, internships offer a chance to identify and develop potential talent early, equipping future workers with industry-specific skills and practical insights.
For students, these internships often feel like a direct path to securing a job after graduation.
However, focusing exclusively on profession-specific internships or work experience can significantly undervalue the broader–and often more impactful–benefits of general work experience.
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While businesses seek interns who can contribute immediately, they also value employees who demonstrate resilience and adaptability and have strong interpersonal skills–traits that can be developed just as effectively, if not more so, in jobs outside a student’s chosen field.
Any job, regardless of how closely it aligns with a student’s academic focus, is crucial in preparing them for the workforce.
Consider a typical internship that aligns with a student’s area of study.
A business student might intern at a consulting firm, a law student could clerk at a legal office and a communications major wants to spend time at a PR agency.
These internships aim to give students a taste of the professional world they aspire to join, offering insight into workflows, expectations and the challenges of their chosen career.
While these experiences can be valuable, they often come with a narrow scope.
Students might find themselves performing repetitive tasks or simply shadowing professionals without gaining hands-on experience.
These internships are often highly structured and, despite their relevance, might not help students develop the broader skill sets that employers increasingly demand.
In contrast, basic work experience–whether in a restaurant, shop or performing manual labour–provides students with the chance to develop practical, transferable skills in a real-world setting.
These jobs require students to engage with people from all walks of life, think on their feet, manage difficult situations and handle real-time stress.
Although these roles might not appear glamorous or directly tied to a student’s career goals, they often impart invaluable lessons highly prized in the workplace.
For example, working in a customer-facing role like retail or hospitality builds strong communication and interpersonal skills.
These are precisely the kinds of soft skills that employers across industries demand.
Someone who has learned to manage an upset customer in a restaurant is likely to be better equipped to handle a demanding client in a corporate setting.
And jobs in retail or service industries teach time management, multi-tasking and problem-solving skills under pressure, which are applicable to virtually any career.
A student working an evening shift in a supermarket might not immediately see the connection to their future in marketing or finance. However, the ability to manage tasks efficiently, work independently and remain calm under pressure will serve them well in any post-graduate role.
While technical expertise is undeniably important, employers want employees who are adaptable, resilient and able to work well with others.
These qualities can be cultivated just as effectively in a job unrelated to a student’s future career as in a targeted internship.
In fact, many employers actively seek candidates with varied work experiences, recognizing that those who have worked in different environments are often better prepared to handle the complexities and challenges of the modern workplace.
While internships aligned with a student’s field of study are valuable, they should not be seen as the only way to gain relevant work experience.
We might have become too dismissive of everyday jobs as critical opportunities to develop essential skills, placing excessive emphasis on prestigious internships tied to a specific field of study.
Although these high-profile internships might seem more impressive, we often overlook the valuable lessons that so-called “ordinary” work experiences provide.
Jobs in retail, hospitality or manual labour build resilience, adaptability and communication and problem-solving skills–qualities just as vital as those gained in field-specific internships.
It is time to recognize that real-world work, regardless of its prestige, plays a crucial role in shaping the next generation of well-rounded professionals.
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